I'm curious if anyone has Plasti Dipped any parts of their F-Type...

I have a 2016 and I'm interested in possibly doing the rear diffuser and the side skirts. The reason I mention plasti dip, is that it's not permanent. I'm not SURE I want to paint them gloss black...

Another possibility is the rims. I know the ideal solution is to get them powder coated, but again, that's a permanent solution.

I've actually never seen anything plasti dipped in person. IF done well, will it still look "Ghetto" on an F-Type? Might it be worth doing just to see for myself if I prefer the gloss black over the matching body color, THEN get it painted?

Thoughts anyone?

 

Check this (S10) forum, a lot of Plasti Dip experience and references, probably a lot more experience than on this (Jag) forum (no elitism intended, there are some amazing builders and fabricators on the S10 forum). Here is one at random.


So I Plasti Dipped my S10 this Weekend - S-10 Forum

 

I've used Plasti-Dip on my previous BMW wheels. It held up fine. Here's what I would recommend:
1. They make a cleaner to spray on prior to applying to car. I recommend it. It's equivalent to Goo Gone. Also, if you warm the Plasti-Dip can in warm water before applying it seems to me to come out more evenly mixed.
2. Spray on at least 6 coats per wheel - minimum - thin and even. Let dry about 15 minutes between coats.
3. If you leave the wheels on, cover the brakes with a plastic garbage bag.
4. Overspray on to tires - it will easily peel off. No need to tape the tires.
5. It will be a matte color - there is minimal gloss/shine. They make a clear coat you can spray on top of the color, but it doesn't do much.
6. Mine would stay looking good for about 6 months before it needed to be touched up or reapplied. If you touch it up, you can simply spray on top of the existing coverage.
7. Getting it off is a chore. They tell you if you have an even, thick covering it will easily pull off. That was never my experience. Goo Gone will take it off your wheels without damaging the rims.

The good thing about Plasti-Dip is if you don't like it, you can always clean it off.

You might search this site - there was a guy that Plasti-Dipped his entire F-Type.

 

Lots of the Land Rover guys plasti dip lots of stuff on their cars, including trim, side vents, badges, wheels etc. usually looks pretty good. I think you can get a clear spray to go on top if you want a less matte finish as well.

Here is a video of a nice trick for doing wheels.

 

You just read my mind TX!
I just posted to your previous CF Wrap Thread about what you used https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-144060/page3/

But now, using Plasti Dip would make it so much easier to cover those areas!

 

I used plasti-dip on the Leaper and JAGUAR lettering on the back of my car, but that is about all. 5 coats of black plus 2 coats of glossifier. It's been on for about 8 months and it still looks great.

I originally did all the emblems on the back of the car, but decided I preferred the chrome for the rest.

I had quite a few of the accent pieces wrapped though, using 3M 1080 carbon fiber wrap. You can see the details on specific pieces in my signature.

 

Yeah Merlin, I saw the pieces you wrapped with the 3M and they really look good! You went with the Gloss Carbon Fiber 1080 right, not the matte finish?

The priority for me will be to get the car's front protected with XPEL or similar. I wanted to save a few bucks and do the wrap or dip myself, but I know it will not come out perfect and will bug me. I'll let TXJag be the guinea pig with PlastiDipping his side skirts before I give it a go--lol!

BTW, I imagine you got your car XPEL'd or similar? What did you go with and did you do the entire car?

 

Several folks have plasti dip the badges and lettering (myself included). However, I probably wouldn't plasti-dip the rear diffuser or the side skirts. Plastidip works on smooth non-porous surfaces. I think it wouldn't be great on the rear diffuser since it's plastic and not as smooth. The little bits ight get stuck in there and it would be impossible to completely clean it. The side skirts maybe will work better since it's smoother.

 

If you plastidip your rims I'm very eager to see how it comes out. I'm considering doing the same to see whether I want to powder coat, replace with black wheels, or just leave them alone.

 

I just had my rims done today.

after/before

 

Looks good! Black rims go very well with the black pack.


Nice improvement :-)

 

Looks great!

So you didn't do them yourself?

 

There's a mobile service in SoCal, he came right to my office and it took about an hour to do the wheels and grill surround.

Also I don't think I have Black Pack, I vinyled the side vent black to match the ones in the hood.

 

Yeah, that was the closest match to factory carbon fiber on the rims and mirror covers.

No, but I have been meaning to. I was originally waiting since its best to wait for at least 3 months post delivery to give the factory paint time to fully cure, but since then I haven't found a place to do it yet. I wanted to find someone who is factory trained and the ones I found aren't local. Primarily looking at XPEL Ultimate or Prestige ClearGuard Nano. I don't think I'll do the full car, probably just front fenders, full hood, rocker panels, and mirror covers, though I did consider headlights. Truthfully, I've not really thought about it much since the weather turned sour.

Along those same lines, I also want to add a UV tint on the driver & passenger windows. I am looking at going with Prestige Spectra PhotoSync, but again no local installers, so I may end up getting 3M Crystalline.

In any case, to stay on topic, I also agree that plastidip is probably not going to be the best choice for the rear diffuser or side skirts. A wrap is going to work better, and would be more easily removed if you change your mind. But then again I've seen cars that were completely done in plastidip and it came out looking fine.

 

Thanks for clarifying the Carbon Fiber wrap you used on the side skirts is gloss and not matte. And I agree with you that the CF wrap will most likely look better than plastidip--at least if doing it myself. But I'm still weighing the options...

As for Paint Protection Film and waiting 3 months, I've always read that guys take their new rides straight from delivery to the detailer. Regardless, I'm on the fence about getting it down. I'm just too damn cheap and don't keep a car long enough to shell out the money. Since yours is one of the few on here without PPF, how is the front and side skirts holding up. I'm hoping having white as well will help hide the inevitable.

 

I just did the nose in XPEL Ultimate. 2 years later, I've had no chips other than 2 small ones on the passenger side in front of the rear wheel just above the rocker panel.

I don't recall if you have Polar or Glacier, but the non-metallic Polar White is incredibly easy to touch-up chips and make them invisible. Metallic colors are a little harder.

I agree that doing the entire car is over-kill. The film does have a limited life.

 

Thanks Foosh. Yes, I was really only considering the nose.
I have Polaris White, so easy to remedy!

 

It depends on a number of factors, including the quality of the paint, but the idea is that if you get a car right off the boat which was painted right before it was loaded, your paint won't have fully cured by the time it arrives at the dealership. Not everyone pays attention, and it probably doesn't make a huge difference, but I tend to err on the side of caution.

I haven't had any issues with chips or scratches on the car yet. But then again the roads here are kept up pretty well and I haven't really been driving it all that much. I normally take public transportation to work, plus the weather has been pretty poor lately so the car hasn't had much opportunity to get dinged up. Being on paternity leave has allowed me to drive it more lately, but it still has less than 2,000 miles on the odometer. So, your experiences may vary.

If I could find a great local detailer and an experienced XPEL installer, I would probably go get it done right away. I'd think something like that would be easier to find here in the San Francisco peninsula area, but at least when I was looking previously, I didn't really find much that fit the bill.

 

Just dipped the wheels myself yesterday. Three cans of black Plasti Dip.


After




During




Before

 

Sonny,

Wheels came out good. Nice Job!!!