Plastidip'ing the Hood

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Manhattan

Manhattan

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An earlier thread on vinyl touched on Plastidip as an alternative. It kinda got shot down because of the challenge in getting clean lines with taping off the Plastidip. Apparently the "mistake" is treating it like paint, e.g. letting it dry 30 minutes and peeling. That doesn't work - it peels the Plastidip.

The interwebs are full of videos (the same guy) showing how to Plastidip your car. He recommends much less time between coats and that the tape should be pulled when wet. I think the solution may be doing 2 coats, peeling the tape, retaping, spraying 2 coats and peeling the tape. For $6.00 and some tape, (oh, yeah and some time) it's worth playing with. Now... just have to carve out a few hours...

This guy "Fonzi" is Mr. Plastidip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBWaSDmj0g
 
I did my hood with Plastidip over a year ago and would only recommend it if your hood is already oxidizing or faded. The org spray lasted about a year in the ATL heat before it started to crack and flake. Now this could of been my application technique, but it was easy to clean and retouch a year later. Just don't have dreams of just peeling the stuff off your hood with out some real work...
 
Hmmm... that's something to think about. My 100 spends its days basking in the Atlanta sun - not in the garage (my Jeep sleeps there... shhhh). May skip the dip.
 
I recently plastidip'd both bumpers, landcruiser grill and rear letters and the trim pieces. You can let it completely dry with good tape and still get a clean line. The key is two fold. Lay down 2 light coats prior to your heavy coat (allowing 30 mins cure time between each light coat), then lay down at least 1 very heavy "wet" coat, this gives the rubber spray a good amount of material build up.

When you're ready to peel, run a new razor blade along the edge of your tape, not putting a lot of pressure, just enough to get a clean line. Then you can peel the tape with no issues, and should have a nice clean line. It took a bit of practice but in the end wasn't that hard. Another option if you have the time and man power, is to remove the hood and just spray it off the truck. This will allow you to get good coverage without worrying about tape lines. The only issue is that you my scratch it up reassembling if you don't have a guy to hold each corner as you reinstall.
 
2-3 coats is too thin. We recommend 5-7 coats depending on the thickness of each coat. Coats 1-3 need to be fairly light.

We are finishing up this Toyota MR2 right now and it laid down perfectly. 7 coats on this one.

969460_10151699108081223_427492965_n.jpg
 
Sorry Fellas, but I don't get it...

The other day I was in Cincinnasti and saw a late model Suburban. It looked like someone had sprayed the exterior with bedliner, even the wheels. The whole exterior was dull and rough. It looked awful. And it's not like it was all smashed up before they started.

Plastidip may be smoother, but why take a nice looking vehicle and intentionally do this?

The whole concept reminds me of a story in Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture classic; Steal This Book. He wrote about seeing a VW (bug as I recall) sprayed with undercoating... His description was something like "...it looked like a big turd".

When thinking about that Suburban I saw the other day, Abbie Hoffman's description was accurate.

And you want to do this to a Hundy???
 
wrap the hood, plastidip badges and trim

yeti in ga said:
I did my hood with Plastidip over a year ago and would only recommend it if your hood is already oxidizing or faded. The org spray lasted about a year in the ATL heat before it started to crack and flake. Now this could of been my application technique, but it was easy to clean and retouch a year later. Just don't have dreams of just peeling the stuff off your hood with out some real work...
Click to expand...

x2 here.
My LX is really a mall cruiser and even with light duty my experience with plasti dip has been less than awesome. It only peels off easily if you peel it off within a few weeks of application, and if you do that, what's the point? You can use gas on a rag to dissolve it and then wipe it off, but that's not ideal on your hood. The biggest problem, which I don't see addressed very often here is the durability. Even with proper prep, and a thick coat, it's just not meant to withstand regular cleaning - not to mention tree branches. It will rub off.:censor:

Plastidip however, is perfect for deblinging, it is ok for wheels, and it is ok for any looks you want to test. It can be redone cheaply and fairly easily, and for a mall cruiser its ok.

Use a vinyl wrap if you must put something on your hood (I did because it started oxidizing and I didn't want to spring for a paintjob). It is much more durable, looks the same right after install, and will age way better.:idea:
 
If you don't put Plasti Dip on thick enough peeling it off becomes much more difficult. It's not for everybody. But it is a very neat product that is gaining popularity as more information becomes available to folks and more people and shops are learning how to apply it better.
 
I agree on the whole car dipping. I think it's an evolution of the murdered out look - all flat black. I like the plastidip as an alternative to painting parts that would otherwise get shot with flat black - like the anti-glare flat black hood.

Land Rover did the flat panel on some earlier Disco's
DSC00745340.jpg


Done right, I think it looks great. Well, a totally stock LX with pearl white paint may look odd...

On that note, Crawlorado http://www.crawlorado.com/ - makes blackout vinyl "stickers" for 60s, 80s, etc. will make another batch for the 100s if we get an order of 5 or more together.
 
Manhattan said:
I agree on the whole car dipping. I think it's an evolution of the murdered out look - all flat black. I like the plastidip as an alternative to painting parts that would otherwise get shot with flat black - like the anti-glare flat black hood.

Land Rover did the flat panel on some earlier Disco's
DSC00745340.jpg


Done right, I think it looks great. Well, a totally stock LX with pearl white paint may look odd...

On that note, Crawlorado http://www.crawlorado.com/ - makes blackout vinyl "stickers" for 60s, 80s, etc. will make another batch for the 100s if we get an order of 5 or more together.
Click to expand...

I'd be in for one blackout from crawlorado. :cheers:
 
jcrandall said:
Use a vinyl wrap if you must put something on your hood (I did because it started oxidizing and I didn't want to spring for a paintjob). It is much more durable, looks the same right after install, and will age way better.:idea:
Click to expand...

Have you looked into this? I would do the vinyl wrap over plasti-dip any day. :beer:
 
just curious .. how plastidip deal with water .? I mean how it looks when wet .. it will suffer from humidity over 90% .?
 
Tapage said:
just curious .. how plastidip deal with water .? I mean how it looks when wet .. it will suffer from humidity over 90% .?
Click to expand...

It should be fine in all scenarios. I'm in GA and I'm pretty sure we constantly get humidity over 90%, and we get 100% often as well. That and 90 degree weather, but it holds up pretty nicely. You should be fine :) just make sure to apply it properly if you want an easy time taking it off.
 
ONLY Draw back I have seen since plastidipping my grill is the desert's lingering dirt..... Sort of hard to get out of all the tight spots...... Being in that southern red clay and dirt should be interesting... but some one from that area can speak more to that.... I have wheeled back there in over 20 years when I grew up there....
 
for those that have dipped, what is your opinion on scratch resistance and/or healing? I just picked up a cherry of a hundy and am debating a film or a dip to help protect from the vicious manzanita and sagebrush on our narrow trails here in Central Oregon...
 
cruzerDave said:
for those that have dipped, what is your opinion on scratch resistance and/or healing? I just picked up a cherry of a hundy and am debating a film or a dip to help protect from the vicious manzanita and sagebrush on our narrow trails here in Central Oregon...
Click to expand...

It's been over two years for me. The dip is holding up fine. I occasionally touch it up with a spray can when rock chips hit the bumpers, but otherwise it's been great. The black does tend to fade a bit or get mineral deposits when it rains, but I just use some back to black rubber tire treatment on it to get it to shine right up. It's been great and super easy to maintain, actually a lot cheaper and easier then paint!
 
The also make a UV resistant glossifier or satinizer which will make it last a lot longer without fading.

Its great stuff. I use it on all my badging. If you're thinking of doing large panels, it get hard to get an even spray with cans. Its not impossible, but definitely difficult. I recommend buying gallons and using a Wagner or "dipyourcar" electric spray gun for large panels.
 
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