burntumber

My new Protege' had some nice polished wheels on it, along with rusty sections on the brake rotors front and rear. *Typical 'unfinished' cheap out by the manufacturer?

Today I removed the wheels, sanded down the rusty bits on front and rear rotors, and sprayed with flat black Krylon.
Looks at least one hundred percent better.

Easy job, took a couple hours. No muss, no fuss.
Just some 2" masking tape, a thin piece of cardboard (for blocking the backing plate from overspray), a razor or Xacto knife, and less than a half can of paint.
*Buy the Krylon- yes, it's more expensive- but it's a whole lot better too. Goes on nice, dries fast, and looks good for a long time. It's worth it- spring for the couple extra bucks.

Just lay the 2" tape on the shiny side of the rotors, trim excess around the outer edge and along the groove on the inner part, then spray your way around.
I taped off the actual caliper- just not to get it tinged with black. Might have been just as easy to block it off and spray it red (or whatever). I mean, as long as you are in there....

You'll end up doing 3/4 of the rotor, then tear off the tape, roll the rotor to where you can get the last bit (which was hidden beneath the caliper). Wham bam, you're done.
If you get a little on the shiny part of the rotor, no worries. It'll be gone the first time you apply the brakes. It won't be enough to mess up the pads (no matter what anyone might say).

Go for it. It's a number 2 on difficulty scale (outta 10), and a 9 on the better for your looks and car scale.
*When I got the wheels off I found rust in lots of places on the rotors (hats) and dust covers. Not only that- corrosion (from exposure to salt water!) on the contact area with the alloy wheels. The paint is going to reduce that affect.
Came from the factory that way.