As typical with most Fieros the paint on mine was in bad shape and I debated between paint and plasti dip. I was quoted around $3k for a complete paint job while the plasti dip for the car and wheels cost about $500. Needless to say I went with the plasti dip. I bought the pro kit with 3 gallons plus 1 extra gallon from dip your car.
I wanted the dip job to look as much like a paint job as possible, which included dipping the door jambs, fenders under the trunk and hood lids and behind the wheel well liners. I removed the tail lights, marker lights, luggage rack, mirrors, sunroof gasket (needed new one anyway) any trim that was easy to remove, wheels, wheel well liners, intake grill, radiator grill, trunk gasket and engine vents (plus the plastic brackets). After all the items were removed I fixed cracks in the pillars and stone chips in the hood. The car had been repainted at some time and there was a lot of little stuff under the paint which I could feel running my hand over the paint. I sanded the entire car with 600 grit to smooth everything down. After sanding I cleaned everything with the pre dip cleaner. I then taped off everything I didn't want dipped. I followed this with another cleaning using the pre dip cleaner. At this point it was time to start dipping. The prep work took me about a week since I was in no rush and wanted it to look good when done.
The dip process took about 6 hours for the 5 coats allowing about 30 minutes or so between coats. It's recommended to remove any tape that touches the dip while the final coat is still wet. This is to avoid pulling up the dip when pulling off the tape. With one person this was impossible because the area dipped first for the final coat was almost completely dry by the time I finished up the final coat, maybe I'm just slow I ended up using a razor to cut the dip as I pulled the tape to remove it.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
[This message has been edited by Charlie1963 (edited 07-14-2015).]
I like the fact that you took the time to remove or tape all the black trim, including the belt line. I just hate the look of EVERYTHING being painted the same color!
I like the fact that you took the time to remove or tape all the black trim, including the belt line. I just hate the look of EVERYTHING being painted the same color!
Looks great!
Couldn't agree more! When the belt line is painted, it looks like an economy paint job that they just didn't feel like taking the time or effort to remove it or tape it off
Since those pictures were taken I've since peeled the hood and dipped it again. I did this because a bubble about the size of a quarter formed under the dip on the hood and there was some banding from over spray on the hood that was visible from certain angles. Both of these really bugged me the more I looked at them so I decided to peel and dip the hood again.
I don't know why the bubble formed but from what I've read online it was likely some moisture on the surface before dipping. The banding was my inexperience with spraying and lack of good lighting in the garage when I sprayed it.
I was surprised how well the dip peeled off since there was no clear coat on the paint. I was a bit worried before I dipped the car that the lack of clear coat would cause the dip to adhere too good and be a real mess to remove if I ever wanted to get the car painted.
On another note one of the issues I've noticed after dipping is the formation of water spots on the car after it rains. I've been using the DYC Dip Coat on the car to keep it looking good and this is suppose to prevent staining and water spots. I had read about using Turtle wax Ice spray wax on dipped cars so I decided to use the Turtle wax on the redipped hood and not the Dip Coat. The Dip Coat makes the dip a slightly darker hue while the Turtle wax does not. After the first rain after applying the Turtle wax there wasn't a single water spot on the hood while the rest of the car was covered with spots. After seeing this I went over the entire car first with the PreDip spray then with Turtle wax Ice. The PreDip Spray is the cleaner used to prep the surface before dipping. It removes dirt, oil, waxes, cleaners and other films. I'm happy to say that after doing this there wasn't a single water spot on the entire car after it recently rained.
Time for some pictures.
Hood before redipping. The bubble is in the red circle and the banding is pretty easy to see with the hood up and the right lighting and angle.
Peeling the hood.
Hood after redipping.
Water spots on the fender and no water spots on the hood.
No water spots on fender or hood.
[This message has been edited by Charlie1963 (edited 07-18-2015).]
Is it difficult to do and how long is the dip suppose to last?
It's not difficult to do, just time consuming if you want to do it right so it looks good. As with a regular paint job it's all about the prep work. A poor paint job can look good from a distance but to look good up close you need to put the extra time and effort into it.
How long the dip will last depends on a lot of variables. Dip color, how much sun it gets, how much you drive it, the list goes on. From what I've seen on the Internet it could last 1 to 3 years.
I like the fact that you took the time to remove or tape all the black trim, including the belt line. I just hate the look of EVERYTHING being painted the same color!
I ended up using a razor to cut the dip as I pulled the tape to remove it. 
