Problem with Plasti Dip

[INfox]

McRuss, how is the Hi-Viz Yellow holding up? I've read somewhere that they like to fade out from the sun.

You bike looks very cool with it.

 

[INfox]

MDLNB, thank you for the sharing. Could you post a picture of what your bike looks like with the PD?

I did my frunk, it ended up well for the first dipping. I have 8 layers down - was waiting for 70° F temps with 30-50% humidity. I have a decal over a part and wanted to do the glossifier, but ended up liking the matte finish, even though I used pearl PD. I sprayed it on the bike directly.

When I tested the metalizer at the same condition on a part of my car, I didn’t experience any clouding or peeling. It ended up really nice and peeled off perfectly, but I didn’t do a large part.

As far as I know the temperature at the time of spraying, the low humidity and preheated cans make a lot of difference when spraying. Even it was 70° F outside, I still preheated the cans in hot water. And I sprayed in the garage to eliminate any debris flying around and possibly sticking to the dip.

Wrapping is a better option, but harder to do. There are many low quality wraps sold which results in problems with low stretching… I didn’t try it though, my better half liked the Plaits Dip option more. And I am glad I did it.

 

[johnsimion]

I thought about the vinyl wrap but have seen how large decals can be such a pain to get all the bubbles out, that I figured that my clumsy handling would probably be a disaster. I may try the vinyl wrap. I've seen some really nice vinyl jobs out there, and I am kind of wondering if it is a job that I can do. I have rattle can painted before with great results, so I thought that Plasti Dip would be as easy.

Theoretically the wrap would be better, but it seems to depend on the wrap. I tried putting on a simple wrap decal on my frunk, basically a triangle-shaped piece to match the shape of the frunk. Destroyed two decals on my own, took a third to a professional and highly-regarded wrap shop to install. Two years later, there are STILL hundreds of tiny bubbles under the wrap the professionals installed. My experience has been VERY VERY frustrating but Pete from Wrap My Spyder tells me after the first mishap that this may be due to me selecting Red Metallic for the decal. Apparently this particular wrap is so thick and airtight that it's very hard to apply and the bubbles simply can't escape. Ever. So I simply try to ignore them but the bubbles are a constant reminder of all that trouble and annoyance. OTOH there are lots of people out there who have great looking wraps on their Spyders that don't have any bubbles in them at all. Pete is an expert and I should have listened to him and gotten his suggestion, but I stupidly thought, "Wrap is wrap, how hard can it be?" Well, pretty *&^% hard, it turns out. If you go the wrap route, I suggest you talk to Pete and get a recommendation for a specific type of wrap that is easier to install and will outgas the bubbles.

 

[INfox]

johnsimion, I like your red wheels and the blue and red accent striping on your bike. Did you dip your wheels? Is the red reflective striping holding up? Where did you get it?

 

[MDLNB]

MDLNB, thank you for the sharing. Could you post a picture of what your bike looks like with the PD?

I did my frunk, it ended up well for the first dipping. I have 8 layers down - was waiting for 70° F temps with 30-50% humidity. I have a decal over a part and wanted to do the glossifier, but ended up liking the matte finish, even though I used pearl PD. I sprayed it on the bike directly.

When I tested the metalizer at the same condition on a part of my car, I didn’t experience any clouding or peeling. It ended up really nice and peeled off perfectly, but I didn’t do a large part.

As far as I know the temperature at the time of spraying, the low humidity and preheated cans make a lot of difference when spraying. Even it was 70° F outside, I still preheated the cans in hot water. And I sprayed in the garage to eliminate any debris flying around and possibly sticking to the dip.

Wrapping is a better option, but harder to do. There are many low quality wraps sold which results in problems with low stretching… I didn’t try it though, my better half liked the Plaits Dip option more. And I am glad I did it.

I've had some compliments on how it turned out, even if I know it didn't come out as expected. I am using a spray on, wipe off clear coat type of silicone wax(?) by Lucas that seems to make it a bit better. The photo quality is not very good, but the lighter areas are the areas that I plasti dipped. It is supposed to be black with gold metalizer and a clear glosifier on top, but it looks wrong in the photos. It shines so it looks like a different color than what it looks like standing next to it. It came out OK and any blemishes can be treated lightly with Naptha(?) solvent, which thins the paint and allows you to feather it. Maybe, once I get used to my new phone's camera I can video a walk around it. I have also installed the white led headlight bulbs, new handlebars and grips so there is some neat changes. I plan to make a removable luggage rack with saddlebags before long.

 

[INfox]

The pin-striping is very nice. I can see the glitter - yes, the pictures are many times not what we see with our eyes. I bet it looks cool together.

 

[krakum1967]

Your shop conditions need to be ideal for one, 72 degrees at least, no dust, no humidity....then, you need to let the clears cure for 24 hours and let them set up, I have had horrible wet coats turn out fine just waiting them out with the dip. And when curing, crank the heat in the shop, it cures well in heat, and then COOL IT....

Lastly, I have used the Flex Seal product too, they dont have the color or pearl options, but its a great seal product and applies quite nicely.

The big thing with dipping, you get to play, especially on panels, take it off, peel it, dip it again until you get it right.

Good luck....

 

[johnsimion]

johnsimion, I like your red wheels and the blue and red accent striping on your bike. Did you dip your wheels? Is the red reflective striping holding up? Where did you get it?

The wheels are painted red. The guy who does alloy wheel repair did them for me. And BTW do not even try to put on the wrap that Wrap My Spyder sells for these. I bought it and tried it for about 5 minutes and realized there is NO WAY you can do a decent job with that stuff on wheels like mine (may be great on other wheels, but on RTS wheels the pieces are too small to work with). The blue on the wheels is rim tape that I bought off Amazon and I just did it in sections. That was easy. The blue lug nuts are "Colorlugs." The Colorlugs are simply vinyl covers that fit over your existing lugs. I love Colorlugs and have them on all my cars with exposed lugnuts. Cheap and easy to clean. You do have to have the tweezers they sell in order to pull them off, but that's a $2.00 item.

The red striping comes from various sources. The stripes on the hood come from a roll of red metallic reflective safety tape I had in the garage. I just cut them out using an Xacto and a yardstick. I also put some of that tape on my floorboards and below the license plate. I did lots of surface prep and cleaned everything with alcohol first, and it was really easy to apply -- but after two years it is all starting to come loose. I think it's just not the right stuff for the job but it cost essentially nothing and will be easy to replace.

I already posted about my troubles with the frunk decal so will not repeat here.