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At PittRace yesterday. Perfect weather for a 1/2 day DE on north track only. The afternoon was solo on full circuit (I did not drive at all). Hubby joined at lunch, and we had a photo op with our friend's Sapphire before we headed home.
Had some fun customizing my car with Plastidip. Never did it before. Hubby was very opposed - was worried it would look awful (he had a bad experience trying it on a wood surface).
I am very pleased with the outcome and he even admitted it looked great (of course anything would have exceeded his expectations).
I tapped off the rear. Cut a small rectangle around the 'GT4". Applied 8 thin coats with 30 min in between. Let it dry overnight and voila! Next time I would tape a little something into the cavity of the "4" as it was tough to get it peeled from inside. I used a toothpick to rub gently to pick up an edge and then surgeon's very fine "tweezer" to grab edge and peel. Since the tweezer was metal I was SUPER careful not to touch anything. Used a magnifying glass for accuracy. But if I had to do over again I'd attach a tiny piece of tape or anything that would give me a surface to "grab" to start the peel. Otherwise it was very easy.
One thing hubby taught me that was KEY for success was aerosol "can management". After each application I took the can outside - turned upside down and sprayed (into some scrap cardboard) until nothing but air came out. This kept the nozzle clear and prevented clogging. I didn't do this after my first application, and sure enough - I had red plastic hardened in the nozzle which required clearing before I could spray the second coat. I did this EVERY time and it worked like a charm. Yes - it wastes some product but is well worth not having a clogged spray nozzle. I also used Q tips to apply alcohol to the surface so it was clean of any oils/debris, for best adhesion.
I'm interested to see how long it holds up and looks good. So far I'm very pleased and love the extra little touch of red at the rear.
Also a couple from cars & coffee - two different events:
Had some fun customizing my car with Plastidip. Never did it before. Hubby was very opposed - was worried it would look awful (he had a bad experience trying it on a wood surface).
I am very pleased with the outcome and he even admitted it looked great (of course anything would have exceeded his expectations).
I tapped off the rear. Cut a small rectangle around the 'GT4". Applied 8 thin coats with 30 min in between. Let it dry overnight and voila! Next time I would tape a little something into the cavity of the "4" as it was tough to get it peeled from inside. I used a toothpick to rub gently to pick up an edge and then surgeon's very fine "tweezer" to grab edge and peel. Since the tweezer was metal I was SUPER careful not to touch anything. Used a magnifying glass for accuracy. But if I had to do over again I'd attach a tiny piece of tape or anything that would give me a surface to "grab" to start the peel. Otherwise it was very easy.
One thing hubby taught me that was KEY for success was aerosol "can management". After each application I took the can outside - turned upside down and sprayed (into some scrap cardboard) until nothing but air came out. This kept the nozzle clear and prevented clogging. I didn't do this after my first application, and sure enough - I had red plastic hardened in the nozzle which required clearing before I could spray the second coat. I did this EVERY time and it worked like a charm. Yes - it wastes some product but is well worth not having a clogged spray nozzle. I also used Q tips to apply alcohol to the surface so it was clean of any oils/debris, for best adhesion.
I'm interested to see how long it holds up and looks good. So far I'm very pleased and love the extra little touch of red at the rear.
Also a couple from cars & coffee - two different events:
Very nice I did the same thing with my lettering ( in my case black car and sliver/graphite lettering vs the stock black lettering ) I used dupi-color's plastic dip (same product)
But in the interim, my film guy put on the GT4 decal only in lieu of the lettering ... I liked the GT4 only on the back, but told him to make me a bigger GT4 decal ... Still waiting on the one ....
regards
Ed
So how do your seats look
I would have taken off the P O R S C H E but we had the entire car Opticoated and I'm afraid to remove the letters. If there is a "shadow" left behind it might look weird and I don't want to chance it. Otherwise I'd have done it just like you. Looking forward to your photos of the final look!
Bolster covers look great. I've pointed them out to a few persnickety friends who have said they wouldn't have even noticed if I didn't say anything. I'll post pics.
thanks for all your efforts!! Well done!
I would have taken off the P O R S C H E but we had the entire car Opticoated and I'm afraid to remove the letters. If there is a "shadow" left behind it might look weird and I don't want to chance it. Otherwise I'd have done it just like you. Looking forward to your photos of the final look!
Bolster covers look great. I've pointed them out to a few persnickety friends who have said they wouldn't have even noticed if I didn't say anything. I'll post pics.
thanks for all your efforts!! Well done!
Well you happen to be correct on the shawdow issue
It is really more prominent on the GT 4 and not the Porsche.
The paint has an impression only on one side of the GT 4
It's as if they pushed on the GT 4 when the paint was still soft
That's a great idea using Plastidip see if you like the outcome prior to commitment.
If it looks bad after awhile I'll peel it off, order another factory GT4, order factory Guards Red paint and do it "right". But as long as the dip looks good I'm leaving it alone. And frankly - it was so ridiculously easy and cheap ($8 for spray) that I'd be tempted to re-do it if it lasts a reasonable amount of time. I also like that if I want it back to stock it's very easy.
On the plastidip subject, consider a new automotive-focused formulation called autodip. More expensive but much better quality from my experience. I did my wheels as an experiment in a bronze metallic and looks just like metallic paint, even up to close inspection, I was pretty impressed