Plasti-dipped my RX-7

HappyAndy wrote: Does anyone know if you can do a two-tone in plasti-dip?

Yes... dipyourcar.com has videos posted on how to do it. If they aren't a GRM advertiser, they should be. I'll order a kit as soon as I see their ad in the magazine.

I think I would have topcoated the paint first just to prevent any moisture from getting into the body filler.

Otherwise looks great.

wow, plasti-dip me impressed

Now I really wanna do this to the P71...

First look at it in broad daylight. Not too bad but I think I am going to have to put down another coat or two in some spots. One side of the car was inadequately lit so I guess my coverage wasn't as even as it should have been. The good thing is adding additional coats is trivial!

I want that car!

Your lawn looks like mine! Nice car as well.

Nice!

I'm wanting to do the Miata in matte white......to reflect some of our OK sun during HPDE weekends.

[Chapelle] All that crazy matte black makin' my penis soft! [/Chapelle]

Back with a spring update for those who want to know how this stuff holds up. Today I washed my car for the first time since coating it. I've driven it on and off all fall/winter and put one track weekend plus hundreds of highway miles on it. There are some definite signs of wear but on the whole it's holding up pretty well. Here are a few things I've noticed:

• Scratches (fingernails, etc.) show up pretty easily and are permanent(ish)

• Sloppy gas station attendants (I'm looking at YOU, New Jersey) that slop fuel all over your quarter panel can cause it to discolor or worse.

• Passengers that aren't careful can damage with their feet getting in and out, etc. (See pic below).

• It washes easily with a standard hose/spray attachment and car wash sponge. Even using the abrasive side of the sponge seems to cause no damage. Water spots can be a problem so I dried it with a shammy.

• Old bug splats require a bit of elbow grease to get out. Fortunately the 'dip seems to be able to endure a good scrubbing.

• Dust, pollen, etc. that build up between washes come right away using a Swiffer Duster. They're great for interiors too.

• The front chin spoiler and the inside rear quarter where the tires fling up debris are obvious damage areas. All other parts of the car including high traffic areas like the door handles are holding up fine.

So my current plan is to use some thinner to repair the damaged areas then respray them. No need for a whole re-coat, I'll probably just use a rattle can.

Right where the front bumper angles down where it meets the hood there are some bare spots showing up. I think I probably didn't apply much product there. I'll retouch this.

This is by far the worst damage beneath the passenger door. Probably got kicked when someone was flailing around trying to get out of the race seats or something got pinched in the door when it was closed:

I finally got around to re-finishing my wheels to go with the flat black 'dip:

You should paint the lip to match the wheels.

Nice, the wheels look better in gold, they look bigger somehow.

chknhwk wrote: You should paint the lip to match the wheels.

Hehe naw. I was thinking of doing a two-tone black/white look with 'dip though. Couldn't figure out how I'd pull it off and have it not look awful tho.

GameboyRMH wrote: Nice, the wheels look better in gold, they look bigger somehow.

Maybe because I painted the lip this time? Also slightly lower profile tires up front from last year's pic. The color is Rustoleum "Aged Copper Metallic". It's pretty dark, but the sun is shining on this side so they do look more gold/bright than normal. Probably still a bit wet too.

Two tone it!

huh, people pump your gas for you up there? weird.

My (probably unwelcome) .02 is that plastidip is for cars that dont deserve proper paint and bodywork (generally i would say an FD actually does unless it's already trashed, but it has the dubious distinction of being one of those cars that is sometimes owned by people that are maxed out financially just by the initial purchase price, let alone actually fixing one up), OR in the case of changing the look of something temporarily without ruining the good/expensive paint job underneath.

I know, im sorry, ill leave.

^I once had to teach a woman from NJ how to use a gas pump. She was at least double my age

I "dipped" the roll bar for my Miata today. Have you noticed any significant fading?

Vigo wrote: huh, people pump your gas for you up there? weird. My (probably unwelcome) .02 is that plastidip is for cars that dont deserve proper paint and bodywork (generally i would say an FD actually does unless it's already trashed, but it has the dubious distinction of being one of those cars that is sometimes owned by people that are maxed out financially just by the initial purchase price, let alone actually fixing one up), OR in the case of changing the look of something temporarily without ruining the good/expensive paint job underneath. I know, im sorry, ill leave.

I think this is more of (a temporarily changing the look while protecting what's under there for track days. I know for a fact that the op has had this and his gvr4 for many years so it is definitely not from being strapped from the original purchase.

Man, the FD is the most beautiful car produced in the last 30 years. Plasti dip, even your good application, looks like E36 M3. You put in enough effort to make the body right to do a good coat of 2k. I do not see the attraction/benefit ratio.

I love Plastidip. Dipped the MR2's street wheels Blaze Orange, and will do the same to the rally wheels soon. Thanks for the wear update, that's the biggest question I hear when I talk about this stuff.

Just another small update for those following along at home. I finally got around to touching up the damaged areas and these are my impressions:

• Neoprene gloved finger + paint thinner pretty much instantly reduces dip back to liquid form to repair any rips, tears, scratches, etc.

• If you use too much thinner or work too big an area at once, you can create a run. These, too, are pretty easily repaired.

• The repaired surface, once dry, comes out a different texture than the rest of the dip that was sprayed on. I re-applied an additional coat with the sprayer only in the affected areas after the repairs were complete.

• If you don't pull in dip from the surrounding area into your repair, you can end up with a thin area.

• Re-spraying on the affected areas worked out great. The dip seems to add on wherever you want it without needing to respray the entire part/panel. Once it dries you can't tell what was resprayed and what was original.

• Even if you're only working a small area away from lights, glass, etc. You're going to get overspray on EVERYTHING and even if you can't see it, you can feel it. It cleans off easily with solvent though.

How do you repair a run?

White is very noticeable. I touched up a small rip above the windshield and it stands out like a sore thumb. Mines been on for over a year now. The white definitely gets stained over time.

To avoid the hassle of spots and grime staining the Plasti-Dip, use a spray wax or quick detailer. This will also change it from matte to satin. The "dip forums" suggest Meguiars and not Turtle Wax.

I'm a little confused by these two comments. The one seems to say repairs are visible. The other seems to say repairs are invisible.

Armitage wrote: * The repaired surface, once dry, comes out a different texture than the rest of the dip that was sprayed on. I re-applied an additional coat with the sprayer only in the affected areas after the repairs were complete.

Armitage wrote: * Re-spraying on the affected areas worked out great. The dip seems to add on wherever you want it without needing to respray the entire part/panel. Once it dries you can't tell what was resprayed and what was original.

The repairs are visible until you spray another coat over them.