What I've realized after Dipping my Car

[Amped_up]

Darren,
I have CQuartz on my car (had it applied in 2013), and I would guess that this would not stick. Thoughts? Also, I am here in Texas in 100 degree weather. Is the cure time pretty fast-ish? Closest dealer is in Houston, about 3 hours away. Thanks.

 

[FLDarren]

Darren,
I have CQuartz on my car (had it applied in 2013), and I would guess that this would not stick. Thoughts? Also, I am here in Texas in 100 degree weather. Is the cure time pretty fast-ish? Closest dealer is in Houston, about 3 hours away. Thanks.

I don't know about CQuartz Finest and adhesion. I have Opticoat Pro on mine and the dip adhered just fine. If t was applied in 2013 it should be wearing away by now. It lasts a few years right? In 100 degree weath? Hell yeah it'll dry fast. Lol. In those temps the dip will dry mid air and the gun will spray cob webs. Id recommend dipping very early in the AM. Also add up to 10% Xylene to the dip and mix well. This will increase the drying time allowing the dip to self level a bit better.

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I will be testing Halo EFX and Raail Protek for my next dip. They are liquid wraps similar to plasti dip. I've seen people with better results so I figure Ill give them a try. Testing testing testing....

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Do mine in black hole color shift!!!

Ur car won't look black then and we can't make fun of u. No way!

 

[jsm]

Where do you spray the car?? In a special room? Outside??

 

[FLDarren]

Where do you spray the car?? In a special room? Outside??

U can do it almost anywhere. I rented a paint booth the first time I did mine. Yeah, won't be doing that again. Felt rushed and it was hot as balls. A lot of people do it in their garages with the door open and a few fans pointed outwards. If u have a nice gun then overspray is very minimal. I used a canopy the most recent time I dipped my car. I took my time and did section by section. If ur doing gloss I'd recommend shelter even if there aren't any trees nearby. Gloss requires more attention and is more finicky than regular plasti dip.

 

[kushari]

Love the look. How does it affect the parking sensors/autopilot? Did you have to do anything special to protect them??

Nope, they work normal.

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Cost to dip my Model S Burnt Copper

$165 for 3 gallons of black PDS for the base - used 2.5 gallons
$320 for 4 gallons of DipPearl Topcoat -used all 4 gallons
$56 for 4-25 gram bags of Burnt Copper Alloy Pearl
Roughly $30-40 in prepping materials

-Layed the black base
-Mixed all Burnt Copper Pearl into 2 gallons of Topcoat, sprayed that
-Layed the other 2 gallons of Topcoat for a glossy finish

Dipped by yours truly

Kushari stopped after step 2 i think. Spraying the pearl mixed into Topcoat is what gives the satin finish. So it shows it'll costs more $ the glossier you want it.

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It's supposed to last about 2 years. DipYourCar has done a lot of long term testing on their products before release. There are a lot of testimonials out there showing its endurance. Why keep a car dipped very long when u can change it to a different color in one day?

It took my about 20 minutes to peel the copper from my car. As u can see each panel came off in one big sheet. The thicker u lay it, the easier it is to peel. To be honest, if someone doesn't do their research and know how much dip to put on they deserve the hassle of spending 15 hours peeling a car instead of 30 minutes. A lot of testing should be done before someone decides to dip their car. Obviously. As for overspray, masking is the solution. Some pieces like the door handles I didn't mask off before spraying. I just made sure to lay enough product there so that when I was done I knew it would peel. The gap between the door handle and the body created a break in the dip allowing me to peel it without affecting the rest of the door.View attachment 90292

Nope. We did step 3. We just mixed in the Abyss Midnight flip pearls with the top coat. That's what gives it the satin finish. When I say We, I mean my friend haha.

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Where do you spray the car?? In a special room? Outside??

We did it in a Garage.

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Darren,
I have CQuartz on my car (had it applied in 2013), and I would guess that this would not stick. Thoughts? Also, I am here in Texas in 100 degree weather. Is the cure time pretty fast-ish? Closest dealer is in Houston, about 3 hours away. Thanks.

Heat and Humidity are big factors as to why it doesn't stick.

 

[Amped_up]

Darren, Kushari: both of you cars look fantastic, and I am seriously considering this myself. Question: Did you dip your sills? If not, how does it look? I am starting with the blue/black color and want to go matte light metallic copper or blue-ish. I don't think there would be too much of a contrast, but hard to tell without pictures. Thanks!

Also, I spoke with a gent in Houston about CQuartz and he said it should not be a problem with the dip sticking. Just and FYI for anyone who is considering this as well.

 

[ozweepay]

Does this jeopardize any warranties? Can it be done to a leased car?

 

[gizmoboy]

Does this jeopardize any warranties? Can it be done to a leased car?

AFAICT, it should be fine on a leased car because you can just peel it off when you turn in the car and POOF, back to factory paint.

 

[FLDarren]

Darren, Kushari: both of you cars look fantastic, and I am seriously considering this myself. Question: Did you dip your sills? If not, how does it look? I am starting with the blue/black color and want to go matte light metallic copper or blue-ish. I don't think there would be too much of a contrast, but hard to tell without pictures. Thanks!

Also, I spoke with a gent in Houston about CQuartz and he said it should not be a problem with the dip sticking. Just and FYI for anyone who is considering this as well.

Hell no I didn't do the sills. lol 3 hours of masking and prepping just for the exterior. No way I'm doing that again for something you won't see but for a few seconds a day. it's just not worth it in my opinion. Let me put it this way. If ur car is professionally done, doing the jambs will double the price.

I'll go grab a couple pics to show the contrast.

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AFAICT, it should be fine on a leased car because you can just peel it off when you turn in the car and POOF, back to factory paint.

This can be tricky if u don't know what ur doing. With plastidip by itself, spraying on the paint is fine. It sticks, then u peel it right off. No problemo. Now if u mixed any sort of pearl or flake into the Plastidip and sprayed directly on the paint u will have issues. The pearls and flakes will scratch the paint. Thats why there is always a base color on the car before the pearls. That and it adds thickness.

When I sprayed the black on my car. I did 3 coats of black PDS (plasti dip spray), then I did 2 coats of black pds mixed with Black Betty pearls. The black pds creates a barrier so the pearls don't touch the paint.

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Does this jeopardize any warranties? Can it be done to a leased car?

I seriously considered dipping the loaner I had last week. One of the techs jokingly suggested they give me their silver P85D instead of the car I actually received because it may come back a different color.

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Never mind the texture everyone. It will NOT be there on my next dip. Different products and different sprayer setup. Going for glass next time.

 

[kushari]

Darren, Kushari: both of you cars look fantastic, and I am seriously considering this myself. Question: Did you dip your sills? If not, how does it look? I am starting with the blue/black color and want to go matte light metallic copper or blue-ish. I don't think there would be too much of a contrast, but hard to tell without pictures. Thanks!

Also, I spoke with a gent in Houston about CQuartz and he said it should not be a problem with the dip sticking. Just and FYI for anyone who is considering this as well.

Same. I didn't do the Sills. As Darren mentioned the longest part of the process is the masking, so it's too much to do the sills when you barely see them anyways.

Does this jeopardize any warranties? Can it be done to a leased car?

Nope. It's peel-able, so they wouldn't even know it was on if you removed it well.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Pardon the neophyte questions, but what do you mask and what do you leave alone. Chrome, lights and badges?

Do you wear some sort of respirator when spraying or just try to use good ventilation? (I used to paint aircraft and those solvents were pretty nasty.)

 

[FLDarren]

Pardon the neophyte questions, but what do you mask and what do you leave alone. Chrome, lights and badges?

Do you wear some sort of respirator when spraying or just try to use good ventilation? (I used to paint aircraft and those solvents were pretty nasty.)

U could theoretically dip then entire car without masking. Just make sure the parts u want peeled are sprayed with enough dip. Everyone masks because its cheaper. There's a lot of surface that would make the cost of the project skyrocket if it wasn't masked. I covered the side view mirrors, just the mirrors. In hindsight I won't mask off the headlights or taillights next time. I left the badges alone because dip can easily peel from them when ur done.

How close to put tape near the dipped surface depends on if there is a gap between the two pieces.

Yes, always were a respirator and safety glasses. The dip and topcoat have some strong solvents. Good ventilation needed as well. If there is no air movement the solvents will not flash and the dip will blush leaving it a lighter color and bubbly texture.

 

[FLDarren]

Any questions ask away. Plasti dip is still fairly new so questions are natural. Just like EV's are fairly new, questions are natural.

 

[dgpcolorado]

^Thanks for those excellent masking pictures!

 

[Kevin Harney]

Any links to Dipped or wrapped cars that are NOT flat color. I like a deep shiny finish on my car. Probably just me being ignorant but I have only seen flat.

 

[FLDarren]

I love gloss too but until I perfect my spray technique it won't be the greatest. Glossiness depends almost all on your spray technique. It's all about spray distance, amount of product flow, spray angle etc...

Here is some pics. Some are glossy some aren't. Take a look.

[email protected] (@raailusa) • Instagram photos and videos
@kppigments • Instagram photos and videos
DipYourCar.com (@dipyourcar) • Instagram photos and videos
Halo EFX (@haloefx) • Instagram photos and videos
Didspade ™ (@didspade) • Instagram photos and videos

 

[Joules Verne]

I think it’s our job as owners to spread the word and Dipping my car has done that better than anything ever could as people come to you to start a conversation.
So if all Tesla owners dipped their cars, and made them stand out, this could lead to more interest and purchases. This might sound stupid, but that’s information I’ve gathered from my observations after I’ve dipped the car.

Not our job, it is Tesla's, but I get the sentiment.

Perhaps this could be a new incentive program for Tesla... We pay for your dip, get loud and proud on behalf of Tesla.

 

[kushari]

Not our job, it is Tesla's, but I get the sentiment.

Perhaps this could be a new incentive program for Tesla... We pay for your dip, get loud and proud on behalf of Tesla.

I couldn't disagree more. Did you just buy the car to show off or did you buy it to be part of something. I'm part of something and if I don't take action I feel like I'm coping out.

Here are pics of my masking off. Some have uploaded upside down. Sorry.

 

[JunesongProvisn]

Do you guys think this color scheme would be too ballsy for the MS? I'm in love with it.

 

[FLDarren]

I love the folded little pieces of tape on the taillights with the small lip to grab hold of. U pull it up and all the dip on that panel will lift with it. Genius!!!!!

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Do you guys think this color scheme would be too ballsy for the MS? I'm in love with it.

View attachment 91134

It looks like a electric lime green mixed with some green apple. I love it. NO COLOR IS TOO BOLD FOR THE MODEL S! All colors are fair game. At least that's what I think.