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After a decent amount of research, I decided to undertake a chrome delete on my '07 350 using regular old black Plasti Dip. My wheels are black, so I decided to dip the rear emblems to match. Once that was done I figured I may as well do the front emblem and grille surround, thus leaving only the window trim to bother me which of course lead to the full shabang.
I wouldn't have done a post about this (being such a straightforward and covered topic) but there were many things I learned, even after reading all of the threads and watching days worth of videos. I'll touch on these near the tail end of this post. On to the pics:
Masking: I wish I had done more research on the prep work and less on the application. After doing my rear emblems, I watched more videos and learned about this stuff called 'Tape and Drape' whick is masking tape and paper in a single roll.. super handy. I had and epiphany and masked behind the doors like you see below, really happy with how that turned out.
There's rubber trim which contacts the window, you'll want to mask that off too.
I used a toothpick to run along the trim and adhere the masking tape wherever a finger wouldnt fit.
There's more rubber trim to cover at the bottom of the window.
First couple of coats complete.
Finished result... Grille surround was removed for ease and quality of spray.
So overall I'm happy with the appearance of the dip. HOWEVER, I would not consider dipping anything larger than emblems in the future. In fact, this will end up being rather temporary while I prepare to remove each piece of trim and have them painted, but allowed me to visualize my endgame in a removable fashion.
Some things I learned this time around (which weren't very apparent in my research) that I would take into consideration:
Warm up your dip can. I only learned this post spray, in an attempt to learn how to achieve a more even coat. I am not happy with the result of my finish, rather rough and bumpy. It was kind of cold when I applied my dip and had I let my cans sit in a bowl of WARM water for 10-15 minutes prior to spraying I would have had a much cleaner result.
Speaking of ways to smooth out your spray, the can says to shake well for about a minute. You'll have a much more even spray if you shake it for 5-10 minutes.
Scoring. I placed far too much faith in the dips ability to self-cut, especially on something as thin a surface as the chrome trim. I did not score my cut lines before peeling and had a few trouble spots upon completion.
And on that note, to fix peeling edges you should wear a nitrile glove to apply a small amount of paint thinner to the dip edge, rolling it back in the direction which it peeled from. This won't permanently fix your issue without another coat or two, but allowed me at least to cover up any chrome that was showing under the edge of the trouble spots.
Thanks for reading, if you plan on dipping anything in the future my only advice for you is to watch literally every youtube video before you start. Sure, if you mess up you can peel and restart, but after a whole day of dipping who wants that drama.
UPDATE: After dipping my exhaust tips, I can confirm that warming and shaking the can is a necessity. The finish is so smooth I'm kicking myself for not having done that in the first place. Additionally, I've learned that taking off your masking while the last coat is still wet is a great way to get cleaner lines. This did not work for me whatsoever and I had a disastrous time de-masking my tips. Luckily the masked area is invisible once installed, but that technique was a total bust for me. Will carefully score all future dips prior to peeling.
After seeing what happened to my friend's "plastidipped" fuel tank and fairings on his bike, I'd rather not use it on my car. In 2 months the whole "paint job" was peeling off like the bad sunburn on your back lol
For window trim I'd rather use Shadowline tape instead. http://shadowlinetrim.com
Thanks guys, totally agree. Will not be dipping large bits again, nor would I consider dipping over my Starfire Although I'm just leaving the store with some Liquid Wrench so I can dip over my exhaust tips, theyre in terrible shape. Dip is rated for over 300 degrees and I've red a bit about dipping tips, never seen it though. I think it may end up looking pretty mean, I'll post up when done.
I like adding a little metalizer as the last two layers of plastidip since i have smoky granite mica.
I plastidipped my emblems and dipped my rims multiple times. When I removed the plastidip from my rims, it didn't damage the paint, but it removed the clear coat ��. Just be careful of that and also invest in dip remover if you want to take off plastidip! It saves a lot of time.
Thats a trip.. I don't think dip is supposed to take your clear with it
I got my car second hand so the previous owner may have coated it with something else?? Lol I don't blame plastidip though, and it doesn't bother me since I keep plastidip on my rims haha.
Little tip dip teaser, I'm really surprised that I don't see more people with painted exhaust tips. Might be a maintenance thing, tough to clean frequently etc.
Wow, I wonder what the black tips look like on my Black IS? Will it work? Opinions? I will probably mock it up with black paper and see...thanks for the idea.
Wow, I wonder what the black tips look like on my Black IS? Will it work? Opinions? I will probably mock it up with black paper and see...thanks for the idea.
I usually don't like black on black because you don't really notice the details. I have a Smokey Granite Mica and I plastidipped my rims and emblems and chrome black with a metalizer to make it less dull.
It doesn't hurt to try though! I don't think I've ever seen it before so it'd definitely be unique :]
Dipping the tips took me all of 10 mins prep and 40 mins of spray-and-wait.. I say do it, I'm super happy with it, worst case if you dont like it just peel it off
Quick update, I have some evident peeling on my right exhaust tip. Since both were coated identically and I'm not having any issues with the left, I'm caling it neglegence. I waited 45 mins before reinstalling, washing the car (not the tips directly, although they did get wet) and a nice thorough wipe with Auto Glym rapid detailer, which also most likely made contact with the fresh dip. I then went for 3 hours of rather spirited driving just to add insult to injury. Will be respraying tonight, maybe as many as 6-8 coats to be safe.
04-30-17, 07:30 PM
Plasti Dip - IS350 Chrome Delete
Although I'm just leaving the store with some Liquid Wrench so I can dip over my exhaust tips, theyre in terrible shape. Dip is rated for over 300 degrees and I've red a bit about dipping tips, never seen it though. I think it may end up looking pretty mean, I'll post up when done.
