Paint my Ride

[Bill Musarra]

This is for those that wonder what paint scheme they will choose for their car, or what certain colors will look like on their cars.

I am in the middle of repainting my GT-40. I had started out trying to decide if I should alter my roof line for a rear view camera and sanded off most of the paint, well all of the paint from the roof of the spyder. I also was not real enamored with the look of the paint I had originally chosen, a Ford Dark Shadow Grey. It had darkened more than I would have thought. So when I damaged my rear clip recently, I decided to paint the entire car. I had tried using Plastidip on the spyder and was amazed at how it turned out.
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-exterior-interior-ac-trim/38802-experiment.html#post391067
The people at Plastidip have progressed from their basic colors up through the neons to their latest partnership with Pearls and Pigments
PearlsandPigments.com
The only way before now to change or experiment with colors(Plastidip) was to purchase industrial pigments thru Sherwin Williams. These are far from cheap. Since I was going to repaint, I wanted to experiment with several colors to see how I liked them. One was an attempt to duplicate the Linden Green color. Try as I may, using just Plastidip, I could not get the color to come through. Too white, blue, or green. The wet look was near perfect, but once dried it would be too dark. Even tried to add things like their Pearlizer to no avail.
I still like the grey color and I had ordered some of their Antracite grey(a metalic), but I felt it was darker than I wanted. Added some of the industrial pigment white and came up with this.

After getting this on the car,the partnership with P&P came about. The spectrum of their colors is unbelievable.

Candy Pearl (36)
Ghost Pearl (8)
Chameleon Pearl (6)
Glow in the Dark Pearl (3)
Micro Flake (18)
Holographic Micro Flake (4)
Chameleon Micro Flake (4)
Build Your Own Sample Pack (1)
Speed Shapes (1)

If you don't know what these colors look like in person you can order their "Build your own Sample pack", where you get 4 sample packs to try out and see if you like the colors and how they come out. All you need is a Preval sprayer and some clear Plastidip.

Here is a breakdown on cost. I will include the cost of all supplys so you can get a feel for how much this experiment is going to run. This is full coverage cost. It may run you less if it only takes 2 galons lets say.
Dipyourcar.com https://www.dipyourcar.com/home.php
PearlsandPigment.com
Candy Pearl

3 gal. Professional Spray kit--$319(If you have your own sprayer you will need a #1.8-2.0 tip. The 3 gal pack is $164)
20 gram sample pack(you choose 4 colors, 5 gram samples-$7)
What ever color you settle on, they come in 25 gram packs-$10-14(50 grams per gal=$60-76)
Preval sprayer-$6
Speed shape-$1.25 ea. Lets you see how the final product will look with curves
They list how much you will need per gal of the Dip
http://www.pearlsandpigments.com/HowtoUse.html
Ghost pearls-$10(50 grams/gal=$60)
Sample pack $7
Chameleon-$19-29(75 grams/gal.=$171-261) No sample packs
Micro flakes-$7(25 grams/gal.)=$21
Sample pack-$7

So if you were going to try the pearls you would pay at most $419
If you added Ghost pearl stripes or flames or whatever, probably 1 gal. $134(you might have to buy an extra gal of the Plastidip)
For the micro flakes $352(more speed shapes)

Now you guys will have to tell me how much a paint job on YOUR car would cost. Would this be a reasonable investment in that??
Remember, this stuff will last about a year, and you would get a chance to try it out and see if you like it,,,, and, you can save up the money for that paint job. If you don't like it, just peel it off. BTW you get a sprayer to keep, that you can use on those backyard projects. I know I am going to experiment some more and have my car done by spring if that will ever get here. Two snow storms in two weeks in Georgia, Wow!!
What do you guys think.

Bill

 

[Jim Craik]

Very interesting, I had heard of this stuff, it good to see someone trying it out.

Too bad about the Linden Green, that would have been my first question. Maybe in the future thay can make that one work.

Please keep us informed, I know many are hoping this is a workable product!

 

[Pat]

On option might be to consider shrink wrap. I fellow in my car club had his Aston Martin redone this way and it looks fantastic. He says he plans to keep it on the car and when he's ready to sell, he'll pull it off to unblemished original paint.
In personally looking at the car, it is impossible to tell it is not paint and the color is a flat metallic blue that I've never seen on a car before.

 

[Jack Houpe]

Bill I can't wait to see how this turns out, I have several old cars that I would like to freshen up the paint but the cost is a factor, then someday when I win the loto I could peal off and have someone paint them all.

 

[Dean Lampe]

First let me say that Bill your skills are fantastic and I really appreciate you sharing this with us.

The wrap is a good idea. I had a company look at the gt40 for a wrap project and they were a little concerned about some of the compound curves especially around the fresh air ducts in the rear clam. It might be worth a try but there might be some areas that will not be possible to cover.

Bill, do you think the longevity of the plastidip would be effected by the amount of use the car sees or is there just a lifespan that is has before it begins to deteriorate?

 

[Randy V]

This stuff is amazing.. I have not, however, seen any plastidip job that really had a deep shine to it though..

Wraps, on the other hand, can be almost as deep in shine as a good clearcoat paint!

 

[Terry Oxandale]

So...with the many references to "peel it off" for the Plasti-dip, just how easy or hard is it to do this. A rock or something knocks a piece off, header heat, you name it. Would medium pressure water or high air speed cause the car to basically unwrap (de-plasticize)?

 

[Bill Musarra]

O K,,,,, This may be a long one, but lets take it one at a time.

Veek, The wraps can be either flat or shinny, Any color is possible. Most of the Plastidip colors(basic) are flat colors. There are pearls and Metalics that give a satin finish. Then they have a "Glossifier" that will put a shine on it. Technique of adding the Glossifier determines how glossy you will get. There are Utube videos that will answer all the questions.There is one wheel video that they did with the Anthracite and Glossifier. It was as shinny as you could want.

Dean, Yes the compund curves are the downfall of the wraps for a 40. If it could be a "shrink wrap" it would work. the plastidip has a tendancy to darken over time, say 6mo. to a year. They now have some that are UV resistant which should lengthen the time. I don't know the extent of the darkening, but others have reported the change. The material is rubber based and it is a little difficult to get a true smooth finish. If you go to their Utube channel: DipYourCar - YouTube
there are over 100 videos that will show many different colors and finishes. They answer all the possible questions you guys can think up.

Randy, They are now using various waxes on the finish to get shine and it seems to help protect the finish. For instance you take a coin and rub the finish as it is and it will leave a light mark on the finish. With the wax on there, there is no mark left. Found a video on their forum that demonstrated it.

Terry, The finish can withstand any car wash or pressure wash. They had one car that belonged to a snow boarder who drove his car to 5-6 different tournaments in the harsh winter climate without a problem. The ability to peel comes from the fact that they need a certain thickness in order for it to peel in sheets. otherwise it peels sort of crumbly if thin. all you need to do is rub quite hard on an edge and it will break the finish loose. Then it is just a matter of pulling it off. Wind does not affect it. The grey I did on mine was the first attempt at this. There is, or was a lot of what they call texture. this happens when there is either over spray with not enough thinner, or the gun is too far away from the surface and the material dries before it hits the surface(just like real paint). Mine was both. It is correctable without pulling it all off. You spray a coat of thinner and it melts the little clumps. The finish looks a little wet and may be tacky. To straighten out that you just spray a coat or two of new "dip" and don't repeat the problem.
I had decided to remove the finish I have since the texture was very rough. I didn't have enough thickness to get the sheet effect, so I mixed up all the leftover "dip" and sprayed about 3-4 coats with extra emphasis on the areas that I started to peel the finish(about 1/4 of the left front side. I figured out the technique of spraying the upper vents and all the coats that I added straightened out the texture pproblems except the heavy ones inside the vents that you can hardly see, much less get paint in there. Also had to change the spray pattern from fan to shot to get the stuff in there. After all my experimenting trying to get the Linden Green, I was surprised to find the color that resulted from mixing all the experimental colors and the Anthracite left over, the color came out a very light green. Would post a pic but it doesn't show it with a pic. Will try tomorrow when I have some daylight. My floods just wash it out.
If you guys will go to their Utube channel, you will find the answers to most if not all of your questions. Or go to their forum and search away DipYourCar.com Plasti Dip Community Forum

Bill

 

[Bill Musarra]

Here are some selections that should answer most of the questions you might have. Their Utube channel is:
DipYourCar - YouTube

What is PD
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdCtzxkER7k]What is Plasti Dip? DipYourCar.com Intro Video for Channel - YouTube[/ame]

Myths about PD.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkq-qyY9aY]Myths About Plasti Dip (Vol 1) - YouTube[/ame]

Carbon Fiber look
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5N-AYaENI]Create Carbon Fiber Look with Plasti Dip - YouTube[/ame]

How to fix PD(When you FU)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0jEvxxTzE]How to Fix PlastiDip (Texture, Tears, Troubleshooting) DipYourCar.com - YouTube[/ame]

Does PD really peel off
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj68Jji57w8]Does PlastiDip Really Peel Off?? - YouTube[/ame]

Does it stay on
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CmiZu55iw]Plasti Dip put to the TEST - On the Road with DipYourCar.com - YouTube[/ame]

Through a car wash
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q37dZ2YdXl4]Plasti Dip Through Car Wash? Does it Last? - YouTube[/ame]

Painting your wheels
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U32It5-muSc]Vintage Gold Plasti Dip Wheels - YouTube[/ame]

How to remove PD if only one or two coats(or even more)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ynMrKFZJHI]How to remove Plasti Dip that's too thin - Dip Dissolver - YouTube[/ame]

How to mask your car
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPTIAAr112c]How to Mask your Car or Truck to be Plasti Dipped - YouTube[/ame]

The sprayer
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jdl_nuoDQ]DYC DipSprayer Spraystation - The Sprayer Made for Plasti Dip - YouTube[/ame]

Pearls and Metal flakes and sample bags(newest products)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHfe0Ksrd3E]How to use Pearls with Plasti Dip - YouTube[/ame]

One of the new Pearls
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRWf3fIT7kA]Red Rum Dip Pearl Plasti Dip - YouTube[/ame]

Pearls and Pigments web page(can get them from DYC also). To get to the sample bags click on the one(s) you want and a drop down menu lets you select the size you want.
Candy Pearl

To find more questions, that other people have asked, or you have more questions of your own, go here and join up(so you can see the pics). They have probably 70-80 pages of questions. You should find yours there.
http://www.dipyourcar.com/forums/forum.php

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Thanks Bill. So from what I can tell, you get roughly 2 mils per coat.

 

[Bill Musarra]

Terry,
No the final coat is about 2 mils. The first coat is just a misting of a cover. They say about a 50% coverage. The second coat is about the same. Should still see the base color of the car through it. The 3rd, 4th and maybe even the 5th coat are the thicker coats. The first two coats give the rest something to hold on to. The problem with getting thick coats on is that it doesn't run like a paint. Instead you get a sheet slide effect. Akin to a snow pack movement.
I just finished peeling the color off mine yesterday, as there was some areas of texture that my second coat could cover but not correct. Once I got into it I could see the areas that didn't get such good coverage even though I thought I had enough coverage.. The areas that were covered good came off in hugh sheets. The compound curves of the car made it a little difficult in spots and had to resort to the spraying of thinner and power washing. The area at the top of the clip, and the upper vents were the most troublesome. The top area is a virtual round piece getting it off was not easy. At the rear window and exhaust vent I used a finely serrated knife to break the Dip at the indented margin. This helped with the establishing a line to work from. I wanted to see how a stripe would look so I did one in regular paint. they didn't have the color I wanted in stock and i could not get the color I wanted by mixing. Big mistake. The painted areas would not peel at all. So I had to resort to sanding the paint and using the solvent to get the Dip off.
The Dip actually helped me identify a set of new cracks that I hadn't seen earlier. They are in the stop light area, and the front edge of the motor surround. So a little more repair to be done. Will scotch bright the entire car to make sure all the rubber spray is off the car. May add another layer of primer and blocking.
I plan to get some of the Pigment and Pearls material and experiment with it a bit before coming to a decision on what true color I want to go with. Might look at some of the enamels as well. Now is the time to do it.

Bill

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Terry,
I wanted to see how a stripe would look so I did one in regular paint. they didn't have the color I wanted in stock and i could not get the color I wanted by mixing. Big mistake. The painted areas would not peel at all. So I had to resort to sanding the paint and using the solvent to get the Dip off.
Bill

If I read that correctly, you painted over the dip, and the paint adhered to the dip, but made the dip (under the painted strip) so that it wouldn't peel off?

The web site indicated a 10-12 mil coat after 4-5 coats, so that is where I came up with the 2 mils/coat. With little to no trim at all on my car, this seems like a great alternative. I'm just very concerned at the learning curve on application versus my past experience with traditional paints. Should make one hell of a rock guard for new cars...drive it 10 years, peel off the dip...sell it looking good as new.

 

[Bill Musarra]

I stand corrected about the thickness. You are right. The problem i had was that I had thin coats on the car when I put the stripe on. Then I added the second color on top of the first just to get enough on the car so it would peel, plus I had this stuff all thrown together that I didn't want to throw out. So I sprayed the second color and got the thickness up to the 10-12 mil thickness. When I peeled it, it peeled nicely, right off the paint, leaving the paint and the first thin layer. When you have a thin layer it will not come off in sheets. It just crumbles. So to speed the process up I sanded the paint off the dip and used thinner to get the thin layer of Dip off rather than struggle with the crumbly stuff. When you use paint over the Dip it is generally harder to get the dip off. the paint is stiff and the Dip has to stretch in order to peel. I was just trying the paint to see what it looked like next to the grey.
Getting a shinny finish is not what you will get with the Dip. It is mosstly flat for their standard colors, more of a simigloss when you include(mix) the metalizers, pearlizers or glossifier with your color of choice. You have to do a layer of glossifier by itself to get it near gloss. To get it as close to gloss as posible, you need to add a wax finish. Go to their forum and look for questions about adding a wax at the end to help the finish. I remember something about an "Ice wax". Don't remember the brand name. The last video I listed above will show you how it will look mixing the glossifier.

Bill

Bill

 

[PeteB]

Any updates Bill? The more I read and the more videos I watch on this, the more I'm convinced I'm going to dip my SLC. I LOVE the Red Rum Pearl.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Great string. In the end I'm going back to traditional paint being I cannot chance the occasional solvent or fuel drip's effect on the coating. I did experiment with it this weekend, and was amazed at how the coating smooths out over a few minutes compared to the poor initial look of it immediately after it was sprayed on. I'll seriously look into a satin look paint job instead of the normal gloss

 

[PeteB]

I just finished Plasti Dipping a friend's Miata. Black base with Atlantic Colorshift Pearl, then Dip Your Car clear topcoat. It came out pretty well, but I think I need some more practice before I'm ready to do the SLC.

Finished:






In the rain:


Black basecoat:


Color coat:

 

[Randy V]

Looks nice, but it's a pity that all colors and top coats are satin at best in terms of sheen...
I do realize and respect the fact that there are people who like satin finishes on their cars - I'm just not one of them apparently..

 

[Bill Musarra]

Randy,
The Plastidip people have cone out with some new stuff since any of the old threads. Here is how they get a gloss finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHZaRG6rgY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ_jQM4I1NQ

Also, be aware that if you want you can do a clear coat over it all to get a "shinier" finish. But you lose the pealability as the clear is hard. Needs to have the streech to peel.

Here is a primer on prepping the car for the Dip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J6rRj98A5s

Bill

 

[Randy V]

Those look a LOT better, however I am still not seeing that deep shine that I would want for my own car... They are coming along though I will give them that...

I wonder if they can be cut and buffed?

 

[Bill Musarra]

Those look a LOT better, however I am still not seeing that deep shine that I would want for my own car... They are coming along though I will give them that...

I wonder if they can be cut and buffed?

If you go to their site you may find the info for adding a wax finish to the surface. It aids in hiding scratch marks(protects the finish). Probably does something for the shine as well!!??

Bill