ok guys,
Let me start off by saying that this was just a DIY project that i felt like doing. It was my first experiance doing an entire car/suv so please be gentle. I know its not perfect, and I know the color will not be for everyone. But I think it came out pretty good for my first shot.
I am writing this, not as a "how to" but more to tell everyone my experiance with plasti dip and what I learned from my first time. That being said this is what I ran into and here are a few Q&A's
1. What is Plasti Dip?
well the best way I can decrible plasti dip, is that it is a rubber coating that was oringally made to coat tool handles to give them a nice gripping surface.
2. Can it be removed?
Yes it can be removed very easy. Just grab a edge and peel it up. As long as there is a good amount of coats (4-5) you should be able to pull up an entire panel in once peice
3. Does it harm the paint?
No, That is the great part about the stuff. I chose to prep my rig with denatured alky, just to get all the wax off and give the plasti dip a nice surface to stick to. I have heard you can actually spray the stuff over waxed paint though. < (I have not tried this)
4. How long does it last?
I have yet to really find out. But from everything I have read as long as it is done right and you are careful not to peal anything up, It should last about 6-8 months
5. Can it be glossy?
No it can't. It also depends on how thick you put your coats on. If you put thin coats, the plasti dip lays nice and flat and will give the best result. But it will never be glossy
Here are some things I also ran into:
First I bought the pro SUV kit from Dipyourcar.com. which included 4 gallons (already reduced) and everything else you need. The first problem I ran into was after about 2 coats the green was still very very transluent. I quickly realized that 4 gallons was not going to be nearly enough. So i stopped trying to do the roof and i focused on everything else. Well 5 coats in and all 4 gallons gone, you could still see right through the stuff. So i contacted Dipyourcar.com, and they said since i was going from black to green that I should have got 5 gallons and not even have tried to do the roof. (how was I supposed to know) So i ending up buying 3 more gallons of green from them and went and did the rest of the coats. I ended up with about 8 coats total on the whole truck to get the end result.
Im not sure if all the colors are a translusent as the green was, but just giving you guys a warning. Also depyourcar.com reduces the gallons before you buy them. So next time Im going to look into getting it in gallons that are uncut. Save some money! IM NOT TALKING TRASH ON DIPYOURCAR.COM. They were actually very nice guys when i called them and needed more. They got me the extra 3 gallons shipped out the same day I called.
My second problem I ran into was, it wasn't nearly as easy to get off the trim as they show on the youtube videos. SO BE AWARE OF THIS BEFORE YOU TRY TO PULL IT OFF YOUR TRIM. On almost all the door trim the plasti dip make connection between the trim and the body. So i had to cut between them. Through some trial and error I found the best result to be a hobby knife. A regular razor blade wasn't nearly sharp or thin enough to cut the plasti dip cleanly. I even used some quick detailer as a lube so the blade wouldn't tug on the plasti dip. Also put your windows down when you are trying to cut it. This way you can pull your trim off the body a little and make life alot easier.
Well enough with that. Here are a few teaser pictures taken with my phone. I need to get out and take some good ones still but you guys get the idea.
I had to redo the door. I messed it up when I was trying to peel off the trim. So i took a picture while pealing of the door to show how easy it is when you have a good amount of coats.
Here are a few close ups of some mistakes. And some close ups are where there is no mistakes.
These 2 were from when I was trying to use a regular razor blade to cut along the trim.
This is from pulling the masking tape off the grill to fast and I didn't see it made contact with the color part of the grill.
These 3 aren't mistakes, just a few more close ups.
Let me start off by saying that this was just a DIY project that i felt like doing. It was my first experiance doing an entire car/suv so please be gentle. I know its not perfect, and I know the color will not be for everyone. But I think it came out pretty good for my first shot.
I am writing this, not as a "how to" but more to tell everyone my experiance with plasti dip and what I learned from my first time. That being said this is what I ran into and here are a few Q&A's
1. What is Plasti Dip?
well the best way I can decrible plasti dip, is that it is a rubber coating that was oringally made to coat tool handles to give them a nice gripping surface.
2. Can it be removed?
Yes it can be removed very easy. Just grab a edge and peel it up. As long as there is a good amount of coats (4-5) you should be able to pull up an entire panel in once peice
3. Does it harm the paint?
No, That is the great part about the stuff. I chose to prep my rig with denatured alky, just to get all the wax off and give the plasti dip a nice surface to stick to. I have heard you can actually spray the stuff over waxed paint though. < (I have not tried this)
4. How long does it last?
I have yet to really find out. But from everything I have read as long as it is done right and you are careful not to peal anything up, It should last about 6-8 months
5. Can it be glossy?
No it can't. It also depends on how thick you put your coats on. If you put thin coats, the plasti dip lays nice and flat and will give the best result. But it will never be glossy
Here are some things I also ran into:
First I bought the pro SUV kit from Dipyourcar.com. which included 4 gallons (already reduced) and everything else you need. The first problem I ran into was after about 2 coats the green was still very very transluent. I quickly realized that 4 gallons was not going to be nearly enough. So i stopped trying to do the roof and i focused on everything else. Well 5 coats in and all 4 gallons gone, you could still see right through the stuff. So i contacted Dipyourcar.com, and they said since i was going from black to green that I should have got 5 gallons and not even have tried to do the roof. (how was I supposed to know) So i ending up buying 3 more gallons of green from them and went and did the rest of the coats. I ended up with about 8 coats total on the whole truck to get the end result.
Im not sure if all the colors are a translusent as the green was, but just giving you guys a warning. Also depyourcar.com reduces the gallons before you buy them. So next time Im going to look into getting it in gallons that are uncut. Save some money! IM NOT TALKING TRASH ON DIPYOURCAR.COM. They were actually very nice guys when i called them and needed more. They got me the extra 3 gallons shipped out the same day I called.
My second problem I ran into was, it wasn't nearly as easy to get off the trim as they show on the youtube videos. SO BE AWARE OF THIS BEFORE YOU TRY TO PULL IT OFF YOUR TRIM. On almost all the door trim the plasti dip make connection between the trim and the body. So i had to cut between them. Through some trial and error I found the best result to be a hobby knife. A regular razor blade wasn't nearly sharp or thin enough to cut the plasti dip cleanly. I even used some quick detailer as a lube so the blade wouldn't tug on the plasti dip. Also put your windows down when you are trying to cut it. This way you can pull your trim off the body a little and make life alot easier.
Well enough with that. Here are a few teaser pictures taken with my phone. I need to get out and take some good ones still but you guys get the idea.
I had to redo the door. I messed it up when I was trying to peel off the trim. So i took a picture while pealing of the door to show how easy it is when you have a good amount of coats.
Here are a few close ups of some mistakes. And some close ups are where there is no mistakes.
These 2 were from when I was trying to use a regular razor blade to cut along the trim.
This is from pulling the masking tape off the grill to fast and I didn't see it made contact with the color part of the grill.
These 3 aren't mistakes, just a few more close ups.