Painted my rotors - Bye Rust!

[JonnyMiata]

I was getting tired of looking at the rust through my beautiful Racing Harts so I painted my rotor hubs with silver high-temp engine paint. The backs were getting bad so I did them first. I will eventually get to the fronts.

Here is a picture:

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/172000-172999/172670_34_full.jpg


I just got back from a 5 hour trip to Chicago where I drove through a massive rain storm. My front wheels were caked in brake dust sludge. This is the first time I had this happen on any car I owned. I am going to have to get some spray on wheel cleaner that won't damage my wheels. Maybe some more P21.

Some loser in Chicago stole my chrome valve stem caps. That is just low. I think they are like $2 at K-Mart.

[PaulMP3]

looks nice. your dealer will do it for free if you ask, but i think the silver looks better.

My vavle stems got stolen the first week i had my car. i just left them off, that way no lil punks go near my car.

[pdhaudio83]

VERY nice! im just gonna get some new drilled and slotted ones when my brakes go.

[Dexter]

good job man. i am definetly going to do that when i get a chance. i hate the rust.

[funnylittlman]

Nice :D

[MadBiker]

Beautiful! I wish I could do that myself but dang it i don't have long enough power cords for my dremel...

The dealers are SUPPOSED to do that for you, but I've been unlucky so far. I'm still working on getting them to do it for me...

[mspeedpro]

im sorry but what exactly is the dealership supposed to do?? i didnt follow

[TURBO3WAGON]

SWEEEET! I need to do the very same thing...:D :D

[Dexter]

also, i found some dudes sweet lookin chrome valve stem caps so now i have an extra set! :D











jk man :p

[JonnyMiata]

Damn....I knew that had to be you, Dex!:mad:



Nice one!

[Dexter]

how did you just paint the hub? did you use a paintbrush? or mask off the car and rotor? or take the rotor off and paint it that way?

[JonnyMiata]

Actually it is much easier than all of that. I just waited for a very non-windy day. I used a brass brissled brush (say that 3 times fast) to get off the rust and then I just sprayed on the paint to the rotor with it still on the car. I really should have used the rust killing gunk and then primered it and then painted it but I will probably just upgrade to slotted nickle plated rotors in the future so I don't care if I just touch these up once a year. I painted the rotors on my Miata and they are still nice after 2 years.

Just spray the hub and don't worry about getting paint on the surface of the rotor because it will wear off on the first application of the brakes. The paint dries very fast so do about 3 coats to make sure the rust is hidden. If you get paint on the car, you can use a claybar and some soapy solution to get rid of it.

Just a word of caution. I took off my Racing Harts and there was some rust developing in the in the center of the wheel so I cleaned it and put the rust killing stuff in there to ward off anymore destruction. You might want to check it out on yours.

Good luck!

[mazdadan]

Originally posted by JonnyMiata
I was getting tired of looking at the rust through my beautiful Racing Harts so I painted my rotor hubs with silver high-temp engine paint. The backs were getting bad so I did them first. I will eventually get to the fronts.

Looks awesome! In my opinion, silver is one of the only colors you can paint brake rotors without looking like a ricer. That is of course unless you have a real big brake kit (aka Brembo with red calipers)

[Dexter]

Originally posted by JonnyMiata
Just spray the hub and don't worry about getting paint on the surface of the rotor because it will wear off on the first application of the brakes.

heh, yeah , i figured that would happen, just wanted to make sure


Just a word of caution. I took off my Racing Harts and there was some rust developing in the in the center of the wheel so I cleaned it and put the rust killing stuff in there to ward off anymore destruction. You might want to check it out on yours.

Good luck!

thanks for the heads up man

[trobbins]

There is a Technical service bulletin that says the dealer should fix any rust on the brake rotors.

It tells them to sand and paint them, or to replace them if they cannot be fixed satifactory.

I am going to wait until mine get really rusty, and then try to get new rotors. Then maybe get new pads also.

Tim

[JonnyMiata]

One more tip: Release the emergency brake so you can turn the rotors to make painting easier. Many of you probably already know this but you never know. :p

[Dexter]

i dont want the dealer doing anything. i hate the dealership, i can do this shit myself :D

lol about emergency brake :p

[BremertonMSP]

Originally posted by Dexter
i dont want the dealer doing anything. i hate the dealership, i can do this shit myself :D

lol about emergency brake :p

Not only that, but it takes me an hour and a half just to get to my dealership. I'll just do it myself.

[Sixmil]

Which brand/color did you use for this? It looks great!

[unwrittenLaw]

Does anyone know the TSB # for fixing the rotors..?
Has anyone's dealers done this work yet...I might go see if they'll do mine as long as I have some ammo to back me up..

[bcbadboy]

I did mine also. I did the rotors and the calipers all in black.

[Newf]

why would you paint the cali's? their already painted.

[Dexter]

maybe he just wanted different color?

but yes, i also did my rotors silver too. looks soo much better

[mspeedpro]

wow those mods are insane. got any pics of black painted calis and rotors?

[pingdum]

Originally posted by unwrittenLaw
Does anyone know the TSB # for fixing the rotors..?
Has anyone's dealers done this work yet...I might go see if they'll do mine as long as I have some ammo to back me up..

Check here (http://web2.airmail.net/emann/protegefaq/tsb/) for the info. My dealer hemmed and hawed but I got them to do it under the 12,000 mile adjustment thing.

[mspeedpro]

where did yall see that they are obligated to do this?

[unwrittenLaw]

I checked out that site with the TSB's and the one for rotors doesn't have the MSP...I wonder if I could still get the dealer to do it...

[MangoSpeedG]

Just a thought....

I got the rust problem as well. Would painting them orange look cool? or bad?

[unwrittenLaw]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by unwrittenLaw
Does anyone know the TSB # for fixing the rotors..?
Has anyone's dealers done this work yet...I might go see if they'll do mine as long as I have some ammo to back me up..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Check here for the info. My dealer hemmed and hawed but I got them to do it under the 12,000 mile adjustment thing.

The rust on my hubs is getting pretty noticeable...So can I go to the dealer and reference that TSB even though it's not specifically for MSP's yet?

[dominoy2k1]

they look good....

[MadBiker]

At a recent meet I've noticed that later models don't have as bad a rust problem as the 2002 model proteges. The MSP's in particular don't seem to have as much of a problem.

Since I have the first model year Protege5, and many customers complained about it, it could be that Mazda decided to make the rotor hubs more rust proof. But if you have the rust problem, yeah, bug the stealership about it if you don't have the room/hardware to do it yourself.

[gjmoreo]

FYI: that "tsB" is actually what Mazda calls a work order description as per my dealer. I tried to get this done and they gave me the hardiest time ... they contacted the local mazda rep who advised this was only with the 12/12 plan .... (12 months or 12,000 miles) I could not get them done under warranty ... but they did give me a free polish on the rotors!

[unwrittenLaw]

wtf...thats bull shit...

[TURBO3WAGON]

That's what I'm going to do this weekend! I've got some nasty rust growing on my hubs.

[gjmoreo]

what do you guys think? ..... should I contact Mazda North America? It's not a big deal to do it my self, but i would much rather have my warranty take care if it. Something like that should have more of a waranty time than 12 months or 12,000 miles. It is the metal used to make the rotors, not the timing.

[unwrittenLaw]

I have 5K miles on mine so they better frickin do it..but who knows..some dealers try and get out of everything. If I were you I'd call Mazda, see what they say...you might get lucky..

[gjmoreo]

bump

[loj68]

my dealer painted mine today. I referred him to TSB #MT000003559 according to that website somebody posted on this thread. He said even though that TSB is for 2002 models it still refers to the same problem with rust on the hubs of 17" Racing Hart wheels. Pluse he said it's the same parts on the MSP so it's just a matter of time anyways and he didn't want us to have to bring it back. My dealer rocks!!!! FYI my dealer is "Capital Mazda of Cary" in Cary, NC.

[unwrittenLaw]

My dealer said that the rust was there because the Mazdaspeed uses different types of brakes and that it is normal....I wish there was another dealer to go to but the closest one besides mine is another hour and a half away....grrrrr.

[gjmoreo]

my dealer painted mine today. I referred him to TSB #MT000003559 according to that website somebody posted on this thread. He said even though that TSB is for 2002 models it still refers to the same problem with rust on the hubs of 17" Racing Hart wheels. Pluse he said it's the same parts on the MSP so it's just a matter of time anyways and he didn't want us to have to bring it back. My dealer rocks!!!! FYI my dealer is "Capital Mazda of Cary" in Cary, NC. How many miles do you have on your car at this point?

[loj68]

I think we're just a hair under 2000 miles. The rust has been there since we bought it though...and we bought the one off the showroom floor.....it was all waxed and detailed beautifully....I dunno why they just didn't take care of the rust then before putting it out there for everyone to see.

[gjmoreo]

yeah, see that "tsb" is only good for 12,000 or 12 months. They rejected my request to have it done. 20k here.

[Tri-C]

The hubs on my silver MSP came painted silver from the factory so Mazda must have done a change during production in response to the complaints about this issue.

[girth]

No, my 03 MSP's were painted silver too......except the silver paint was covered in rust when I bought it.

[Bremmer]

my 3.5 rotors were painted too but I still had rust on them. I'll fix it if we ever have warm weather again and it stops snowing!

[1338]

Originally posted by bcbadboy
I did mine also. I did the rotors and the calipers all in black.
hey can i get a pic of this? i have been wanting to do it in black to hide behing my black wheels.

[Packerfan]

Stop whining about rusted rotors go buy Corksports Cross Drilled Rotors and increase brake performance and have them nickle plate them and they will never rust again. I did and I love em

[muohio]

Originally posted by Tri-C
The hubs on my silver MSP came painted silver from the factory so Mazda must have done a change during production in response to the complaints about this issue.

Mine have not had a single bit of rust on them so far and the car was built in September of 2003.