Getting Crazy with the Plast Dip

[k4azy]

Phew! Finally started on this project. Hopefully the many hours of prep work will pay off. I'm using plasti dip because it's cheap and gives good results. It's also temporary and easy to reapply for quick fixes. However, I'm also using a primer so it'll be a little more permanent.

First, I practiced on a friend's Jeep rims. They came out really nice and helped secure a helper for my much larger project.

In Progress:

After:

Not bad! Now on to the Land Cruiser stuff... I started by taping off my lines. I wanted to do something different than what I typically see so I chose a line that I think will look good and unique.

Then I used a wire brush to clean any rust spots and the holes left from the fender removal. We scuffed the rest of the areas with sandpaper and washed all the dust off.

Next, we masked everything off... We might've gone overboard but better safe than sorry.

To cover up the holes I used metal ducting tape. It's not a perfect solution but the idea is to make it look good from 15' away and prevent water from getting in. I'm happy with this.

After everything was masked off we layed on a coat of primer. Finally felt like we were making progress!

The tape did a decent job of covering the holes. You can still see a dimple and the outline of the tape if you look close but it's good 'nuff. The only thing left to do is put on the Plasti Dip... at least the first color...

 

[JohnVee]

Looking forward to seeing this.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Holy crow, look at all that masking.

 

[k4azy]

What? I like plastic...

 

[lt1fire]

I'm sure you know that plastidip peals off so really the only masking needed is the one that creates your line.
when people plastidip the whole car they paint over the whole thing and peel it off the windows and emblems.


but hey you say you like plastic

 

[lt1fire]

I am looking forward to the results though.

 

[k4azy]

Yeah, but the primer doesn't peel off so easy.

 

[lt1fire]

ahh missed that part

 

[LockedNLoaded]

Love plastidip, can't wait to see your results. I am planning on doing my entire LX at some point.

 

[k4azy]

It's coming along... I only had enough on hand for two coats. I've got more on order. You can see it still looks a bit mottled. The color is camo brown and the trim (chrome bits around lights and grill) will be camo tan. I thought it would go nicely since the interior colors are a close match.

I waited too long before removing my line tape so I'll have to clean that up too. Should be easy enough. One thing I can say; not a speck of overspray.

 

[mtweller]

Dope! Looking forward to seeing the finished product. How much $ do you have in the plastidip for this, if you don't mind me asking.

R

 

[k4azy]

Thanks Ramon! The plasti dip itself is about $9 per can. So far that's $45 for the brown. I'll need another 4 at least before I'm happy. I have 2 cans of tan for the trim. I'll be surprised if I need more than that. I've got $10 in the plastic sheets and 1 can of rustoleum primer which was another $9 or so. Total projected cost is $100.

 

[DeeRex]

This looks great! I'm still surprised Plastidip hasn't taken off more in the off-road circles.
Where did you source your brown? I've seen black and white for about $6/can - but only seem to get other colors online.
-Derek

 

[k4azy]

I got the dip from dipyourcar.com. They've got a bunch of howto vids on YouTube. Some of them are pretty useful. If you just want black or blaze orange you can go to Lowes or just about any other hardware store.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I like that a lot. Don't think I've seen that color on the lower body line before.

 

[LockedNLoaded]

I got the dip from dipyourcar.com. They've got a bunch of howto vids on YouTube. Some of them are pretty useful. If you just want black or blaze orange you can go to Lowes or just about any other hardware store.

Their sprayer is the best I have seen for plastidip. Most people use a wagner, but there is no comparison when you use their sprayer for the first time.

 

[k4azy]

I would've rather gone with the sprayer and a gallon, in retrospect. I seriously underestimated how much product it would take to cover this area. At least I got this handy-dandy spray trigger which made the job pretty easy.

I went back over my receipts and here's the breakdown for the dip:

$82.80 - 10 cans camo brown
$34.25 - 5 cans camo black
$16.56 - 2 cans camo tan
$13.56 - shipping
$13.56 - another shipping charge because I'm a poor planner
--------
~$160

Add the spray trigger, plastic, tape and primer and it's a $200 project. I decided at the last minute to do my rims black because my friend's Jeep rims came out so well.

 

[k4azy]

The rest of my paint won't arrive until tomorrow but over the weekend I hit the trim with the camo tan. The chrome tape on the grill was bubbling and peeling some places so I decided to remove it altogether rather than paint over it. It turned out to be more difficult than I thought but we made short work of it with a power drill and sanding disk.

These are all the pieces that need to be painted:

The grill is going to be black and tan eventually. I masked off the black part and the lenses.

And finally, sprayed it all down.

Here's an idea of what the grill will look like when it's all done.

 

[k4azy]

One of the adjuster screws on my motorcycle's rear axle sheared off yesterday so this project got a whole lot more urgent. I had put the last couple coats on Tuesday evening but I hadn't buttoned everything up. I rushed home, put it all back together and headed back to Durham to rescue my bike. I did manage to get a few shots of the truck, though. I haven't had a chance to clean up some of the line edges nor paint the grill slats black yet.