Who's going to volunteer as tribute?

I will. My red hard top needs to be Emerald green or black.

LOL, i wonder how that looks in person. Looks nice in the video.

You guys should really reevaluate your personal taste. that shit looks awful.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. From the standpoint of "looks good", i mean it looks pretty good in the video for what it is.

Would i ever put that on anything I own? Hell no. Not unless I pick up a 90's impala and put some 33" wheels on it :bowrofl:

What if my miata has 32s? You think I could pull it off?

If you do plastidip, make sure you mask the shit out of everything that doesn't get a thick coat. Overspray will not come off. It will with acetone, but then you damage the clear coat/paint with the acetone.

I put it on my 16" winter wheels on my Jetta and it has help up for an entire year and some seriously scrubbing. I was pretty impressed. The second a hard edge hits it though, it'll scrape it off in a heartbeat.

Xylene is where it's at for taking care of overspray, fixing edges and repairing imperfections in dip. I used it to fix the edges when I dipped my miata, it's the best thinner for dip, it just rubs dip clean off. I don't think it hurts car paint, but don't take my word for it, I used it on the third brake light, window moldings, stuff like that.

As far as how long dip lasts, I'm going on 2 years on 2 dip jobs. I started off green, then went black. I just sprayed one over the other with no issues. It cures right on top. It'll make it less difficult to peel in the end because it's pretty think at this point. I'm planning on doing navy blue soon, possibly with pearlizer or maybe with a bit of black tint. Probably both.

I just use a cloth and rub off overspray. Not too difficult to do.

My brother has successfully convinced me to dip my bmw. He has probably watched every plastidip video on the interwebs. From what I've seen, it can look awesome. I'm pretty excited, but have my doubts. Sounds like there are definitely tricks to make it look better.

What color? I feel like you can make plastidip look great in pictures but in person I don't think you will be impressed.

Red and Black, over red paint.

I completely agree, I wanted to do it myself until I saw a few cars in person.

I have had pretty good success with dipping pieces of my bike and different trim pieces on various cars. Gonna dip my miata as soon as I'm done with the turbo kit

Request to those that dipped their hard top:

Can you please post pictures?

Even more awesome would be pictures of someone that dipped the top and the a pillars making the car sort of a "two tone".

I keep googling for pictures, and only found a handful so far.


*EDIT: my biggest concern about dipping something like a top or even a whole car is unevenness or patchiness.

Like so:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1417206752

That patchiness is directly related to the idiot applying it. If you take your time, prep it, and apply it, it will look better than most of the remaining paint. (At least on my 96)

What do you mean by prep? As far as I know you're just supposed to wash the surface and make sure its dry and dirt free. They also have the prep stuff on dipyourcar but I don't think its anything fancy.

And yes, I'm guessing user error on that one, but that's kinda why I want to see more pictures of light reflecting off plastidipped surfaces to make sure it doesn't look patchy or stupid.

For me, best results were attained by detailing the surface first. (Wash, dry, clay bar, iron-x ect), otherwise the plasti dip layers will build up on the impurities, and become quite noticeable.

Second in order of importance is learning how to mask the car in regards to plasti dip. It is different from normal masking. (Special consideration on how the tape is going to be removed after the dip has dried)

Third is the application of the plasti dip. If using aerosol cans, I've found the best practice to be to lay it on quite thick, from no more than 6"away, and in "wet" coats. If you follow the directions, and "dust" it on, it gets a sandpaper like finish, versus a smooth vynil like finish if applied wet.

If using the sprayer, then there are a lot more variables to consider. But to keep it generic: lay down two to three dusty layers, then apply the finish layer last. Do note that the plasti dip meant for sprayers is a different compound from the aerosol cans.

It will take one or two applications to get it right.

And being 100% honest, I learned more technique from doing smaller items, than trying to do my hardtop. My first attempt at my hardtop sucked! After doing five shift knobs, and experienceing the difference that applying techniques makes, I was much more capable of producing a better finish


Edit: most of the Orange peel looks are from the wrong application technique. Shit you not, my 96 looks better at two feet away than it did with factory paint. When I get home I'll try to drum up some photos.

Good feedback, thanks for that, props given.
Can you elaborate on the "masking off different" comment?