Looks Great !

What kind of prep do you need to do before painting ?

And I can find this spray product at Home Depo ???

Thanks ......................

 

Plastidip only requires the surface to be clean. As far as our use of it for cars, it is meant to be completely reversable. So any type of sanding/preping is counter-intuitive.

You can purchase black at Home Depot other colors will have to be purchased online.

 

Wow, looks Great !

What did you have to do to prep the grill surface before painting ?

Let me know so I can do mine ! ! !

 

Woops, missed your reply.

OK I guess just some paint thinner should take off all the wax; then paint away.......

 

Water, and a rag - just make sure there is no gunk/insects/wax on it.

Spray away.

 

I was wondering about plastidiping the rings around the headlights and my doorhandles. should i remove them or just tape them off and spray them on the car? Or should i just save up for some vinyl to wrap them?

 

a glass cleaner like Windex that has ammonia in it works really well for getting all the wax or grease off.

 

Dawn Dish soap will take wax off also.

Just clean really well, tape off or remove and spray. PlastiDip works best if you put about 4 coats on, applying the PlastiDip about 30 minutes between layers. When you want to remove it, just heat it up a bit with a hair dryer and you should be able to slowly pull it off and remove it.

I have the front end of my Lancer done. It looks great and holds up great. Bugs show up like crazy on it though.....

 

How do you get the slats and chrome grille surrounds off? I know you already answered this, but I am lost. Is it those 4-5 screws under the bonnet?? I screwed those and they just spun... help?

 

Don't bother taking everything apart.

I took my time using painters tape on all the parts I did not want to PlastiDip.

I also used newspaper on the Bonnet and Bumper Etc.

I put on at least 3 to 4 coats and it turned out great !

Just take your time . . . . . . . . .

 

It doesn't even take that to remove, rub back and forth and it will peel up just like rubber cement or the tacky stuff credit cards come stuck with. I would say that is is pretty durable though as I have used an automatic car wash, pressure washer etc and it is still there. It will however look crappy if you get wax on it. Mine has some excess wax on it and now has some light white haze to it but for a hour's worth of time I can redo it and for $6 I have no complaints.

 

In my experience, it is easier and neater to paint the slats if you remove the grill. Those pallnuts (sp?) are easier to remove if you wedge something like a flat screw driver behind them as you unscrew them. Good luck! I used black vinyl tape on the bumper grill slat. It worked quite well.

 

I started taking my upper grill off and broke the first plastic retainer on the grill. So I taped it off. Taping took around 40 minutes to do a thorough job. To take the 11 nuts off the upper grill it would take a lot longer. I would strongly recommend taping the grill off. I was able to get the tape perfectly between the grill and the paint on the car so no overspray would get in between the cracks. Pictures below were taken while paint was wet.

The Can says to wait 4 hours between coats, but someone here suggested waiting 30 minutes. Any suggestions???

 

I only wait like 5 minutes. Never had a problem.

 

The PD can actually says wait 30 minutes between coats. My old eyes are deceiving me. Anyway, I waited 45 minutes between the first and second coat. Pictures below taken 45 minutes after the first coat. Second coat was much lighter than the first coat so this time I will wait maybe 30 minutes.

 

Here is my finished job for Plastic Dip Grills. It was very easy to do and highly recommend taping off instead of removing the grills. One can does the job and I was able to get 4 coats on there with a little left over for touch ups. I left the tape on over night to allow more time for drying. Use a utility knife before pulling the tape in the grove between the body and grill to cut the paint before pulling and go slow. I had a slight booboo at the top section which I will touch up later. This is a temporary stop gap until I get a Aero bumper and grills.

Let me know what you think. Do you think I should do the headlight surrounds. Car has a white top. Thanks.

 

This is exactly what I've been looking for! I've been looking to get rid of some of the chrome on my mini and this is the perfect (and inexpensive) answer I needed. I know what I'm doing this weekend and I'll have some before and after pics.

 

Mine still looks great after doing almost 1000 miles. I would recommend cutting the tape right after you paint while the paint is still wet and again after it dries to avoid the tape pulling on the plastidip.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind for this weekend.

I"m gonna buy a can today and test it out on some scrap I got laying around. This way I can get a feel for using it and get an idea of how the texture feels. I plan on doing the chrome lip around my headlights as well and possibly the back chrome piece on the hatch and my side markers. I'm really curious about the texture though cause if it's smooth enough I'll even do my door handles.

 

i actually vinyled the grill surround white and the slates matte black.. thinking back this wouldve been way easier

 

Well I finally got around to taking care of this and I do think it came out pretty good.

Got a couple photos up in the gallery.

 

Nice!!! I'm in the process of doing that as we speak!! (waiting the recommended 30 minutes between coats....)
hmmm.......what else can I plati-dip.....

 

I also did the rear hatch handle, side makers (I had some chrome aftermarkets), and then I did my door handles but I put a few clear coats on those to make them smooth.

 

 

Everything looks great! I have always had the thought of doing this. Thanks.