hrm. the finger groove on my gas cap is smudged.

i sprayed it on the hottest day so far, it was in direct sunlight, the chome musta been over 115 degrees. went back on the car that day.

the next 2 days it rained though, and i noticed the smudge. :(

time to retry. good thing i got 2 cans.

 

Update: I am on my 7th can of Plastidip...

 

Tackled the front rings and grill today. Posted my bad experience with the Plastidip on another thread. Will reserve final judgement after the stuff cures.
Couldn't get the rings out. Broke a few tabs before bailing on that idea. Soooooo, I went the difficult route and just taped off everything else:

Prepped for surgery:





Moving on to the grill:



Sure hope this stuff lasts b/c this was a total PITA!

 

Are the headlight rings not removable on the R56's? Good work though!

 

They are, but I couldn't do it. Broke two tabs and bailed on that idea.

 

So, after receiving delivery of these, it turns out they're door cup guards.

So, I went ahead and place an order for some Aesthetic Creations covers.

 

I just finished Plasti-dipping my boot handle about a week ago. As I was applying it I noticed a behavior that I haven't yet seen documented in this thread. Several folks have discussed the varying textures you can get depending on how thick the coats are applied, but I actually noticed a change in texture--from a very slight pebbly surface to fairly smooth--in the later coats as they dried.

The first couple of coats were fairly thin, and had just a bit of texture to them. I put the fourth coat on just a bit heavier. Right after application, the surface still didn't look real smooth while it was wet and certainly wasn't the end result I was seeking. I left the scene to allow for some drying time, already semi-resigning myself to the fact that I'd be peeling off and starting over. When I came back 45 minutes later, the surface seemed to have magically "smoothed" itself while it dried. I declared victory at that point.

Outside air was fairly humid with temps in the 60s -- perhaps it was a contributor.

On a side note, my headlight rings are double-wrapped vinyl by Lyle. I have been amazed at how durable they are. After two winters they show virtually no signs of wear (I wish I could say the same for the nearby bumper cover paint ...the chips are driving me ).

 

That's a good call. You can always order new headlight rings at minimania.com if you break all the tabs. Regardless where you sprayed it turned out pretty nice.

 

From my experiences humidity is def. bad. While mine didnt react like that. It did tend to pit more, and produce a finish with places that were more dull than others. This always occured at night right as the sun had just gone down, which if i remember from 8th grade science class, is one of the more humid parts of the day and condensation begins to form.

 

i think the surface tension of the 'liquid' rubber allows it to float itself and smooth out before drying. this requires a thick coat that stays liquid long enough to float itself (or even out)

i did my gas cap again.
the first time was about 10 super light coats. it produced a rough texutre almost identical to the wheel arches. unfortunately i forgot it was locked, and some gas soaked gloves on the hands of the gas attendant f-ed up the finger groove area.
the 2nd time i did it, i let the chrome cap sit in the sun on my driveway. i literally was unable to pick it up it was so hot.
i did 2 light coats to get a good base that stuck well. the next few coats were done quickly since it was so hot outside. it was drying to the touch in just minutes.... so i layed on a pretty thick coat that i thought was going to look like crap.
5 minutes later, its smoother than the wheel arches and looks PERFECT.

i haven't had any problems with differences in color.
i consider myself a damn good spray painter though. i cringe when i watch my friends try to use a spray can.


it seems the important thing about pastidip is that there is an even coat on the ENTIRE surface. if there is anywhere that is not 100% plastidipped, you have millions of little exposed edges. my recommendation is to take your time, do LOTS of coats, and be sure to get 100% coverage, especially around edges and corners.
my original headlight rings were sprayed from just the front- leaving an edge on the plastidip where the ring ended and curved back into the bonnet. eventually a rock will hit that edge. if you spray the front, the edges and around to the back, the plastidip is one continuous piece with no exposed edge. make sense?

 

I did my headlight rings last night with Plastidip. They came out okay, I haven't seen them in the sunlight yet. I think the texture is bit rougher than the wheel arches though.

 

they smooth down over time. mine are smoother than the plastic now, and were rougher when i started.
it seems wind/dust/sand is smoothing out the edges.

 

The 13 dollar vinyl tape SUCKS. You can be as patient as possible and it still just looks like electrical tape. It looks terrible.

Does anyone know how to actually take off the chrome strip?

 

From what i've read, no can do.
Go to a professional vinyl shop and get it done. Shouldn't cost more than $100- Merely for the time involved.
Where are you located?

 

Did you pull the outer layer off after the tape was installed?

 

As Tron Chief said, you need to peel off the outer layer of the tape. I posted pictures and a full write up here:

http://www.russellcory.com/blog/?page_id=19#Project2

Step 3 is the important one.
Once it's off it looks exactly like the surrounding rubberish plastic.

Good luck!

 

I purchased my belt line tape from another NAM owner and got no instructions with it. It took a bit to realize that it was two layers. Good luck.

 

I got mine from Out Motoring but was in the same boat. It took me a few minutes to realize there were 2 layers also. So that's why I decided to do the tutorial. I'm thinking about going back and doing a video tutorial. Not sure if I have time but I'd like to do it.

 

I scrapped mine and then went looking on line and found out that the tape was two layers. I was not really upset with the first look and was extremely happy after I got the top layer off at how it looked. I rushed the job so the one piece of advice I would give is a nice cool garage a cold beverage and time to do the job correctly the first time. I will end up pulling mine off and reapplying it once I get the cool garage part.

 

Has anyone painted their grill slats with plasi grip?

Thanks

 

This is jpelaston's car

 

Can someone tell me what lip this is?

 

It's the JS Art spoiler. Which I actually took off and have for sale

 

I plasti dipped mine as well

JS Art like skillet said.

 

Plasti Dipped Headlight Rings, (i could not get them off, broke a clip and stopped) Grill Surrounds, Side Markers, and Gas Cap Cover.

It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but im satisfied for now.

Definitely want to get them wrapped. (Im terrible at painting. Have no patience. More of a wrench turner.)

This was my extended weekend project.



Next up, 17% pulley.