Rust on brake rotor "hat"?

[Dave Rifkin]

My wife and I bought her a car that was her dream car since high school; a white BMW 3 series. It was a certified BMW with low miles (22k) and she loves it.
What she doesn't love is the rust that is on the elevated area of the brake rotor; I think some refer to it as the hat?

Is there anyway to remove / prevent this rust from the brakes? Of course it doesn't affect the performance of the brakes but you can see it through the openings of the rims and it is an eyesore to her.

I figure I could jack the car up, remove the rim, sand the rust down and paint that area but, before I tried anything like that I figured I would ask this group for suggestions.

Thanks

[Canuck]

Dave
soaking that part of the rotor in evaporust will remove the rust,but it involves removing the rotor. There are brush on rust neutralizers that would work if left on over night. Once you decide what to do, use LPS or boeshield on that part of the rotor to preserve it. Depending on how many miles are on the brakes, you may be replacing the rotors soon. Most German cars rotors are throwaways with each brake job.

[Dave Rifkin]

If I use the brush on neutralizers don't they usually turn the area that you put them on black?
Is there something that will remove the rust that can be brushed on? I'd kind of like to bring them back to their natural finish and then coat them with something like boeshield.
Or should I use the brush on stuff and paint over the black with a grayish topcoat?

[Canuck]

Dave
Most neutralizers will leave a black finish. I have seen a process of soaking a cloth in evaporust and applying the cloth to the surface and leave for 24 hours, you may still need to do some sanding, cleaning to get a good finish. I would try using a brass brush to remove as much of the rust as possible first. Keep in mind, this only needs to last as long until you replace the rotors, depending on the amount of driving that the car will see.


paul

[bbbentley]

Why don’t you try this: https://www.eastwood.com/calyx-manifold-coating-3-oz.html
Should be able to handle the heat too.

[marxjunk]

i use a paint brush and CLR..its a job but works..

[KevinW]

My .02, if the brakes were just done, then removing the rotor and media blasting the hat (not rotor surface), then some high heat brake caliper paint.

If brakes are nearing replacement, buy new rotors and paint them before installing. :)

Hmm, just got a new car, maybe I should paint the rotors too. :D

[Burd]

I'm surprised that area isn't painted from the factory, the High end jap cars have it. I really did my Q45 rotors. The caliper paint holds up from Eastwood.

[x33rs]

On the newer cars back when we had them, since the brakes were so visible with the modern style wheels, I was simply using aftermarket zinc coated rotors. Lasted and still looked like new for years while we daily drove the cars. It kept the vented portion of the rotors looking nice as well.

That's what I would do, wait for brake job time and just replace them with zinc coated. Most of those factory rotors don't have enough meat to turn them anyway.

[70 Forest Green Zee]

If you decide to replace the rotors make sure you buy the new coated rotors. Most manufactures offer a premium coated rotor that won't rust, the whole rotor is coated with this special coating and then when installed and the pads make contact with the braking surface, the coating wears off in that area....the rest of the rotor remains coated. NAPA auto parts has some nice coated rotors reasonably priced if that's the route you choose to go.

[x33rs]

Yep, that's what I'm talking about.