I Plastidipped my FJ40 (yeah, the whole thing) (2 Viewers)

[undermind]

There isn't a lot of talk of Plastidip on these forums. I've been researching it for awhile, and thought it would be a pretty good solution for my situation.


Some ungrateful clown PO before me decided to rattle can paint the car and couldn't be bothered masking off anything. It looked like ****. There's overspray paint on the glass, rubber window trim, everywhere. I'm looking at a 2.5 - 4k price tag on a paint job, and that's just not realistic for me right now. With the way it looked, there wasn't a ton of satisfaction driving this vehicle and showing it off at all (see the before pictures below). The aesthetic gain has been huge. Absolutely worth a $300 investment into plastidip, and a very nice bridge to a paintjob down the road.


COMPLETED:

 

[undermind]

Before and prep pics:

 

[skidplate]

I'm glad someone has done this! I noticed that Plasti Dip now comes in camo colors (tan, green, brown) That intrigues me. I've used the plasti dip on my rollbar pads, steering wheel center, and dash pads with great success. Well done.

 

[skidplate]

undermind, don't want to hijack your thread, but a google search pulled up some interesting pics. Here's just one. I can see me doing something like this at some point. Yea, I know, rattle can redneck from way back.

 

[undermind]

undermind, don't want to hijack your thread, but a google search pulled up some interesting pics. Here's just one. I can see me doing something like this at some point. Yea, I know, rattle can redneck from way back.

Is that one plastidipped? The best source for information is dipyourcar.com. It's a good place for supplies, and thousands of members in the forum have dipped their cars. Oh, also search YouTube for dipyourcar. The owner does some excellent videos there.

Sent from my SCH-I535

 

[skidplate]

Yes, the 4 runner is "dipped". I googled "camo plasti dip" and looked at images. There are a lot of pics.

 

[adistler1]

What did you do around your trim?

 

[undermind]

What did you do around your trim?

If you mean the rubber window trim, I taped it off. I gave this subject some thought and asked around some forums as well. There are a few ways to do it that work, but taping's the way I went. Very time consuming. Also, due to the overspray paint all over the window trim from the PO, I did the whole process all over again, taping around the tape after the Plastidip cured so that I could color the rubber trim to take it back to black again..

 

[adistler1]

If you mean the rubber window trim, I taped it off. I gave this subject some thought and asked around some forums as well. There are a few ways to do it that work, but taping's the way I went. Very time consuming. Also, due to the overspray paint all over the window trim from the PO, I did the whole process all over again, taping around the tape after the Plastidip cured so that I could color the rubber trim to take it back to black again..

Okay cool, so you did all the rubber on your truck in black. Cool. So, all in all it was $300? Did you do cans or did you buy the kit? Did you do the interior also?

I checked out the color offerings on the website and I'd definitely want to try to have something mixed.

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.

 

[undermind]

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.

 

[FJsnoozer]

Do you have plans to do the top in white?

I thought that the newer camo tan plasti dip would look great on a rig because it would give it that aged Beige 416 look.

 

[skidplate]

While buying paint at Lowe's, I picked up a can of "gunmetal" Plasti-Dip" and refurbished my door panels. They

came out great.

 

[hellname]

Honestly it looked good... So how long did it take to complete the whole rig?

 

[iwashmycar]

Impressive!. Looks very refreshed!

 

[Weedhopper]

Durable stuff.
I dip the grip ends of my drumsticks. I have used the spray too.

It only peels where the paint stops, like 1/3 of the way up the stick and only peels after hard use. On a 40 I would think Plastidip would last long time.

Is the truck quieter?



...via IH8MUD app

 

[rustybucket]

I heard of it but know nothing. Plastidip means to dip the hole cab into a pan of plastic dip, or spray on? How is the shine after it is applied? How well does it hold up to scratches? Any chance of delamination?

 

[gregnash]

@rustybucket check out DipMyCar on youtube and you will see. Basically, since it is a semi-thin liquid form you can spray it on your vehicle. Seems to hold up to abuse pretty well and no delamination as @Weedhopper stated (only peels at the edges with some effort).

I have two spray cans that I plan to use on my FJ62 mirrors (once I clean up the chrome) so will see how well it holds up and what not.

 

[saucebox]

@gregnash That'd kind of genius on the mirrors. Mine are all flaked—that would work really well.

I did the emblems on a 4Runner a couple of years ago, and they're holding up great.

 

[RyanCostaRica]

Hey first off thanks for posting. Great info!
Can you tell me what prep you did? Sand fill??
Also do the cans come thinned or do you need to thin the dip first??
Great job


Proud owner of Beast. 77 BJ40

 

[ATXfj40]

Great write up going to have to try this out.