plasti dip whole car?

[wombatslayer]

my friends nicknamed my car the batmobile... it's not even black...? anyways the batmobile is in some dying need of body work. i was given the idea to plastidip my hood because it doesnt match the color of my car... what if i were to do the whole thing? i'm thinking it would look sweet.. paint job on a budget? little more along the lines of batmobile...

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYVx6IqzcR7hLx_SkJEjK6FeaNbV7aC TFwbKJtoPiZU_mOgnfBggr3yHLVXg

http://cdn.speednik.com/files/2012/03/plasti-dip-5.jpg

[tw0123]

as long as you like the flat black look go for it... look into vehicle wraps too, might be about the same cost...

[wombatslayer]

definitely flat black. how many cans would you think it would take?

[sleepyalero]

well 1 can covers approx. 10 feet, do the math :lol:

that colbolt is a friend of ions. go for it, it would be interesting, id maybe look into painting instead of using the can, idk. when i did my hood you could see where the can was ran and saw the paint lines. so search an see what others used to lay it on first.

[wombatslayer]

i'm assuming... a lot? haha so like 40-$50 worth right?.... i'm mathematically challenged.....i think if i used the can right, it would be ok. i have no other way of doing it anyways.

[xXManwhoreXx]

Many many many light coats....... sleepy has no sense of patience.

[sleepyalero]

Many many many light coats....... sleepy has no sense of patience.

i just did it like i did the emblems.. light coat wait 5 mins, nice coat wait 15 mins, then a good coat wait and hour. i even added a couple coats after that and waited, still could get it to go away.

[natedawg9640]

it'll probably cost almost a couple hundred bucks worth out of a rattle can to get it looking good.

You'd be better off getting jugs of it, thinning it, and spraying it with a paint gun. See here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=684511

There are links to the dip site for product sourcing as well.

from a durability standpoint, i think it's pretty nice. I dipped the bottom of my rear clip as i wanted somehting that matched to motif of the carbon, but i know rocks and shit hit it all the time and i didn't want to have to re-wrap the whole bumper if it got chewed up. I've never had to respray that area and there is constantly gravel and sand and stuff hitting it and caked to it. originally, it was made to dip tool handles in to give you a better grip. that's what it's called plasti-dip and not -wrap-in-a-can. So knowing it's use, I dont know why people think it just falls off on it's own or something.

As far as comparing it to a wrap cost-wise... that comment must be a joke. I wrapped my car and it was almost 1k in material alone. granted it was di-noc and matte black is about %40 cheaper, but that's still way more expensive that plastidip. and then you gotta pay for install unless you know what you're doing.

[wombatslayer]

It would definitely take me all day... I can't afford to buy a spray gun.. So I'll have to go with the cans... I'll just do what was said about many many light coats.

[natedawg9640]

one bit of advice. clean the car very well. and when you think it's clean with no dust on it... clean it one more time. Spray in a dust free environment if possible. you will be much happier with the results if you keep dirt out of it.

[wombatslayer]

We have a pretty insanely large garage. I'll do it in there. Then I'll dust it, about 4-5 times. Get all the bugs off of it and what not.

[natedawg9640]

should be sweet.

[xXManwhoreXx]

Keep floor wet and keep dust out of the air. Especially in a big garage.

[sleepyalero]

cant wait to see this. :D

[xXManwhoreXx]

I may do it also if it turns out ok

[Newlin]

I may do it also if it turns out ok

I'm with you on that. The matte black looks pretty nice.

[wombatslayer]

It's probly gonna be 2 to 3 weeks. I'll fill everyone in on what happens.

[zzyzzx]

Looks like something one might do to a beater.

[billytheman1188]

Like one of the guys said....CLEAN IT GOOOOOOD! Get bug remover for the bumper cover/headlights/mirrors and clean them....then soap that baby down and scrub her good. Like manwhore said....LIGHT COATS....dont go real heavy with it or it will look bad/run. Also just spray it one part at a time. Do the hood first...light coat....5-10 min flash or w/e it needs....another light coat....maybe another after? idk....depending on how light ya go. then move to the fender...do that...then door....ya know? One part at a time. Don't try to just do one side of the car at once. K, i'm done ranting ;) Good luck! Can't wait to see how it looks on an alero.

[sleepyalero]

just watch the video that was in the link. it tells you step by step.

[spc2125]

Dont worry about taping off the windows, it will peel right off.
Only thing that its hard to get off is the tires imo

[natedawg9640]

I would never so this to a beater. That's a waste of time and material. What you do to a beater is go get some cheap primer and bomb it with that like an idiot. The better the paint and body, the better the matte finish.

[wombatslayer]

apart from my quarter panels rusting,(getting fixed right before) and a small mark on my rear bumper, it's pretty much flawless.

[zman246]

I don't think this is a good idea, especially if your alero is near mint. I also think you'll spend a lot more than 40-50 bucks on this stuff. just my 2 cents.

[03Sleepr]

no bdyman in here yet??

[03glgold]

I don't think this is a good idea, especially if your alero is near mint. I also think you'll spend a lot more than 40-50 bucks on this stuff. just my 2 cents.

not saying whether or not he should do it however, it has a mismatched hood and needs the rear quarters rebuilt due to rust so I wouldn't consider it to be near mint

[sleepyalero]

yeah its also gonna look sick.

[cavaliers60]

I would do it but my wife would just shake her head and ask me why....

[03glgold]

I would do it but my wife would just shake her head and ask me why....

would you saying "because I can" be an incorrect answer to that question :p

[zman246]

not saying whether or not he should do it however, it has a mismatched hood and needs the rear quarters rebuilt due to rust so I wouldn't consider it to be near mint

Well I said mint because he said he was getting the quarter panels fixed but (no offense to the original poster) if he can't afford paint then he definitely can't afford to fix the quarters.

I just can't see this stuff staying on the car for as long as you want it to. Every month I have to repaint something that some jackass didn't take the time to prep properly. The paint starts peeling off in spots and it looks awful. And thats paint. Its meant to stick to cars. This plastidip stuff isn't even intended for cars, much less the leading edge of a car going 70 mph hitting bugs. I hope this works out for you man but personally I'd worry about it.

[03glgold]

Well I said mint because he said he was getting the quarter panels fixed but (no offense to the original poster) if he can't afford paint then he definitely can't afford to fix the quarters.

I just can't see this stuff staying on the car for as long as you want it to. Every month I have to repaint something that some jackass didn't take the time to prep properly. The paint starts peeling off in spots and it looks awful. And thats paint. Its meant to stick to cars. This plastidip stuff isn't even intended for cars, much less the leading edge of a car going 70 mph hitting bugs. I hope this works out for you man but personally I'd worry about it.

it isn't like he is expecting it to be permanent...i don't know if it was in this thread or the other one but it was a temporary thing until he could get the money to paint it properly...unlike paint where you have to sand everything, when you are ready for this to go away you just have to peel it off...there are people doing newer bmws the same way, as referenced in some of the stuff that has been posted it lasts anywhere from 6 months to a year before it needs to be messed with

[zman246]

I guess it wouldn't be the worst then, but I still don't think it would stay on the leading edge of the car long enough to be worth your money. Good luck I guess

[sleepyalero]

yeah he can remove it at any time with no down sides to it. its basically protecting his paint.

[xXManwhoreXx]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m83vqcxeOc1qdvkoro1_500.jpg

Plastidip....

[xXManwhoreXx]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lojimtx4DJ1qdgttto1_400.jpg

[sleepyalero]

that subie is sex.

[wombatslayer]

when you're close friends with a welder, it tends to change the story a little bit... it's not going to cost me more than $100 to get that repaired. and yeah maybe i got the pricing a little wrong... more like 250, but still beats a price for a full paint job.... could i afford to have my hood repainted, yes. i just think it would look a little different from anyone else's in flat black. it's removable. so it's not like a massive devastation if it doesn't turn out right.

[RedRocket420]

dipp ur whipp

[redaleroboi]

i'm thinking of plasti dipping my stock rims but does anyone know if it holds up good against chrome?

[sleepyalero]

i'm thinking of plasti dipping my stock rims but does anyone know if it holds up good against chrome?

search..

http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34949&highlight=plasti

it'll hold up fine..

[wombatslayer]

The whole plasti dip wasn't a bad idea, but I'm still currently going to high school (because I'm cool) but I'm also going to boces. And the autobody teacher had said I could get my whole car repainted for about $320.... So I think I'm gonna go with that and take advantage of it while I can..... Anybody know a good color choice? I kinda want to go with a dark red or charcoal color.

[sleepyalero]

anything but red really. get some gnarly color.

[Newlin]

If you want a reddish hue a dark burgundy would look very good in my opinion.

[03glgold]

make sure that the paint that you are using isn't super low quality crap that is going to peel off a year from now

[RedRocket420]

do a nice orange, not to bright

[natedawg9640]

I guess it wouldn't be the worst then, but I still don't think it would stay on the leading edge of the car long enough to be worth your money. Good luck I guess


it was meant to coat tool handles in to give you more grip. it's plenty strong and doesn't just flake off or peel or anything like that.

[sleepyalero]

some odd crazy sick lookin color.

[tw0123]

http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4894893391413830&pid=1.9
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4784993758413146&pid=1.9
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.5046501435441983&pid=1.9
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4861263810201048&pid=1.9
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4648598520136665&pid=1.9
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4695284801734257&pid=1.9
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4937679803384445&pid=1.9

[sleepyalero]

i like the color on the 370

[spc2125]

World rally blue ? :p

[Newlin]

Found an Alero on craigslist that looks like they plasti dipped it. Either that or its just a black matte paint.

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/3307531164.html

[zman246]

The whole plasti dip wasn't a bad idea, but I'm still currently going to high school (because I'm cool) but I'm also going to boces. And the autobody teacher had said I could get my whole car repainted for about $320.... So I think I'm gonna go with that and take advantage of it while I can..... Anybody know a good color choice? I kinda want to go with a dark red or charcoal color.

Ok, I don't have experience with plasti-dip so feel to ignore my opinion on that. But I paint cars for a living so at least hear me out on this one. $320 is scary cheap. I painted my daily driver alero with pretty darn cheap paint (shopline brand) and it still cost over $700. Dirt cheap paints don't hold up well, they chip and scratch super easy, its harder to buff without getting swirls and its so thin that you risk burning through, the paint doesn't flex so it cracks off the bumpers if you ever actually bump into anything, and in some cases after a couple years it can flake off. Furthermore for that price the only kind you could afford is single stage paint. That means there is no clearcoat - the color and clearcoat are sort of combined in one. So the UV protection sucks. I don't ever spray that crap but I've heard its hard to get colors with metallics in them to look right. If you do this I'd consider something without metallics unless you know that painter is good enough. Plus the door jambs and trunk will be the old color still. And don't even get me started on how much prepwork is involved in getting it ready for paint. That paint will come right off if they dont prep it right. Theres a reason we charge 5 grand for a paint job... its a lot of work and quality materials cost a lot if you want long lasting, high quality results.

I won't tell you not to do it. Maybe you just want it to look a little better for a year or two before it gets crushed into a cube. Just know what you're getting into.

[wombatslayer]

Damn. I just can't win haha

[billytheman1188]

Dude....you go to boces (a special program for working on cars for people who dont know) so what kind of paint do they use? That $320 estimate is prob just for materials....all the prep cost wouldnt factor in since its a program for people learning. They don't charge for labor....which is why im kind of confused as to why wombat doesn't get that??? lol....the school i went to used PPG and people painted their cars (which came out AMAZING) for less than $200....sooooo 320 isn't that crazy if you think about it. I KNEW a body guy would chime in and say something about the cost.....not every paint job cost 2k or more ;) That's the luxury you have when you go to a school that does body work.

[natedawg9640]

sometimes when the job is done at a school type setting, the paints are sponsored or discounted as well through that organization... so they likely get the paint for well below even wholesale.

looks like that craigslist alero is dipped. I dont think anyone would rock steelies and spend the cash for custom paint.

[zman246]

Thats true, the school could get it at a discount. I can't see it being $600+ lower .. but it doesn't hurt to ask. When I went to tech for autobody the discount for paint wasn't a whole lot and labor was something like 10 or 15 bucks an hour. I have no idea what it is at your school.

[zman246]

Dude....you go to boces (a special program for working on cars for people who dont know) so what kind of paint do they use? That $320 estimate is prob just for materials....all the prep cost wouldnt factor in since its a program for people learning. They don't charge for labor....which is why im kind of confused as to why wombat doesn't get that??? lol....the school i went to used PPG and people painted their cars (which came out AMAZING) for less than $200....sooooo 320 isn't that crazy if you think about it. I KNEW a body guy would chime in and say something about the cost.....not every paint job cost 2k or more ;) That's the luxury you have when you go to a school that does body work.

I dunno man... Just last week I priced out PPG paint for a side job I'm doing. Just for a gallon of clear coat it was over 200 bucks. That doesn't even include the activator or reducer for the clear coat plus you've got to buy the basecoat and in my case primer and sealer. Its a lot of money :(

If you can get the labor for free then you're going to get a hell of a deal... A lot of the cost of a paint job is the labor. You say not every paint job costs 2k? Well look at it this way- lets say you spend $900 on quality name brand materials and paint that wont go bad after a few years. That leaves $1100 divided by $68 per hour = 16 hours. Thats just two days to disassemble, sand down, scuff up, mask off, spray, and reassemble. You've got to cut corners somewhere. Some of you might be happy with a cheap paint job and thats fine if thats what you want but the higher the price, the better the work and the longer it will last.

[billytheman1188]

I dunno man... Just last week I priced out PPG paint for a side job I'm doing. Just for a gallon of clear coat it was over 200 bucks. That doesn't even include the activator or reducer for the clear coat plus you've got to buy the basecoat and in my case primer and sealer. Its a lot of money :(

If you can get the labor for free then you're going to get a hell of a deal... A lot of the cost of a paint job is the labor. You say not every paint job costs 2k? Well look at it this way- lets say you spend $900 on quality name brand materials and paint that wont go bad after a few years. That leaves $1100 divided by $68 per hour = 16 hours. Thats just two days to disassemble, sand down, scuff up, mask off, spray, and reassemble. You've got to cut corners somewhere. Some of you might be happy with a cheap paint job and thats fine if thats what you want but the higher the price, the better the work and the longer it will last.

Yea some of their stuff is PRICEY....he prob did get a nice discount or used a diff paint...our teacher was pretty cool with us doing stuff too...he wasn't a stickler on us paying every penny.

As for the quality work...believe me i know. Some guys i know paint their cars without taking everything off....i just laugh cause i know it will peel within a year or two. That's what the jackwagons at this shop did to my other car (before i had knowledge on how to do body work)....they left my fenders on when they cleared and it started peeling....pissed me off. Anyways...i totally get what your saying. You get what you pay for. I was just kind of pointing out to the guy who started the thread and to you that it was cheap because they don't charge for labor....just the materials. Pretty sweet deal...a lot of guys in our class cut corners...just amazes me that people do that...you dont want the paint job to last/look good? lol

[wombatslayer]

the students can't paint an entire car, the teacher wont let them. the teacher would be painting the vehicle.. the school gets decent discounts on pretty much everything they buy... i'm in auto mechanics and just for being a student, i get 15% off at select stores. i have the option of painting my whole car, but i also have the option of getting my hood and bumper back to the color of the rest of my car for about $70. there would be a lot less to worry about, and would save money.

[billytheman1188]

the students can't paint an entire car, the teacher wont let them. the teacher would be painting the vehicle.. the school gets decent discounts on pretty much everything they buy... i'm in auto mechanics and just for being a student, i get 15% off at select stores. i have the option of painting my whole car, but i also have the option of getting my hood and bumper back to the color of the rest of my car for about $70. there would be a lot less to worry about, and would save money.

Ahhh ok...that sucks that the students cant paint....they need to get practice somehow....even just on an old fender or hood...at least you get a discount though. I like the color of your alero...also keep in mind if you repaint the whole car it's A LOT of work....you gotta strip the doors/trunk/take off hood and fenders and prob take off the doors cause you have to paint the door jams....or you can just do it the cheap way and tape everything off and it will peel a year later lol. I say stick with the color you have now.... easier/less time consuming and cheaper ;)

[zzyzzx]

http://www.youdrivewhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/MurderFL.jpg

[zman246]

Oh geeze they dipped the tail lights? ^

[zzyzzx]

Oh geeze they dipped the tail lights? ^

I was wondering about that as well, as it appears to be the case.

[Truth]

At least they like waffles..

[Papa Rad17]

Me and a friend did this in my garage http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36823&highlight=plastic+dipped+firebird

[AleroB888]

.... :awesome:
watch?v=0-CRBHtEIwc

[theirishpope]

There is a dude on you tube that does professionals dip jobs and breaks down every step, color, equipment, helpful hints, etc. Just type dip your car in the search bar his name is fanzi.

[Redog]

I looked into doing this to my Delta.

Stuff is not really meant to be long term. Chips and tears will cause peeling and it will look like crap again. My Delta was going to cost about $1000 to get all the equipment and dip and do it myself. For another $1450, I had the car blasted, then repainted. I also had the clips removed for all the 1980's chrome trim and I sold the trim for $150 to some dude in CT.

The paint will last probably about 10-15 years or so, dip won't last a year, so when you break it down, and I do this for everything.

Dip $1000= $83.33 a month based on lasting one year

Prep and paint $2450 = $20.41 - $13.61 based on paint lasting 10 to 15 years

Of course I took the car apart myself, removed all trim, bumpers, emblems, ect