As many of you may know I have always been interested in cars. Maybe you read one of my articles or saw pictures posted. Since early 2007 I have owned a brand new 2007 Pontiac Solstice. I have kept this car bone stock; aside from a dealer installed front end stiffener. The car is with me when in New York or Florida and to date has covered 80,000 mostly top down pleasurable miles. The car is pampered from detail to mechanics and driven as it was meant to be. It took about 50,000 miles for it to develop a well muffled throaty sound ripping through the gears of its 5 speed automatic transmission. This car still has a bumper to bumper GM service contract kept in force and renewed every 3 years. From all I have said you would believe that I totally love this car just the way it is not exactly.
I have always paid attention to small details that set any car apart from others. This car gets scheduled cleaning inside-outside-under the hood, seals rubber gaskets are treated twice a year with paste silicone, the original top is treated once a year, nicks and scratches are meticulously attended to, all plastic lenses are polished twice a year, the optional 18″ wheels and 245 directional tires are polished and prepped monthly, alignment camber/caster/ toe-in-out checked annually, all black trim is treated as needed, and because it only has the Pontiac chevrons I am often asked “is that a—-?” My reply is usually no it’s not a “this or that” it’s a 12 year old Pontiac; and they reply “they made that” and I smile. Because of its short 3 year run this car never evolved like many of our iconic brands however a vast after market of products does exist. I have always admired a minor detail on many high end sport imports; colored coated calipers. This was a detail I wanted for my car. The following is an account of how I did it.
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fig#1 the tools -
fig#2 rear uncoated -
fig#3 front suspension arm on jackstand -
fig#4 rear position of jack pad and stand -
fig#5 car safely standing on jack stands -
fig#6 front cleaned and painted -
fig#7 rear cleaned and painted -
fig#8 front wheel mounted -
fig#9rear wheel mounted -
fig#10 all wheels mounted and job is complete
I have a fairly well equipped garage and workshop however I did need a few things that I made or sourced new and used. I needed a breaker bar, torque wrench, electric impact wrench, jacking pads for my car that I made, wheel lug impact socket, and of course a red caliper ceramic paint kit. I had my Cowrc TurboJet blaster, low profile hydraulic jack, work lights, creeper, 3/4″ ply wood strips to raise the car 1 1/2″ inches to clear the jack and jacking pads, buffer for the wheels, polishes, cleaners, etc. I did one side at a time over 1 1/2 days. You could save time if you lift the whole car at one time. I started by breaking the lug nuts on the ground, then inserting the jacking pad in the front position and lifting one complete side, then positioning the jack stands as pictured and lowered the car onto them, I then removed the wheels with my impact wrench, I marked the tire position and put the wheels aside. Cleaning the calipers was easy with a small wire brush and emery cloth, using my air blaster to blast away all the dust, then I drenched the area to be painted with cleaner and again blew it dry. Using a 1/2 inch lettering brush I applied the caliper paint waiting 20 to 30 minutes between coats, 3 coats were more than adequate, because of my art and graphic skills I did not need to mask anything. Between coats I used my pressure washer to clean up my wheels back side first then front, I then polished and buffed them put tire dressing on and put them aside, I also cleaned and dressed the wheel tubs. After 24 hours of drying I replaced the wheels using the impact wrench and once on the ground set torques for each wheel in a star pattern in three stages 55 lbs-80 lbs-100 lbs. I also checked the tire pressures and adjusted as required. I hope this was helpful and simplified your preparation to do this project. I am very pleased with the results and sure you will be too!.
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