after close to 10 years... my 04 STi is showing... well, being parked outside and me not really taking car of the paint, it's age.

around the wing, it's faded like crazy.

anyhoo, been watchin a few youtube vids and i think i wanna plastidip my JBP car.

i know... i love the look especially when the sun shines on the gold flakes.

but i want a caltrans orange look... lol... dont laugh.


so, has anyone plastidipped their entire car before?

thanks. pixs or vids appreciated.

 

Just helped my friend do his a week ago. Came out great.











Just take your time and give it a couple hours in between coats of 3.

 

I think it's retarded.

 

Would rather vinyl wrap then plasti-dip.

 

OP: I hear you cant buy the kit if you live in CA anymore.

 

that's what the dipyourcar folks told me...

 

Yeah it's not really something the air folks in CA like to see getting sprayed.

We have laws in MOST counties regarding air pollutants. That stuff is not meant to be used at home and not legal to use at home. But in most counties it's also illegal to spray your car outside of a booth with proper filters.

You can do it in some counties because they have loop holes in those laws so that they can crop dust whatever the hell they want... my county being one of those.

So the only way you're gonna get one of those kits is if you have someone buy it that you know out of state and have them bring it to you.

If you don't want your car to look like *** in 6 months do vinyl.

 

Cost effective way of changing your cars color and or protecting it. Vinyl is nice, do you have $5k to spend on a vinyl wrap? Otherwise, get a repaint. Plastidip gets a very similar effect of vinyl wrap for a fraction of the price.

 

From another forum...

(The car was originally silver)

I don't think it's a terrible option.

 

just saying...




And on that topic... $5k is what you'll spend for a super high end job to get done. Having someone like Jeremy do it.

You can get it done for a LOT less. Even at some shops that do it for a living. I asked one of my vendors and I could have my car done for like $2500 with any vinyl that I want.

Or I can buy enough vinyl to screw up a few times and learn how to do it myself for under $800.

To buy a car kit from plasti-dip you're talking about $300 so I don't know if that's truly "cost effective" when you have to do it every year.

So $3-400 depending on which routes you go with plasti-dip.


It's definitely the cheapest and most dummy proof way to change up the color of your car. It's also the cheapest looking. I can see a car and instantly tell you if it's been sprayed with cheap *** rattle can primer, plastic dip, painted or vinyl wrapped.

So if you want to take an expensive car and make it look like **** then sure it's cost effective and easy.

If you're taking a beater that's all scratched up and say like a forester... two colors... it's a cheap easy way to make a beater look better. For those cases I say more power to you.

But when people do it to new cars or higher end cars I think it's dumb.


But that's just my opinion. I wouldn't do it and I'd probably shake my head at any STI I saw painted with plasti dip unless it was at the track and being used to protect the paint on a track day... but even then...

 

You're also looking at that car in photos... not in person.

It's an option for certain purposes. But I'd say 9/10 I'd think were stupid. But that's just me. I've been blasted for it on nazioc for it. Plenty of folks over there love the stuff and have had great success with it.

I'd do it on a beater. Or I'd do it on a set of wheels for winter protection. But I'd never do it on my car as a solution. If you're too lazy to wash and wax your car (the OP) then you're gonna be too lazy to do a proper application of the plasti dip so it will fade and peal. And you're definitely too lazy to keep the dip clean so it will stain. Like the guy with the white z.

On a beater... sure. On track **** or a drift car. Sure.

 

your point is solid by the way...

But I wouldn't want to deal with it. I'd rather get a clear bra for protection and know it's gonna protect. Plasti-dip is thin. Rocks go right through it. But for winter protection or whatever... sure it's cool. But not for me.

And yeah... it's much cheaper than vinyl or paint.

 

I spent 168 on 6 buckets of plastidip from a non dip-your-car supplier (toolorbit.com). I thinned it myself with xylene and its around a 1:1.25 ratio (dip-your-car does it themselves and sells you a nearly half strength product for the same price as the full strength.) So with 6 gallons it made about 11 gallons of the plastidip that they sell. I bought the wagner that they use for 100 bucks so for 268 + 100 + 40 = 408 dollars for enough plastidip to do 2 cars and my truck.

The plastidip on my wheels on my car were done about a year ago and they're still going hard with just afew small chips, you have to thoroughly clean the surface first, wheels need extra attention from the build up of brake dust.

 

That's a nice way to go for someone that knows what they're doing.

Your truck is one of those cases where I think it makes sense.

I'd use it on a truck that sees a lot of off roading... especially if I had the gear, the no how and the energy/time to do the repairs when you need them. (respray).

On an STI that doesn't get washed I wouldn't use it. It'll look like **** in a couple months and never get fixed.

On a beater I'd do it.

On my wagon... I'd do vinyl or paint.


I'm just a plasti dip hater. Seen way too many people do **** jobs on it and make nice cars look like ****. I put it in my ricer box a long time ago. Not gonna come out (except when it's used the way you used it on your truck)

LOL!

 

I think why a lot of plastdipped cars look like crap is, the fact that people buy 15 spray cans and think it'll come out "okay".