Should you decide to buy A1 Cardone re-manufactured calipers for your car, this is how you can expect them to look after 6 months and exposure to 1 episode or rain and a couple of car washes.







So, plan on painting or powdercoating before installation.

 

I'm not sure what Mazda puts on them at the factory, but it must get stripped during the cleaning process. I had a set cleaned and in the 2 weeks they were sitting in my basement before painting, they picked up quite a bit of surface rust.

 

They are zinc phosphate coated by Sumitomo, I believe. When they are reman'd, they are probably media blasted, which strips that coating off. A good reman company would re-coat them, but A1 Cardone apparently does not.

Most of what you see in those photos is surface rust. I wish I had snapped pics of the backsides. Those surfaces are pretty heavily pitted.

Anyway, trying a set of Wagner remans in the interim. I will eventually get around to rebuilding my OEM ones again, which still show no signs of rust.

 

I've had similar experience with all other reman calipers for other cars (GM and Toyota). The old ones have a nice finish, the remans quickly rust.

 

dallas,

your timing kills me.. i have a set of the same fronts sitting on my bench waiting to be painted.. would have got them painted, but red. no thanks.. put the g2 on my original calipers 12 years and 130k miles ago and it still looks good..

i can feel the wax coating.

beers

 

Yeah, I think Powerstop or one of those makes painted calipers, but the only option is red. I HATE the look of painted factory calipers, so red is never going to be an option for me. If I end up having to paint mine, they will be gunmetal gray or black.

 

hey,

i have a spare can of caliper paint. you can have it for shipping. ordered one can. painted friends front calipers. ordered a backup and it did not arrive in time. ended up painting his rears also.

then i painted my fronts and still have half a can left..

so i have a whole unopened can left. amazon refunded me due to late arrival and doesnt want it back..

shoot me a email. if interested. swoope at gmail

btw the wax coating of these calipers is insane.. still not sure i got it all off.

beers