Painting The Rotor Hat

[Polygon]

Disclaimer: I know about zinc coated rotors. Mine are not and I have no need for new ones.

I've been searching Google about this for about an hour now and I've seen some interesting, and some stupid assed things on the subject. The problem is that a lot of pads don't contact the entire surface of the rotor. Otherwise this would be easy. So I've been trying to find a uniform, easy way, to make sure I don't see any rust ever again. I have an idea what I can do but there are a couple of things that had me thinking.

1. I've see a few people say not to paint the top of the hat that mates to the wheel and it has to be metal to metal contact. Now, I've seen wheels where that part is painted and I don't see how some paint is going to effect anything anyhow once you've torqued the wheels.

2. A very interesting methood I've seen is from a company that makes brakes for bikes:

Old Britts, NORTON, Rotor, Disc Brake

If you have painted your rotor or received a brake rotor from us that has been painted on the surface where the brake pads rub against the rotor (the friction surface), that paint needs to be removed for maximum braking efficiency. Andover Norton paints new rotors and we sometimes will paint rotors that have been blanchard ground and lightened, if requested by the customer or are in inventory for a period of time. The reason for painting the friction surface of the rotor is to keep the rotor from rusting before that rotor is put into service.

The best way to remove this paint is to mount an old set of brake pads in your caliper and VERY CAREFULLY ride your bike, applying the brakes to burn off the paint. Once the paint has been removed, replace the old pads with new pads and you should be good to go.

So, they paint everything including the braking surface and use old pads to wear it off. Sounds logical I suppose but I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks about this.

[J&H Ryan]

I've always just painted the whole rotor (though the paint is a lot thinner on the sweep surface) and just driven. I drive two footed for 1000ft or so, and that removes most all the paint. Doesn't do anything to the pads that I've found. Just brake kleen and use high temp paint. Might help to scuff up any areas of the rotor you dont expect to be swept for more surface area for the paint to stick. Thats my $.02