Well guys I figured I'd share my Plasti-dip experience with you all. Bellow I will go into some detail on the preparation, what all I bought, how much it was, how I set up the "studio", and the overall experience of it, along with pictures and a time-lapse video so you can see the progression.
Shopping list::read:
Dipyourcar.com
Amazon.com
Home Depot
Setup
My garage "fits" 2 cars so I had plenty of space to move around in it and set up the sheets to mask just about everything. The only pointers I can give would be to cover EVERYTHING. My roommate and I were under the assumption that as long as we mitigated over-spray, then we'd be ok for the most part, well yes and no. Yes in the sense that we never got any on the walls and floor. No in the sense that its still an airborne paint that's coming out of the gun so when i finished and turned to the sheets, i saw a beautiful pattern all along it.....and the ceiling. Its really nothing major and you can hardly tell (and its comes off pretty easily) but yeah DEF should cover what you dont want to have excess paint on.
Prep
BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. :yikes:
I really can't stress it enough. I read a few other posts on doing this and they all say the same thing. Preparation is the make or break for this kind of ordeal. If you take the time to prep well then your paint job should go off without a hitch.
Anyways, to start I covered the roof in an old sheet, and the rest in newspapers then taped around it. I left large areas on the front and back windshield so that the dip would peel off easier - excellent tip too btw from Fonzy at dipyourcar. Other then that its pretty self explanatory. Just look at where your natural edges occur and do not try to be a tape genius and tape straight lines, trust me, you can't. I had already had my roof/trim vinyled years ago so thats why I covered it.
Once you take the time and patience to cover places like your grill, exhaust, and air box cut outs, then your ready for the actual paint job. Remember be patient and take your time.
Places I noticed to be the hardest:
Painting
Ok this was the hardest step to start, but really the easiest step if you have a steady hand and patience. (I only say the hardest because I was crazy nervous to start )
I wont go into every detail about how to do it, because I'm for sure no expert. Instead you can check out Dipyourcar's youtube channel and learn from the pro himself as I did, watching him paint an entire car and re-paint a car using the newer Earlex Gun.
It is very methodical and you will separate the car into sections as you can see from the video. This makes it easy to achieve little victories. Also your areas will sometimes not be the same "shade" but dont worry it will settle out as long as you are consistent.
With 3 gallons, I was able to get 5 solid coats and have some left over for when I do the wheels later on.
The first coast is light, and after that it gets heavy and dark.
The mark on the hood is just dust I hadn't brushed off yet.
Besides all that I still have the wheels to redo - since I was planning on doing them now but seeing how dipyourcar forgot to mail my glossifier in my original shippment......:banghead:
I will continue to update as I progress forward with the wheels and anything that comes up over time - Hope you guys enjoy - :thumbsup:
https://vimeo.com/49346884?action=share&ref=nf
Shopping list::read:
Dipyourcar.com
- 3 Gallons of Matte Black plasti-dip - $177
- 3M Respirator - $29
- Pre-dip spray - $9
- Glossifier - $9
- Repair kit (In case I needed to fix anything after.....I did)- $7
Amazon.com
- Earlex 3500 Sprayer ~ $135 (I bought from here because my roommate has Prime so shipping is faster and cheaper then from Dipyourcar.com)
Home Depot
- Painters tape (2 rolls) - $9
- 9'x12' clear drop cloths - $12 (I grabbed 6 at $2/each)
Setup
My garage "fits" 2 cars so I had plenty of space to move around in it and set up the sheets to mask just about everything. The only pointers I can give would be to cover EVERYTHING. My roommate and I were under the assumption that as long as we mitigated over-spray, then we'd be ok for the most part, well yes and no. Yes in the sense that we never got any on the walls and floor. No in the sense that its still an airborne paint that's coming out of the gun so when i finished and turned to the sheets, i saw a beautiful pattern all along it.....and the ceiling. Its really nothing major and you can hardly tell (and its comes off pretty easily) but yeah DEF should cover what you dont want to have excess paint on.
Prep
BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. :yikes:
I really can't stress it enough. I read a few other posts on doing this and they all say the same thing. Preparation is the make or break for this kind of ordeal. If you take the time to prep well then your paint job should go off without a hitch.
Anyways, to start I covered the roof in an old sheet, and the rest in newspapers then taped around it. I left large areas on the front and back windshield so that the dip would peel off easier - excellent tip too btw from Fonzy at dipyourcar. Other then that its pretty self explanatory. Just look at where your natural edges occur and do not try to be a tape genius and tape straight lines, trust me, you can't. I had already had my roof/trim vinyled years ago so thats why I covered it.
Once you take the time and patience to cover places like your grill, exhaust, and air box cut outs, then your ready for the actual paint job. Remember be patient and take your time.
Places I noticed to be the hardest:
- Along the roof-rail where the door lift up for a roof rack, I had to exacto-knife this to get these open.
- Door handles
- Where the bottom window trim meets the body
- The top window trim as you get closer to the hood (it comes very close to the body.
Painting
Ok this was the hardest step to start, but really the easiest step if you have a steady hand and patience. (I only say the hardest because I was crazy nervous to start )
I wont go into every detail about how to do it, because I'm for sure no expert. Instead you can check out Dipyourcar's youtube channel and learn from the pro himself as I did, watching him paint an entire car and re-paint a car using the newer Earlex Gun.
It is very methodical and you will separate the car into sections as you can see from the video. This makes it easy to achieve little victories. Also your areas will sometimes not be the same "shade" but dont worry it will settle out as long as you are consistent.
With 3 gallons, I was able to get 5 solid coats and have some left over for when I do the wheels later on.
The first coast is light, and after that it gets heavy and dark.
The mark on the hood is just dust I hadn't brushed off yet.
Besides all that I still have the wheels to redo - since I was planning on doing them now but seeing how dipyourcar forgot to mail my glossifier in my original shippment......:banghead:
I will continue to update as I progress forward with the wheels and anything that comes up over time - Hope you guys enjoy - :thumbsup:
https://vimeo.com/49346884?action=share&ref=nf