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I'm considering changing my wheels on my AWD 250 to an metallic anthracite.
My experience with plasti-dip...
Clean clean, grease free surface
Warm the can of plasti-dip
This helps eliminate the 'bumps'
Simple light...starter coats
Allow them to dry for about 15 mins.
Many many, subsequent light coats
I would hit one wheel lightly, move on to the next one...rinse and repeat...around...and around...and around...and around.
Take your time
I dipped my wheels (about 1 can per wheel), front grill + emblem, side mirros and part of my trunk on my Jetta a little over a year ago and after a wash it looks as good as the day I sprayed it. It holds up extremely well with the proper prep work and time.
I just redipped my grill shroud and emblems after 5 years. Plastidip held up well, just some fading and minor chips here, probably because I didn't apply enough coats the first time. I didn't bother removing the old Plastidip. I just wiped everything with alcohol and then resprayed everything. Def. start with light coatings first and then start with the heavy coats.
I followed the instructions from the original post to dip my emblems. It wasn't too hard. I used the black plasti dip and the glossifier. I'm considering doing the window sills and grill next.
Has anyone used plastidip to make their front grille emblem and rear emblems in a black pearl color? Similar to those black pearl emblems they sell on eBay or Sewell (back in the day). I have a 2011 IS in Smoky Granite Mica so I was curious.
When I searched it seemed most photos on this forum are plastidip in black with matte finish.
Bumping an old thread, since I read thru it entirely the last couple of days which I sorta stumbled upon by accident. I think by page three I had already decided to give this a try! Kudos to the OP and for all tips and tricks by everyone, which really made this an easy DIY project.
The 2002 SC430 I bought earlier this year (second car for fun, '06 RX400h is my regular) came with the gold badges, which I personally have never cared for. I thought about rebadging with the standard chrome ones, but liked the black pearl ones better (which I think are only available aftermarket for the SC43, and was not an OEM option?). After reading thru this thread and seeing all the before/during/after pictures I got around to getting the front badge done just now over a few hours. I sprayed six coats about every 30 minutes, then waited about an hour before unmasking everything. It came out dang good, with the only imperfection (I'd say less than 0.1% missed coverage) along the bottom...which I noticed only when taking that picture while lying on the ground. So when I do the rear badges I'll make sure to pay special attention. Below are my pictures during the process...
I'm doing this over the weekend as I'm taking it in next week for window tinting and a full exterior detail.
^^ before prepping
^^ masking started
^^ more masking...
^^ ready for dipping! note how my garage door blocked the sun just right...
^^first pass...
^^ third pass
^^ sixth pass an hour prior, ready for unmasking
^^ completed
^^ only imperfections
^^ again - before..
^^ and after.
Last edited by mak99; 07-21-18 at 04:54 PM.
Reason: captions
Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I'm not sure if this was covered here. I searched but didn't find it. If it was im sorry for the double post.
This is my first lexus and I'm digging it. I'm a member over on these boards and here are the other whips: e60 m5 e92 335i (sold)
Problem: After searching long and hard, couldn't find any matte blackemblems to purchase for the IS350... The black pearl emblems are out of the budget so I decided to just do it myself. Like most folks I hate the idea of having to use fishing line or something else to uninstall emblems then reinstall with new 3M tape.
SO here goes.. shooting black emblems with PlastiDip!
Materials
1. Can of PlastiDip purchased from Home Depot
2. Small plastic pick/spackle thing.
3. Masking Tape
4. Newspaper
5. Patience
6. Rubbing Alcohol, Soap, water
7. Cotton Swabs
8. Clean Towels
Steps
1. Clean around your emblems. Use soap and water if your car's real dirty. Then make sure you get down into the cracks. Dry it off and get back in there with some cotton swabs & alcohol. Again make sure the surface is dry before you even think about painting.
2. Mask off the area with some masking tape and newspaper in case of overspray.
3. Now you're ready to spray.. WHAT? NO SANDING? Right.. no sanding. Plasti Dip is a multi-purpose air dry, synthetic rubber coating that can be easily applied by spraying. Its been used on grills by BMW, Audi and many lexus owners too. Do a search and you'll see.
4. Make sure you shake that can up and do a test pass on some newspaper so you see how much comes out of the nozzle. From there shoot a thin coat on your emblems.
5. Wait a few minutes and make a darker pass.
6. Then give it 15 minutes or so then apply a second coat. I went and did a 3rd coat. I didn't want it to appear too thick.
7. I let it dry for about an hour before i decided to pull off my masking tape. Some folks say 30 minutes. The can said an hour.
8. Now peel off the masking tape.. You'll notice the rubber want to pull off with the tape, thats no problem, just don't go rubbing it too fast. Thats no fun. when the rubber breaks and u have to get into the little cracks of the emblems to pull it off.
9. Now with your fingers, just begin peeling it back. The PlastiDip will peel off your paint no problem and it begins breaking around where the emblem adhere to the car.
10. To get into the middle areas, just use a plastic pick or your finger nail (if you have access to small fingers?) and pick at it.. It'll just peel off like dry elmer's glue again.
11. Enjoy your new emblems.
FAQ
How long does it last especially without any prep work like normal paint?
Again, its a synthetic rubber spray.. It requires no prep besides a clean surface to adhere to. The plastidip does last long, and if there is a blemish, peel that stuff off your emblems, mask and repeat.
Have you used it before? How do you know?
I've sprayed my BMW front grills and emblems and they've held up for a couple years without any chips. Car washes are fine too Also do a search, you'll find a lot of people using plastidip.
Remember, to each their own. This look isn't for everyone. I have matte black wheels so I decided to go this route on the car. Enjoy!
^^^ TeamPSI - welcome to the forums! Though I haven't been too active lately I've learned a lot from the forums from some very helpful people...hopefully you have the same experience!
Hopefully you'll be pleased with the new emblems - maybe post some pictures when you've completed the process? My emblems are still holding up very well, though I only put on about 4k miles a year since I've owned my SC430.
01-07-15, 04:10 PM
Got badges and grille surround and window trims black
