Hey Guys I will be purchasing a used 2005 prius with about 85k km's. the test drive went well, the only issue was the brake drum cover (i think thats what it is) is orange/rusted. The owner mentioned its just a cover for the brakes and does not interfer with performance. he said i can just paint them black. Is this a major issue? how much would it cost to replace that drum cover thing? is there a way to clean it?? advice would be appreciated as im buying the car in 2 days and this could be a deal breaker if its too $$$$.
If you are talking about the outside of the brake drum, then you don't have to do anything to them. The inside does the work. Tom
Yes i its outside. it looks like its covering the brake pad/brake rotor. Its right behind the wheel. how do you clean it?? imagine a black prius with orange rusted brake drum covers. thats how much its bugging me.
Remove wheel, pull off drum. Use a wire brush or a drill with a wire brush in the chuck and clean it up. Wipe down good to remove lose stuff and paint with a good hi temp paint in the color of your choice from autozone or any auto store.
Clean it off with a Scotch Brite pad and paint it. Have you had someone with mechanical experience look at this Prius? Tom
This is the rear, not front, correct? Otherwise, we are suffering a communications failure and talking past each other. The rear brake is a drum with shoes inside. What you see is the drum itself, not a cover. The braking friction surface is hidden inside. Rotor and pads would be the front discs. The braking friction surface is exposed, visible through the wheel spokes.
Further, if you want to paint them, after thorough cleaning, you can use just about any paint. The drums don't get hot enough to damage "normal" paint. Unless you're racing. I recommend a coat of rust inhibiting primer followed by a nice gloss black. But you could use fluorescent orange or something.
