Yes you can PlastiDip your whole car with spray cans for under $100 and it look awesome

Hey guys,

The car is up and running, so I wanted to take a little break from the troubleshooting and do something fun. I PlastiDipped/DupliColor the car last night and yes that means I used both products together. I had to complete a little body work first but I think it turned out great. I hear constantly that you can't spray can an entire car with PlastiDip but it simply isn't true.The cost was well under $100 to do everything and I completed it in 5 hours. Check out the video! https://www.youtube.com/embed/8oTBFIkWWwA

Possible, but it's not thick enough to peel easily. There's a lot to be said about spraying a few gallons.

Paul_VR6 wrote: Possible, but it's not thick enough to peel easily. There's a lot to be said about spraying a few gallons.

You're absolutely correct sir, peeling off plastidip that isn't thick enough can be extemely difficult, but I've always sprayed multiple layers with the can and it still comes off easy. The video below is proof. Go to the 1:54 mark https://www.youtube.com/embed/OEWDUZSUQmY

This begs the question... Can I buy gallon jugs of it and use an electric power sprayer?

Interesting, how many layers of Plasti-Dip did you put under the metallizer? Looks good so far, I'd like to see some outdoor pics when it's fully dry.

Huckleberry wrote: This begs the question... Can I buy gallon jugs of it and use an electric power sprayer?

I've tried that, but honestly I'm not the best at it. Mixing it with paint thinner is a little tricky. The dip just didn't separate properly consistently and you definitely need a decent gun. I bought a $25 decker from Harbor Freight and it just turned out to be a mess. Plus, buying a decent gun will eat into your cost and I was going for the lowest number possible with it looking good. Not saying that will happen in every situation though, it was just my experience.

GameboyRMH wrote: Interesting, how many layers of Plasti-Dip did you put under the metallizer? Looks good so far, I'd like to see some outdoor pics when it's fully dry.

3 light coats of the metallizer. I'll have pics up this weekend. Friday it's supposed to rain so I'll bring it out on Saturday once I get all the excess PlastiDip off the windows and stuff.

jr10cross wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Interesting, how many layers of Plasti-Dip did you put under the metallizer? Looks good so far, I'd like to see some outdoor pics when it's fully dry.

3 light coats of the metallizer. I'll have pics up this weekend. Friday it's supposed to rain so I'll bring it out on Saturday once I get all the excess PlastiDip off the windows and stuff.

And 3 coats of plasti-dip? That's what it looks like in the video.

GameboyRMH wrote:

jr10cross wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Interesting, how many layers of Plasti-Dip did you put under the metallizer? Looks good so far, I'd like to see some outdoor pics when it's fully dry.

3 light coats of the metallizer. I'll have pics up this weekend. Friday it's supposed to rain so I'll bring it out on Saturday once I get all the excess PlastiDip off the windows and stuff.

And 3 coats of plasti-dip? That's what it looks like in the video.

I would actually say around 5-6 especially on the hood and top. I tend to have a fair amount of distance when I spray, like 15"-18" because I'm worried about runs. The 944 doesn't have huge panels so it still doesn't take a lot of product.

Huckleberry wrote: This begs the question... Can I buy gallon jugs of it and use an electric power sprayer?

Yes. And you can also spray it thinned through an hvlp gun with a primer tip. That's how I did the E21.

Yes, you can buy pre-thinned gallons and spray them with hvlp or electric. You can also buy straight up gallons and thin yourself. There was a video from DYC a while ago that did the math on cost of cans vs gallons but the takeaway was that you needed 56 spray cans to get equivalent coverage of spraying gallons on a mid-sized car. Yes, using fewer cans can give you a good looking result but it will be a huge pita to peel later if the product isn't thick enough as others have said.

Yeah there is no way you need anything close to 56 cans. I've dipped cars 6 times and never had a problem with removing the dip. I had a problem with removing Rustoleum dip from my rims once, because I sprayed too thin. I'd say at the very most 20 cans for a full size car.

Huckleberry wrote: This begs the question... Can I buy gallon jugs of it and use an electric power sprayer?

That's exactly what you get in the Dip-Your-Car kit. I think you want the biggest tip available for whatever brand you choose.

Huckleberry wrote: This begs the question... Can I buy gallon jugs of it and use an electric power sprayer?

Yes, I had a friend with pro quality spray equipment do the hood on Subarust and used about 1/2 a gallon of black, I think he did 7-9 coats and it's very durable. Later I went back and he did the whole front end with the left over gallon. If he hadn't moved away I'd have him do the roof now, with it's peeling clear coat.

That's the best part about this stuff. You buy a bunch of black PD in bulk and spray it on for your base (that also builds layers) for cheap, then do a few coats of the actual color you want. I've always done 4 coats and it peels away very easy. When peeling tight sections that want to rip off too early I use a hair dryer to help lift it.

If you want it to keep looking awesome, just be careful of dusty and hot environments- I plastidipped a rallycross car and after a few events worth of dust and sun it had crap embedded in it so solidly that the only way to remove it was to remove the dip itself.

Trackmouse wrote: That's the best part about this stuff. You buy a bunch of black PD in bulk and spray it on for your base (that also builds layers) for cheap, then do a few coats of the actual color you want. I've always done 4 coats and it peels away very easy. When peeling tight sections that want to rip off too early I use a hair dryer to help lift it.

Right on bruh!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: If you want it to keep looking awesome, just be careful of dusty and hot environments- I plastidipped a rallycross car and after a few events worth of dust and sun it had crap embedded in it so solidly that the only way to remove it was to remove the dip itself.

Did you use a glossifier? If I didn't use the matt finish top coat, I would have used the glossifier. I've been a huge advocate of using a clear coat finish. It really helps to keep the color consistent.

In reply to jr10cross:

No, the entire thing was matte red. It was also years ago, and the plastidip formula may have improved by now.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: In reply to jr10cross: No, the entire thing was matte red. It was also years ago, and the plastidip formula may have improved by now.

Yeah I noticed a lot of junk getting into the dip too when I sprayed just the matte black. Stupid Dogwood trees reeked havoc on the finished and made the car look fuzzy. LOL

jr10cross wrote:

Trackmouse wrote: That's the best part about this stuff. You buy a bunch of black PD in bulk and spray it on for your base (that also builds layers) for cheap, then do a few coats of the actual color you want. I've always done 4 coats and it peels away very easy. When peeling tight sections that want to rip off too early I use a hair dryer to help lift it.

Right on bruh!

Not sure if serious or mocking...

Trackmouse wrote:

jr10cross wrote:

Trackmouse wrote: That's the best part about this stuff. You buy a bunch of black PD in bulk and spray it on for your base (that also builds layers) for cheap, then do a few coats of the actual color you want. I've always done 4 coats and it peels away very easy. When peeling tight sections that want to rip off too early I use a hair dryer to help lift it.

Right on bruh!

Not sure if serious or mocking...

I was being serious. I don't know if you can tell from the videos but I am black. lol we refer to friends as bro and bruh. lol I think we feel the same about the product!

Right on. My step dad's African American. Stupid internet, can't sense how people really mean things.

So ultimately the allure of plasti-dip is that it's cheap, easy to apply and thick? I've sprayed a number of cars successfully with traditional automotive paint, and with the prep it's quite time consuming, but not that pricey unless you go for really high-end paint.

Kreb wrote: So ultimately the allure of plasti-dip is that it's cheap, easy to apply and thick? I've sprayed a number of cars successfully, and with the prep it's quite time consuming, but not that pricey unless you go for really high-end paint.

And (mostly) that you can easily peel it off of whatever shouldn't have color on it.