“Even though the guys tell us that this spray should last the lifetime of the car, when you’re ready for a change, you walk up to it, get a little piece started, and you literally just start peeling [it away] . . ."
My concern would be what happens if you incurred some small damage, like brushing one of the front quarter panels against the side of your garage door opening. Seems like you might have it start peeling away by accident. What then? Could damage to a small area be repaired without redoing the entire body panel?
Also wonder whether this would be as compatible with the plastic body components of a Fiero, VS steel or aluminum-bodied vehicles.
I have been looking into pasti dip just because of the ease of doing it. Its about half the prep work involved compared to paint. Another site to go to is DipYourCar. He has a lot of "How To Videos" that explains the whole process. Very informative. Also offers many colors and finishes for sale as well. I am not a sponsor in this but wanted to pass the info along for those certified backyard mechanics like me.
First off, it doesnt peel off as easy as they say. Ive done several and its an all day job. It ends up costing as much as a cheaper paint job. You dont need to remove factory paint to repaint any car. Its actually the best primer there is. You just sand out scratches and chips, prime, sand that and paint. The only time you need to strip the paint is when there are multiple paint jobs piled on. Ive had many show cars that got some body mods and new, different paint jobs nearly every year. Ive only stripped one by sanding, down TO the original paint. Ive been doing paint and body work professionally for 50 years. Besides the chips, scratches and any damage areas, the rest of the car only needs scuffed so that its completely dull all over. A lot of my trophy winning show cars just were scotchbrited and painted differently each season. Thats a 2 hour job in most cases. For an example, I had a new black Shelby Mustang and I wanted it maroon. I pulled into the shop at 8am, scuffed and masked it by 11am. Painted it, dried it, unmasked and drove it home after lunch all finished. Cost me 2 quarts of single stage acylic enamel and a quart of reducer. Total out of pocket expense was less than $150. The 'dip it' type paint does not hide any flaws, so prep is pretty much the same. All that and it still generally looks like crap to me...but Im picky. Its only good for a POS driver in my opinion, and you dont have any access or skills to spray it yourself.
Actually, it does peel off fine if it's sprayed to the proper thickness.
Are you a professional painter? Not everyone has access to a professional paint booth and spray equipment. How much did the gun cost that you sprayed your $150 bucks worth of paint through? How about the booth you dried it in? So are you saying that all the people who spend thousands on a professional paint job are wasting their money?
I got my car dipped because it needs a new paint job and I can't afford it right now. Dip is a good DIY alternative, IMO. Oh, btw, my car looks pretty damn good dipped and it's not a POS daily driver. So you can take that comment and cram it.
My GT has been plasti dipped for almost 2 years now I think. It is starting to get some bubbles that I think is from moisture in the SMC. Next time I will give it even more time to dry and heat the garage. Overall it still looks way better than the faded factory paint. Posting on my phone but I'll try to remember to share a picture after work.
The auto flex if I remember correctly is more of a high end version of plastidip and I think is overkill for the purpose of dipping a car. For the extra expense and the better equipment required I don't see the benefit of going with a legitimate gloss paint job.
Actually, it does peel off fine if it's sprayed to the proper thickness.
Are you a professional painter? Not everyone has access to a professional paint booth and spray equipment. How much did the gun cost that you sprayed your $150 bucks worth of paint through? How about the booth you dried it in? So are you saying that all the people who spend thousands on a professional paint job are wasting their money?
in a nutshell yes to everything. Ive owned my own restoration and custom shop for decades, started painting custom cars in mid 1960s. You dont need a professional booth or an expensive gun. Right now the gun I use the most is a $25 one from Harbor Freight. I do have a $500 gun I use for clearcoats that uses a very small amount of paint. I generally use R&M or Sherwin Williams automotive paints (same as Foose) and most colors are $50-$70 a quart...and 2 quarts usually does about any car. I did use 3 quarts on my SuperBee restoration because I did outside, all the jams and inside of hood and decklid. Acrylic enamel air dries in a couple of hours...you dont need a drying booth. The only people who NEED those are dealers or mass production shops that might do a dozen cars in a day. My specialty for about 30 years were Corvette restorations, and high end cars like Bentley, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, Mercedes, etc, for owners and dealers. I did custom painted van murals and graphics for one manufacturer for 12 years that were usually in the $5000-$7000 range. Most Ive ever done was a year long restoration on Al Capones Lincoln for a museum for about $40,000. Ive done a few Pebble Beach Concours DeElegance cars. And finally yes, if you cant paint yourself, you generally do pay too much for the jobs thats not that hard to do yourself. Many people here, without any experience have painted their own cars, a lot did very well. . In my case, your paying for my knowledge and expertise it took me 50 years to learn. I understand the cost for some. The shop next door does dips professionally. He generally does 4 coats and pays over $100 for just the coating. Ive helped him remove it. Ive never seen one stripped back in less than a day, it comes off in small pieces and usually needs a heat gun.
If your happy with yours, thats fine for you. For myself, I wouldnt use it for anything better than a winter beater...but thats me. Ive seen cars painted by brush too and Im sure the owner is happy. You can take pro advise or not...of no consequence to me either way. I just give my honest opinions.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 02-20-2017).]
in a nutshell yes to everything. Ive owned my own restoration and custom shop for decades, started painting custom cars in mid 1960s. You dont need a professional booth or an expensive gun. Right now the gun I use the most is a $25 one from Harbor Freight. I do have a $500 gun I use for clearcoats that uses a very small amount of paint. I generally use R&M or Sherwin Williams automotive paints (same as Foose) and most colors are $50-$70 a quart...and 2 quarts usually does about any car. I did use 3 quarts on my SuperBee restoration because I did outside, all the jams and inside of hood and decklid. Acrylic enamel air dries in a couple of hours...you dont need a drying booth. The only people who NEED those are dealers or mass production shops that might do a dozen cars in a day. My specialty for about 30 years were Corvette restorations, and high end cars like Bentley, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, Mercedes, etc, for owners and dealers. I did custom painted van murals and graphics for one manufacturer for 12 years that were usually in the $5000-$7000 range. Most Ive ever done was a year long restoration on Al Capones Lincoln for a museum for about $40,000. Ive done a few Pebble Beach Concours DeElegance cars. And finally yes, if you cant paint yourself, you generally do pay too much for the jobs thats not that hard to do yourself. Many people here, without any experience have painted their own cars, a lot did very well. . In my case, your paying for my knowledge and expertise it took me 50 years to learn. I understand the cost for some. The shop next door does dips professionally. He generally does 4 coats and pays over $100 for just the coating. Ive helped him remove it. Ive never seen one stripped back in less than a day, it comes off in small pieces and usually needs a heat gun.
If your happy with yours, thats fine for you. For myself, I wouldnt use it for anything better than a winter beater...but thats me. Ive seen cars painted by brush too and Im sure the owner is happy. You can take pro advise or not...of no consequence to me either way. I just give my honest opinions.
Yesterday, I bought a pint of color-matched paint from the local auto paint supplier. I was planning to just use a brush to touch-up rock chips, and then use a rattle-can or my neighbor's paint gun to clear coat over those spots.
I just don't have the money to hire a shop to do a $10,000 pro-level paint job.
Is there a website, YouTube channel, or other resource you would recommend to someone who is interested in trying this for themselves? I'm not interested in going into the business, but just for my own Fiero-based replica.
Originally posted by Drewbdo: Yesterday, I bought a pint of color-matched paint from the local auto paint supplier. I was planning to just use a brush to touch-up rock chips, and then use a rattle-can or my neighbor's paint gun to clear coat over those spots.
I just don't have the money to hire a shop to do a $10,000 pro-level paint job.
Is there a website, YouTube channel, or other resource you would recommend to someone who is interested in trying this for themselves? I'm not interested in going into the business, but just for my own Fiero-based replica.
That's why I was thinking about the dip process.
Dont dip 'paint' your replica. After all the work you did building it, it would be a shame to go so cheap. It would be better to leave it in spray can primer until you can afford a proper paint job. Ive built a bunch of kits for myself and others so I know what it takes.
There are tons of videos and youtubes...just search them or google car painting.
If your just touching up chips and minor scratches, using a small modelers paint brush is fine...keep them as small as possible. You can clear them with clear fingernail polish with a brush also (its just lacquer). I wouldnt use a spray can of clear to spot it. Clear needs to be done on a complete panel from an edge or seam all around or you end up with a rough, dull area surrounding the spot like a bullseye. I do brush touching myself on customer and my own show cars. If your really picky, you can brush or drop paint into a chip or scratch until its built up higher than the original paint. Then it can be wet sanded using something like a popcycle stick for backup, and rubbed out by hand and completely disappear.
I'm only planning to use the pint of paint for rock chips and a couple of scratches. I want to get some of the body repairs fixed, then have the paint done correctly. The pint is just for touch-ups until then.
There's nothing wrong with making your car all one color with dip until you can afford a professional paint job. Here is a pic of my 88 GT done in Tahitian green pearl
There's nothing wrong with making your car all one color with dip until you can afford a professional paint job. Here is a pic of my 88 GT done in Tahitian green pearl
If you're going to DIY to avoid paying professional labour prices, then you might as well use automotive paint that is designed to stick, rather than Plasti-Dip which is designed to peel off.
An apples-with-apples comparison would be DIY-applied Plasti-Dip vs DIY-applied automotive urethane.
It doesn't make sense to me to do all the work to paint a car, but then cripple the job by using inferior materials.
If you're going to DIY to avoid paying professional labour prices, then you might as well use automotive paint that is designed to stick, rather than Plasti-Dip which is designed to peel off.
An apples-with-apples comparison would be DIY-applied Plasti-Dip vs DIY-applied automotive urethane.
It doesn't make sense to me to do all the work to paint a car, but then cripple the job by using inferior materials.
I'm going DIY as a temporary measure until I can afford a professional paint job. If I slather my car full of automotive paint and make a mess of it, it's going to cost me a lot more and be a lot more work when it comes time to have a pro job done. If I mess up the dip, I can just peel it off, no harm no foul.
It's not an apples to apples comparison by any stretch of the imagination. $400 bucks worth is a lot more affordable than 5-6K for a professional panels-off paint job.
Me trying to spray automotive urethane would do a lot more to cripple the job than me spraying peelable coating. To each their own I guess.....
Is shooting urethane any more difficult than shooting Plasti-Dip? I'm not so sure about that. Of course, if you make mistakes with real paint, they will be harder to repair.
I have no experience with dipping, but if you had the capability (your skills, work area, tools) to spray Plasti-Dip with results you find satisfactory, then you should be able to reproduce the same success with urethane.
Based on my experience with spray bombs (like most people), I encountered problems with runs and orange peel. So I figured that auto painting was some kind of black magic, not for the common man. Then, I tried using urethane, and it "just worked". Glossy, no runs, little orange peel (easily sanded out). The quality of your materials really does matter.
My old Fiero was in need of a complete repaint, and it had a two-tone theme; the roof panel was black, while the rest was yellow. So I repainted the black roof with black urethane, as a practice/learning run before tackling the entire car. It went well, and had I kept the car, I would have had the confidence to do the rest of the panels.
You may view your dip job as a practice run gone well; now you're ready for the real thing.
I bought this but still have not applied it, just might get to it this weekend. If you are willing to wait and sign up for promotions they run them for up to 60% off.
Spray can jobs generally turn out bad because the spray pattern sucks and you cant put it on wet enough to shine evenly. If you do get a shine, you have to pile on so much paint, it runs because its so thin. In a 16 oz spray can your lucky if their are 4oz of color. The rest is propellent and thinner. In real automotive paint, basecoat nearly completely covers in one coat with most colors and even amateurs can spray it easily because you dont try to get a smooth, gloss finish with it. The trick is in shooting the clear. If you put on 2-3 coats of clear, its fairly simple to sand out runs and rub it out. You can always get the base color on and pay someone to come and shoot the clear that knows how for pretty cheap...maybe even for a case of beer. Just be aware the clear has to go on within a specified time. If you do it yourself including the clear, like I said, you can sand out runs and dull, dry areas and polish them up just fine after a few days. Get a cheap HF gun and some cheap enamel paint and practice on some old panels is the best way to learn. Like I said, nearly all my basecoat work is done with a $25 HF gravity feed gun. If its an all over job, I use my expensive gun for just the clear because it cuts the amount of material by half. I can put 2 coats of clear urathane on a full size Cadillac with 2 quarts of clear. Cars like Fiero and Mustang only needs a quart of clear for 2 coats. A regular HVLP gun will double those amounts.
If you DIY with dip, you have to spend $100+ for a gun like a Wagner Power Painter, added to the cost of the color and reducer. So your right up there comparable to real paint. If you make a mistake with the dip, you cant sand it out, or buff it...you have to peel off the panel and redo it. The whole thing either way is up to the do it yourselfer.
Arightie Roger, you have me all pumped up. Question.. my 2M4 is jet black (and looks like crap 30 years later). I get everything you said above, but when it comes to the door jambs, how do I tackle that? Can I just take the doors off and simplify the prep and scuff and spray? And compressor.. how critical is the dryer on the line?
You DO need a water trap on the air compressor line. You CAN buy disposable ones that just fit on the gun inlet. They look like a tennis ball and usually orange, only cost like $5. You will need several on a complete all over job. As far as Fiero door jams, theyre practically non existant, only a few inches are body color...rest is semi flat black. You can do fine with a spray can of your body color...I use an airbrush myself. Any overspray from poor masking usually wipes off with a damp rag with wax & grease remover before it dries. I dont see any need to remove doors...thats simply your choice. Be aware, on a black car every speck of dirt in the air will show on it. More likely than not, its going to have to be color sanded with 2000 grit and professionally buffed to get all that out. It will come out though. Your probably not going to be thrilled with it black just spraying it and driving. Most other colors would be fine with spray and forget it. Most shops charge a premium price for a black job because of it being a bigger pita. I personally wont do an all over black job as the labor time is too intensive for what Id consider a fair price. Im fine with it for repair jobs. jfyi, Fiero color is simply WA 8555 black. There is no 'jet' black... That generally is taken to mean 'the darkest black'. Single stage black is darker than clearcoated black, which gets a milky look from the clear over it.
All of that was Perfect, aside from the black part. The car is black.. not that I want to keep it that way. But I saw the Tahiti Jade Green above, and I think that that is sweet. Maybe the right color of gold. Or gun metal grey blue. Oh, the possibilities. But thanks for all of the details, I can see my way to a great job, IBM style.
you can get a good paint job with spray paint. I did my car 6 years ago and it still looks great. I used Krylon paint I bought at Walmart for $2.99 a can. I took my time, removed each panel, sanded, primed, sanded, panted, sanded and painted again. No runs, no sag's and it look great. I get just as many complements on the paint as I do the LS3. Paint is paint, and a spray can or a paint gun, its all about prep and patience. I've looked at the dipmycar videos and i've been thinking that it may be something I do in the near future.
Arightie Roger, you have me all pumped up. Question.. my 2M4 is jet black (and looks like crap 30 years later). I get everything you said above, but when it comes to the door jambs, how do I tackle that? Can I just take the doors off and simplify the prep and scuff and spray? And compressor.. how critical is the dryer on the line?
I'm not a painter, but just so you know. The Fiero has to be one of the easiest cars to paint. You probably didn't realize because your car is black, but on a Fiero, from the factory only the outside is body colors. On all Fieros, the door jambs, under the hood, decklid are always satin black.
you can get a good paint job with spray paint. I did my car 6 years ago and it still looks great. I used Krylon paint I bought at Walmart for $2.99 a can. I took my time, removed each panel, sanded, primed, sanded, panted, sanded and painted again. No runs, no sag's and it look great. I get just as many complements on the paint as I do the LS3. Paint is paint, and a spray can or a paint gun, its all about prep and patience. I've looked at the dipmycar videos and i've been thinking that it may be something I do in the near future.
Good is relative. With a flat finish like yours or primer, you can get an 'acceptable' paint job from a spray can. You WILL NOT get it with a nice glossy finish. The material in a spray can is too thin, too little amount, and way too little air pressure to get a decent pattern. You may get away with it on some panels, but not on anything like a hood or trunk lid. Ive tried and it simply dont happen. It can be compared to painting a wall with a 1" paint brush. IF you spray can it with 30 cans of paint, wet sand it, and buff it out 2 months later...it may look passable with a lighter color. Ive done it all, brush painted cars, spray canned em, spray gunned em and even a poor spray gun job far surpasses what you get any other way.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 02-28-2017).]
Very nice thread! I've never painted (except underside and engine bay), but I feel like it would be doable and even fun. I have two black Fieros that I'd like to try painting. I'm planning on removing panels, but here is one more wrinkle: I want to use the glass beads that make highway signs and striping so highly reflective.
You can buy these on Amazon. A pack costs $16. What about this? Can I just mix them into the base color? I was thinking they would be brighter in the clear, but that might be too bright. When riding my bike with a headlamp the signs are blinding.
Also, will the beads clog the spray tip? Should I use a larger size? What about sanding? Do you think that will dull the beads?
What parts do you need to replace the panels? I see screws or something at TFS.
One of my Fiero's would look much better if I brushed or rattle canned it. I really don't care much if neither has a great paint job. I'm planning on getting a Harbor Freight gravity feed gun or another from a paint supplier, a respirator, water separator, some sanding blocks, 3M pads, plastic drop sheets, maybe an aluminum pole paint shop, some masking tape, and professional paint from a store down the street. There is a place that lets you rent a garage and the guy helps you and they provide some tools. I would just hook up to their air hose. Sound reasonable?
That generally is taken to mean 'the darkest black'. Single stage black is darker than clearcoated black, which gets a milky look from the clear over it.
