Okay cool, so you did all the rubber on your truck in black. Cool.
Just to clarify, my project is the FJ40, not the 4Runner. (I think you knew that, just wanted to mention it)
If your rubber is ok, I would just tape it off when painting. I only did mine in black because it had so much overspray from a previous owner paint job.
So, all in all it was $300?
I spent around $275 for 5 gallons of dip. I only used 3 and 2/3 gallons. So I could have ordered 4. If anybody is reading this and considering dipping and FJ40, 4 gallons is plenty. I could have saved about $60 there. I think with shipping included, I paid $315. And again, that was with a gallon I didn't need. One thing to note, a sprayer is needed. Some people have access to sprayers so it's not a big deal. I actually went in with 2 other friends and shared the cost of a sprayer last year during DYC's Black Friday Sale. We all had plans to dip our cars, so it worked out well. A standard sprayer works well with plastidip, and the one DYC sells (that we bought) is highly regarded.
Did you do cans or did you buy the kit?
As mentioned above, I used a sprayer. Using cans to dip a whole vehicle would be a nightmare with poor results. All I bought from them was the sprayer and plastidip. No kit. They included a paint filter with the dip, as well as stir sticks. And the sprayer came with a mixer for a drill. None of those items were expected, but all put to use. You don't really need the other things that come in the kit like the microfiber towel or the pre dip spray. I prepped my FJ with a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water, which is common for these projects.
Did you do the interior also?
Yep, I did the dash. It's pretty cool, it looks brand new. Like my parents' Voodoo Blue FJCruiser ; )
I checked out the color offerings on the website and I'd definitely want to try to have something mixed.
Yeah, go for it. The possibilities are truly endless. You can mix any colored dip with any other colored dip, and any dip with any colored tint. In addition to that, you can add any pearl, metallic flake, or powder based color to any colored dip OR clear dip. Check out Pearls and Pigments for their stuff. They are right on the DYC site now. It was challenging for me to not get sucked in to some kind of wild color. I actually planned to do a pearl blue on mine but changed my mind at the last second.
How many passes did you have to do before it was finished? I've watched some of the videos on youtube and it seems like a ton of light coats over and over again.
I did 7 coats. The last 2 were arguably unnecessary. The first coat should be light, but the rest should be heavy. You will get a feel for it once you start doing the coats. I was going too light on coats 2 and 3 before I realized it works well to really lay it on. You want to go as heavy as you can without runs. I never came even close to runs, while going quite heavy.
It's really pretty interesting stuff. The body of my FJ was pretty F'd up. The plastidip has a really nice self leveling quality that smoothed out a lot of issues that were much more visible before. It also re-liquefies previous layers on each coat, so it's a nice smooth, even finish. One thing I've had problems with in the past using other paints is getting texture. With the plastidip, you spray close and lay it heavy and it comes out nice.
A couple other comments on this stuff. I think people assume it's going to feel rubbery. It doesn't. It took about a week, but now it feels like a standard paint job. People also expect it to be temporary or fragile, or expect it to peel. There are people that have shown pictures of cars that have been in pretty serious car accidents, and it has held up surprisingly well. Yes, you can peel it off at any time, but once it cures, it doesn't come off unless you make it come off. Also, it's ability to be touched up is pretty unique. I've had a few problem spots that I just reliquified using thinner to fix. You can do this with dings, bubbles, texture, runs, etc.
I'm not saying this stuff is the right solution for everyone, but it was for me. The cool thing is that it's completely reversible if you want it to be. The majority of people are doing this to high end cars like Porsches, Audi's, Ferrari's, etc. because you can create an interesting look while protecting the factory paint at the same time. For me, I'm looking for as long term of a solution as possible.
