This series of posts is about some work on a car that is not an antique or classic. The car although is somewhat unique and hopefully you can use some of this information on your classic car or perhaps your muscle car. Sometimes along with my restoration work I also do work on some newer exotic cars. This series of posts is about some detail work on a 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago. My customer wanted to dress up the brake calipers and disc brake hubs.

Here is the car. The color is Arancio Atlas which is a tri-coat or three stage color.

Since the wheels have large openings the Brembo brakes really show through. When working with brake fluid you have to be very careful not to get the fluid on any painted surface. Just remember that brake fluid is water soluble, so if you do get it on the paint wash it off immediately. Keep a spray bottle full of water close by just in case and make sure not to touch anything else while you have the fluid on your hands. If your car uses silicone based fluid then you don’t have to worry, it doesn’t eat paint. You might have problems painting though if you don’t thoroughly clean the silicone off. Silicone can be a painters nightmare.

The brake calipers were removed from the car and carefully cleaned with Lesonal “wax and grease remover”. They were then scuffed with a 3M Scotch-brite pad #7447 and then cleaned again with the “wax and grease remover”. The Scrotch-brite pads removed all of the dirt in the castings and also prepared the calipers for primer adhesion. When the calipers were completely clean, the brake lines and the inside areas around the pistons were carefully masked with 3M tape.

We used bailing wire to hang the calipers to make it easier to spray them. The gray primer is Lesonal Gray Epoxy with fast hardener. We are priming, sealing and painting all in one step. The primer on the calipers will not be sanded prior to paint. This is called “wet on wet” painting. In the next post I will show the steps for the tri-color and also spraying lettering with a stencil.