What to do with protective paint on brake discs?

[DieselHead]

I'm in the middle of replacing the brake discs on my 1983 300D and noticed a coating of grey "protective" paint on the new brake discs. My Chiltons manual says I need to remove this paint. How do I do so? Will the brake pads just take it off during normal wear? Thanks.

Alex

Clean this goo from the rotors with isopropyl alcohol. DO NOT use petroleum distillates for this purpose, you will ruin the brake pads.

Good luck,

[Michael]

I'd strongly suggest you remove the coating from the wheel & hub contact faces. Once you've heat-cycled that coating a few times, it turns into glue...had a heckuva time even getting the wheels off of my wagon!!

Once removed, I'd replace the coating with a fine film of grease or aerosol lubricant on the hub/rim contact areas, as it will ease future maintenance. I use grease on my lug bolts, too, but just a tiny bit (to keep the water out)

[DieselHead]

It's not a goo or film that's on the rotors now, it looks like an actual hard paint. How do I remove it? I figure I should do it now before I install them onto my car. Should I take a razor to it? I don't think any liquid will dissolve it (although I haven't tried brake cleaner yet). Thanks

Alex

I'm sorry, but I didn't catch the fact that this is paint on the surface. In this case, I doubt that it will hurt anything, it it's nothing but dried paint. It will wear right off and temporarily make a mess.

Good luck,

[can-do]

Greetings Alex,

I would use a product called goof off which can be bought from your local Wal-Mart. This product will dissolve the dried paint and leave no petroleum residue on your disc. Just wipe it on and let it sit for 30 seconds or so, then wipe off the paint, I wouldn't leave this paint on the disc as it will hasten the braking pads performance after it heats up.

Charles