Plasti dipping the 818?

[Ekim7878]

Has anyone Plasti dipped a car before? I am considering this as a paint option for the 818. I seems ery cost effective and much easier than a wrap or a full paint job.

Anyone know of any issues I should look out for?

[Hindsight]

Look at MikeB's thread.

[Hugues]

Has anyone Plasti dipped a car before? I am considering this as a paint option for the 818. I seems ery cost effective and much easier than a wrap or a full paint job.

Anyone know of any issues I should look out for?

Hi,

i've plasti dip my motorbike the first year it was on the road, i don't recommend. When it's freshly applied, it gives a good look, although not everyone likes it. But it attracts dirt and not easy to clean, it's a very rough surface. It's also not very resistant to wear. So if you have a surface onto which something rubs often, hands or something else, the plasti dip layer will go away.

And it's a nightmare to remove. People say if you have a thick enough film, you'll be able to peel it away. Well you need to have that thick film everywhere, and that stuff is not cheap. I had to clean it up with WD40 multiple times, it dissolves the film, but really a pain.

The next year i managed to find a structured pain that gave the same rough finish. But last season i removed that paint also, it was too difficult to clean. Now i've got a nice black matte and it looks great, easy to clean, and very resistant, picture here: zvexx.com (http://zvexx.com)

I've used 3M wrap as well, still use it, much better than plasti dip.

My 2 cents.

[Zach34]

I plasti-dip'd some motorcycle track fairings for a track-only bike. I got the sprayer and put 5 good coats on as recommended. You have to work fast since the stuff dries quick and the previous coat needs to still be tacky for the next coat to adhere well and actually form a film. The fumes are tremendous. You need one of those big respirators with the replaceable filters (I used the one that came in the kit I ordered, worked well). You also need to rig up some kind of booth with plastic sheets or something. The sprayer makes a very fine mist and the resulting cloud will settle on everything around.

Like Hugues said, it looks pretty good when fresh, but road grime and stains do not wash out very well at all and it's not durable. Areas behind wheels will chip and peel pretty quickly.

It took me most of a day to remove it from the motorcycle fairings to prep for paint. It was a good thing I did the 5 coats - most of it peeled off in sheets. It's not an easy job, though.

The 3M wrap is probably a better option, but I've never had that done.

[jmccabe]

Go for it. I Dipped my MK2 this past June. Came out great for a first time sprayer. Just make sure you put enough coats on. I used the California formula which is thinner and put 10+ on.58770

here's a picture of it together

58771

[Frank818]

That's the kind of blue my wrap is. You put 10 coats of plasti-dip??

[carlewms]

Go for it. I Dipped my MK2 this past June. Came out great for a first time sprayer. Just make sure you put enough coats on. I used the California formula which is thinner and put 10+ on.58770

here's a picture of it together

58771

After all options considered I am doing the same ...

Did you use DipYourCar.com product?

Did you use the relatively new Pearl Topcoat?

For those of you that had bad experiences with plastidip ... how long ago did you dip the vehicles?

[jmccabe]

Yes, PlastiDip.com
2-gallons clear,75grams World Ralley Blue and 25grams Black Beatty.
This over 4 coats of matt black.

[mikeb75]

You can 'dip an 818, as Hindsight said I wrote about it a few times in my build thread.

Short summary:
Don't treat it like paint.
Make sure you have good clearances on your doors and any other moving parts or it will rub off and look like crap. The edges will feather, roll back and never look good.
I covered an 818 with Hardtop in less than 5 gallons, about 7 coats on everything; materials cost less than $300 (I was thinning it myself).
It does go on pretty easy, considerably easier to prep and spray than real paint.
You can repair rubs and blemishes with a spray can, as long as the color match is easy. I stayed matte black and I can just cut out a problem area and respray, from 5 feet looks fine -there will be a line up close between the old and new material at the cut because of the thickness of the orignal coating.
It can be hard to clean - has a textured surface. I use lots of water and a little Dawn soap. Then a wipe down with a microfiber cloth and denatured alcohol.
I don't have a lot of real world durability info yet - I figure the coating will get beat up pretty bad during driving and track sessions -SOON.

[carrera1984]

I was looking to use dipyourcar.com and do it every 2 years or till I get sick of it but now i'm rethinking dipping...

[markiemark]

I had my Corvette Z06 plastidipped this past winter and it still looks great. Enough coats is necessary. Mine has a black base on the whole car and then the topcoat of Carbon Blue was applied. A few nicks on the front and a little scratch on the rear bumper is all I have after months of driving. I'd recommend it especially if you don't have the funds for a paint job. I just wanted to change my Velocity Yellow. And now my new Cobra is Viper Yellow so I might have to peel the dip off soon to have a side by side Yellow thing.. LOl. Good luck and if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

[RM1SepEx]

I did my old Miata, 1 gallon white base, i gallon red base, one gallon clear with Komodo pearls. Looks very good, flips to orange then to gold. Hides minor imperfections. Dip your car materials etc... inc tape, solvents cups filters etc $350. Took a full day, was 9 coats. Holding up well after 6 months, clear makes it look smoother. I only wash with light soap and water. They make a cleaning soln that gets rid of the "sticky" surface.

58810 58807 58811 58808 58809

[Frank818]

Well Dan you made me learn something new again, that the Miata is an antique car. loll Are those pink wheels on the 2nd non-dipped Miata also dipped? Wife's car, right?

[RM1SepEx]

The pink ones are powder coated on my wife's car. The black ones on "Mongrel" are dipped black. I dipped this car as a test for the 818. I may just dip it in white and add pearls to get some reflective aspects to the finish. I got yet another gel coat pop today on my front wheel well lip

58858

There is no way that I would put significant $$$ into painting these 818 body panels as a pop like this would ruin a big $ paint job. Even a good wrap cost over $2000, so a dip would be a great compromise and is easily repaired .

[Frank818]

I have one of those pop at the same place on my fender! Fell off by mistake, will cost me days to fix it. If wrap, I agree you're screwed, need to redo the entire fender.

But what's to trick to plasti-dip and prevent it from peeling off with time, heat, stone chips, scratches, etc.?

[flynntuna]

I have one of those pop at the same place on my fender! Fell off by mistake, will cost me days to fix it. If wrap, I agree you're screwed, need to redo the entire fender.

But what's to trick to plasti-dip and prevent it from peeling off with time, heat, stone chips, scratches, etc.?


Ya fix it.;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0jEvxxTzE