White Bumpers and Trim the Cheap Way Plasti Dip 70$

[aharlan001]

While the tan on white looks ok I really think the two tone look dates the vehicle and since my bumper paint is already in bad shape from previous shoddy work I wanted to do a color change to match the rest of the body on the cheap. This diy cost me about 70$ and I'm pretty happy with it so far. I ended up with some imperfections (rough texture) due to not laying on a thick enough coat here and there but overall I'm happy. I used 3 cans of white plasti dip on the the front bumper, 3 on the rear bumper, and 3 on the side trim (5-7 coats) then topcoated with 1 can Duplicolor Natural White on the rear bumper, 1 on the front bumper, and 1 on the side trim (only had enough for one medium coat). Ideally I would have had at least one or two more cans of the Natural White but 3 was all I could get a hold of locally and I wanted to get the job completed now and with minimal investment in case it turned out bad. Prep was simple I removed the bumpers, taped off the side trim, and cleaned all parts with a soapy body cleaner followed by alcohol. (The front required some wet standing with 400 to get a relatively smooth surface) the plasti dip leaves a somewhat textured surface so I didn't get it perfect and only very few of the small rock chips came through. I waited 10 min between coats laying down one medium coat of Natural White at the end. Color match was just so so. In low light the duplicolor is quite a bit warmer than the factory panel color but in the sun you can hardly tell a difference. Good enough for me since alternative options would have cost quite a bit more. The Plasti Dip cost 45$ for 9 cans and the duplicolor was about 25$. To get custom mixed cans alternatively would have cost 60$ for two 12 ounce cans so I opted to go the cheaper route not knowing that the duplicolor match wouldn't be that great. Possibly the color difference is more due to the texture making the color appear warmer? Not sure. Anyway I'm happy with the result. Went a lot better than my 150$ rattle can attempt and painting the rear bumper...

 

[alphatomega]

is your front grille black? Did you do that yourself or did you purchase like that? My grille is the only chrome on my car and im thinking about trying to go all black by plasti dipping the grille and wheels.

Yours turned out great!

 

[aharlan001]

Grille is black from the factory I think? Emblems were gold but I painted them all a charcoal color that is nearly black.

 

[CloudCity]

I think about this often with the 100-series, they usually look better all one color. I'd love to paint mine but will wait until the lower bits get some damage or scratched up. So are the silver rigs the only ones that came totally color matched, aside from the end-of-run special editions in all black?

 

[trdcorolla]

Riverock Green Mica are color matched.

 

[Wetwillie]

I did the same. Had the rear bumper, flares, and side molding sprayed white (by a pro) for $400. I thought the price was fair.

 

[CloudCity]

Coincidentally on my way home just now I saw a late model 100 in all white. He was hauling ass in town so I couldn't catch up for a pic.