Appearance: How to/Review: Plasti-Dip Evo Mod (Lots of Photos)
10-10-2010, 07:33 PM
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How to/Review: Plasti-Dip Evo Mod (Lots of Photos)
This is somewhat of a How to:/review of Plasti-Dip for the Evo Mod.
I recently discovered some curb rash on the front fascia of my car and decided I wanted to protect it as much as possible from any more of that crap, especially since I'm about to lower the car.
I started looking into different possibilities of protection for that lower lip... Perhaps some sort of vinyl wrapping for the lower fascia, something like Godly has (not sure what exactly he did though), or just the Evo mod wrapping, but it would have most likely had to have been custom made and I'm sure would be up-charged like crazy (Baller on a budget).
I didn't want to use plain old rattle can since it would be pretty much permanent short of taking thinner to it or sanding and repainting, plus it wouldn't really offer the protection I was looking for on the front, and if it chips, it would just look bad (I've never been a fan of rattle canning cars unless it's a total beater, nothing against anyone that might have done that, just not my personal preference).
In a thread about a week or so ago, someone had suggested using Plasti-Dip to do the Evo mod, as it was removable and protective. It definitely sparked my interest because personally, I hate permanence and love protection
. I started looking into their products and found it would actually make a really good protective layer as well as a good flat black rubber based removable paint.
So I made up my mind; I went to Ace hardware and bought myself 01 cans of black spray can Plasti-Dip ($7.99 + tax). And went to town.
What you'll need:
-Plasti-Dip: You could be like me and use the spray can. It'll let you get a much thinner coat on, but can get to be a pain if it starts dripping/you gotta tape off a ton to prevent over spray (I think I got a little bit on my IC, no biggy though). Using the brush-on stuff would definitely require a lot less taping, and would probably be a bit more precise of an operation, but then there's the issue maintaining the same thickness of coat throughout.
-A clean, dust-free car.
-Painter's tape. I'm a fan of the blue stuff myself (It's free from work
)
I used some Meguiar's quick detailing mist to just wipe down the lip before spraying.
What to do:
-Start by taping off pretty much everything you don't want to have sprayed, the stuff's removable, but it sucks having to go back and wipe it all off (learned that one by experience). The taping off part is pretty much the only creative input you'll have on this job, cause any other creative input can just cause more problems (learned that one the hard way too).
My great tape job that didn't totally do the trick.
-Shake that paint... The instructions on the can say to shake the can until the ball starts moving, and then a full minute after that. So feel the burn!
-Spray in short, concise movements, making sure to overlap each spray and to not leave too much piled up in one spot. You want to leave the surface evenly sprayed and looking wet, but not to wet, so that the rubber adheres to itself and creates the sheet you are looking for. Be careful if you need to turn the can upside down, the paint will come out pretty much full liquid in no particular direction and can make a mess.
You can see how on the left side of the photo the paint looks wet, and on the right side, I'm slowly overlapping the sprays.
-Once you get the first coat on, (this step is important) pull the tape off, if you don't and let the paint dry, it will create a nice rubber film connected to the rest of your paint job and you'll end up ripping it all apart on the edges when you do remove the tape. (Ask me how I know this).
Hey! It's dry and I forgot to do something!
If it wasn't for a great camera this would look like hammered dog ass (it still does)! Look at all those lovely textures though!
So, I had to go back over and re-tape those spots to try and get them somewhat decent looking.
Here's me trying to save the job, notice it got piled up in the corner there
Anyway, finished product: A nice looking flat black (REMOVABLE) Evo Mod that will help protect that front lip from taking the brunt of steep driveways and crappy roads.
Looks decent.. I tried to rescue the job after the whole tape incident, but the more and more you mess with it while it's wet, the worse it will get. The prescribed drying time is 30 minutes between coats and 4 hours per coat sprayed on.
Best part is, you can just peel the whole thing off and start over from scratch, no harm, no foul.
Thanks for taking the time to read this very long winded post and enduring my poor painting skills (I'll stick to my tuning and driving). Hope you at least enjoyed the read and perhaps I might have even shared a bit of knowledge with you on the whole subject.
Good luck if you attempt this procedure, it has the potential to look great if done well. And just remember to take the tape off before the damn paint dries.
Cheers.
I recently discovered some curb rash on the front fascia of my car and decided I wanted to protect it as much as possible from any more of that crap, especially since I'm about to lower the car.
I started looking into different possibilities of protection for that lower lip... Perhaps some sort of vinyl wrapping for the lower fascia, something like Godly has (not sure what exactly he did though), or just the Evo mod wrapping, but it would have most likely had to have been custom made and I'm sure would be up-charged like crazy (Baller on a budget).
I didn't want to use plain old rattle can since it would be pretty much permanent short of taking thinner to it or sanding and repainting, plus it wouldn't really offer the protection I was looking for on the front, and if it chips, it would just look bad (I've never been a fan of rattle canning cars unless it's a total beater, nothing against anyone that might have done that, just not my personal preference).
In a thread about a week or so ago, someone had suggested using Plasti-Dip to do the Evo mod, as it was removable and protective. It definitely sparked my interest because personally, I hate permanence and love protection
. I started looking into their products and found it would actually make a really good protective layer as well as a good flat black rubber based removable paint. So I made up my mind; I went to Ace hardware and bought myself 01 cans of black spray can Plasti-Dip ($7.99 + tax). And went to town.
What you'll need:
-Plasti-Dip: You could be like me and use the spray can. It'll let you get a much thinner coat on, but can get to be a pain if it starts dripping/you gotta tape off a ton to prevent over spray (I think I got a little bit on my IC, no biggy though). Using the brush-on stuff would definitely require a lot less taping, and would probably be a bit more precise of an operation, but then there's the issue maintaining the same thickness of coat throughout.
-A clean, dust-free car.
-Painter's tape. I'm a fan of the blue stuff myself (It's free from work
) I used some Meguiar's quick detailing mist to just wipe down the lip before spraying.
What to do:
-Start by taping off pretty much everything you don't want to have sprayed, the stuff's removable, but it sucks having to go back and wipe it all off (learned that one by experience). The taping off part is pretty much the only creative input you'll have on this job, cause any other creative input can just cause more problems (learned that one the hard way too).
My great tape job that didn't totally do the trick.
-Shake that paint... The instructions on the can say to shake the can until the ball starts moving, and then a full minute after that. So feel the burn!
-Spray in short, concise movements, making sure to overlap each spray and to not leave too much piled up in one spot. You want to leave the surface evenly sprayed and looking wet, but not to wet, so that the rubber adheres to itself and creates the sheet you are looking for. Be careful if you need to turn the can upside down, the paint will come out pretty much full liquid in no particular direction and can make a mess.
You can see how on the left side of the photo the paint looks wet, and on the right side, I'm slowly overlapping the sprays.
-Once you get the first coat on, (this step is important) pull the tape off, if you don't and let the paint dry, it will create a nice rubber film connected to the rest of your paint job and you'll end up ripping it all apart on the edges when you do remove the tape. (Ask me how I know this).
Hey! It's dry and I forgot to do something!
If it wasn't for a great camera this would look like hammered dog ass (it still does)! Look at all those lovely textures though!
So, I had to go back over and re-tape those spots to try and get them somewhat decent looking.
Here's me trying to save the job, notice it got piled up in the corner there
Anyway, finished product: A nice looking flat black (REMOVABLE) Evo Mod that will help protect that front lip from taking the brunt of steep driveways and crappy roads.
Looks decent.. I tried to rescue the job after the whole tape incident, but the more and more you mess with it while it's wet, the worse it will get. The prescribed drying time is 30 minutes between coats and 4 hours per coat sprayed on.
Best part is, you can just peel the whole thing off and start over from scratch, no harm, no foul.
Thanks for taking the time to read this very long winded post and enduring my poor painting skills (I'll stick to my tuning and driving). Hope you at least enjoyed the read and perhaps I might have even shared a bit of knowledge with you on the whole subject.
Good luck if you attempt this procedure, it has the potential to look great if done well. And just remember to take the tape off before the damn paint dries.
Cheers.
Last edited by TommyP; 05-17-2012 at 09:22 PM.
10-10-2010, 07:43 PM
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That's the beauty of it all. If I end up not liking it, just let it dry and peel it right off.
I just kinda wanted to see what it would look like, so 8 bucks and an hour of not so hard work, and voila.
The jury's still out on my side. I like that it'll save my front lip but I hate that I f'd it up and I'm still not 100% on how it looks.
I just kinda wanted to see what it would look like, so 8 bucks and an hour of not so hard work, and voila.
The jury's still out on my side. I like that it'll save my front lip but I hate that I f'd it up and I'm still not 100% on how it looks.
10-10-2010, 07:49 PM
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Ace Hardware, Wal-mart, True Value, Home Depot, CarQuest, Fleet Farm, Hardware Hank, Menards, O'Reilly, Harbor Freight and a multitude of online dealers, just Google it.
Ace hardware also offers a "Make your own color" Plasti-dip where they mix it for you.
Ace hardware also offers a "Make your own color" Plasti-dip where they mix it for you.
10-10-2010, 07:50 PM
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10-10-2010, 07:55 PM
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What you could do is tape it off a few more inches back then where you want it, let it over spray, then let it all dry, and go in with an exact-o knife and cut where you initially wanted it to stop and then peel off the extras, leaving nice sharp lines?
10-10-2010, 07:59 PM
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I thought about that too, but if I can't trust myself with a can of spray paint, I definitely don't want an exacto knife anywhere near my car.
10-10-2010, 08:01 PM
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Good writeup and thanks for takign the time to do this and show people. Heres what I notice being a paint/body guy.
Starting from the top, you cleaned the panel off with quick detailer. That kinda has like a wax in it and i wouldnt recommend putting that down and painting over it as the plastidip should have even less adhesion then normal now over that. I would have just windex'd it since its ammonia based and itll leave a streak free shine and clean as a whistle while not leaving behind any wax's or grease residue.
Masking job: You masked a nice line around the evo mod that you wanted, but when you hung the newspaper you just kinda taped it up there without sealing the edges so the paint overspray could find its way underneath the newspaper. Always mask the edges of the newspaper facing the panel to be sprayed down. so no overspray can work its way underneath. another trick i learned if ur doing a quick spot like this is to lay a heavy amount of wax over the front of the car without wiping it off (obviously not where ur painting or immediatly in that area, but if ur doing the evo mod, maybe 2 feet out start waxing the bumper twords ur wheel. maybe the hood too. that way any overspray gets on the adjacent panels itll sit on top of the wax which will then wipe right off. and bonus then those panels will feel nice since they have wax on em!
And about the tape line thats just a trial and error thing. unmasking is a super careful thing to do when doing any paintwork. Got to do it slow, pull straight back, not on an angle or to the side, and go slow watching it along the way. as soon as you see any paint stretch or anything, STOP, get a razor blade out, and correct the situation. What you could have done if it started stretching the edge and not leaving a solid line is to get a razor blade out and CAREFULLY cut a line in the paint following ur masking edge so itll leave a nice sharp edge. unmasking while its wet works well too for something like this but if the paint gets stringy right away then ur left with a mess as well. Now someone mentioned painting further out and just cutting the evo mod out of the overspray, eh, itll be much easier if you masked what you wanted, then trimmed the edge of the tape with the razor blade so youd have a nice straight line.
these are the razor blades you want
Starting from the top, you cleaned the panel off with quick detailer. That kinda has like a wax in it and i wouldnt recommend putting that down and painting over it as the plastidip should have even less adhesion then normal now over that. I would have just windex'd it since its ammonia based and itll leave a streak free shine and clean as a whistle while not leaving behind any wax's or grease residue.
Masking job: You masked a nice line around the evo mod that you wanted, but when you hung the newspaper you just kinda taped it up there without sealing the edges so the paint overspray could find its way underneath the newspaper. Always mask the edges of the newspaper facing the panel to be sprayed down. so no overspray can work its way underneath. another trick i learned if ur doing a quick spot like this is to lay a heavy amount of wax over the front of the car without wiping it off (obviously not where ur painting or immediatly in that area, but if ur doing the evo mod, maybe 2 feet out start waxing the bumper twords ur wheel. maybe the hood too. that way any overspray gets on the adjacent panels itll sit on top of the wax which will then wipe right off. and bonus then those panels will feel nice since they have wax on em!
And about the tape line thats just a trial and error thing. unmasking is a super careful thing to do when doing any paintwork. Got to do it slow, pull straight back, not on an angle or to the side, and go slow watching it along the way. as soon as you see any paint stretch or anything, STOP, get a razor blade out, and correct the situation. What you could have done if it started stretching the edge and not leaving a solid line is to get a razor blade out and CAREFULLY cut a line in the paint following ur masking edge so itll leave a nice sharp edge. unmasking while its wet works well too for something like this but if the paint gets stringy right away then ur left with a mess as well. Now someone mentioned painting further out and just cutting the evo mod out of the overspray, eh, itll be much easier if you masked what you wanted, then trimmed the edge of the tape with the razor blade so youd have a nice straight line.
these are the razor blades you want
Last edited by Gestapo007; 10-10-2010 at 08:07 PM.
10-10-2010, 08:06 PM
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Good writeup and thanks for takign the time to do this and show people. Heres what I notice being a paint/body guy.
Starting from the top, you cleaned the panel off with quick detailer. That kinda has like a wax in it and i wouldnt recommend putting that down and painting over it as the plastidip should have even less adhesion then normal now over that. I would have just windex'd it since its ammonia based and itll leave a streak free shine and clean as a whistle while not leaving behind any wax's or grease residue.
Masking job: You masked a nice line around the evo mod that you wanted, but when you hung the newspaper you just kinda taped it up there without sealing the edges so the paint overspray could find its way underneath the newspaper. Always mask the edges of the newspaper facing the panel to be sprayed down. so no overspray can work its way underneath. another trick i learned if ur doing a quick spot like this is to lay a heavy amount of wax over the front of the car without wiping it off. that way any overspray gets on the adjacent panels itll sit on top of the wax which will then wipe right off.
And about the tape line thats just a trial and error thing. unmasking is a super careful thing to do when doing any paintwork. Got to do it slow, pull straight back, not on an angle or to the side, and go slow watching it along the way. What you could have done if it started stretching the edge and not leaving a solid line is to get a razor blade out and CAREFULLY cut a line in the paint following ur masking edge so itll leave a nice sharp edge. unmasking while its wet works well too for something like this but if the paint gets stringy right away then ur left with a mess as well
Starting from the top, you cleaned the panel off with quick detailer. That kinda has like a wax in it and i wouldnt recommend putting that down and painting over it as the plastidip should have even less adhesion then normal now over that. I would have just windex'd it since its ammonia based and itll leave a streak free shine and clean as a whistle while not leaving behind any wax's or grease residue.
Masking job: You masked a nice line around the evo mod that you wanted, but when you hung the newspaper you just kinda taped it up there without sealing the edges so the paint overspray could find its way underneath the newspaper. Always mask the edges of the newspaper facing the panel to be sprayed down. so no overspray can work its way underneath. another trick i learned if ur doing a quick spot like this is to lay a heavy amount of wax over the front of the car without wiping it off. that way any overspray gets on the adjacent panels itll sit on top of the wax which will then wipe right off.
And about the tape line thats just a trial and error thing. unmasking is a super careful thing to do when doing any paintwork. Got to do it slow, pull straight back, not on an angle or to the side, and go slow watching it along the way. What you could have done if it started stretching the edge and not leaving a solid line is to get a razor blade out and CAREFULLY cut a line in the paint following ur masking edge so itll leave a nice sharp edge. unmasking while its wet works well too for something like this but if the paint gets stringy right away then ur left with a mess as well
Plasti-dip is particularly tricky in the regard of unmasking cause if it's dry it'll make a sheet and peel the whole thing up. I'm a government worker so I tend catch myself painting the way I paint our cutter, quick and dirty just so it looks a little better than before.
10-10-2010, 08:09 PM
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i just reedited what i wrote. But the object is to try to do it right the first time. If ur gonna **** it up or half ass it then its not worth doing since ur front bumper looked close to perfect the way it was before. if u do a fucked up evo mod then essentially itll look worse.maybe from 10 feet back itll look cool but ud know it was fucked up and people would notice it anytime they looked at ur car and it would just bother ya. or maybe not, i know that **** bugs the hell out of me
10-10-2010, 08:15 PM
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I'm doing this tomorrow 
I have not done it because I am just like you, I dont want to have to re-paint the whole bumber if I dont link it. Get a mod to put this is "How too"
I love it
I have not done it because I am just like you, I dont want to have to re-paint the whole bumber if I dont link it. Get a mod to put this is "How too"I love it
10-10-2010, 08:17 PM
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what color you doing it casey? just so u know if u want it to match ur rims or something, go on there website. They have ways u can mix ur own color. But then the paint comes in a pint can and not aerosol, but u can pick up a sprayer on there website that will let you pour ur color in and spray it on the bumper.
10-10-2010, 08:22 PM
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i just reedited what i wrote. But the object is to try to do it right the first time. If ur gonna **** it up or half ass it then its not worth doing since ur front bumper looked close to perfect the way it was before. if u do a fucked up evo mod then essentially itll look worse.maybe from 10 feet back itll look cool but ud know it was fucked up and people would notice it anytime they looked at ur car and it would just bother ya. or maybe not, i know that **** bugs the hell out of me
10-10-2010, 08:23 PM
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what color you doing it casey? just so u know if u want it to match ur rims or something, go on there website. They have ways u can mix ur own color. But then the paint comes in a pint can and not aerosol, but u can pick up a sprayer on there website that will let you pour ur color in and spray it on the bumper.
10-10-2010, 09:14 PM
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i just reedited what i wrote. But the object is to try to do it right the first time. If ur gonna **** it up or half ass it then its not worth doing since ur front bumper looked close to perfect the way it was before. if u do a fucked up evo mod then essentially itll look worse.maybe from 10 feet back itll look cool but ud know it was fucked up and people would notice it anytime they looked at ur car and it would just bother ya. or maybe not, i know that **** bugs the hell out of me
I'll make a final decision about it tomorrow and whether or not I want to redo it.
I'm extremely **** about my car and usually cant stand it when i drive it at night and get bugs on the windshield. My feelings are definitely mutual on it not being perfect.
It wasn't so much that I was careless about taking the tape off, It just didn't occur to me that the paint was going to come with it like that.
10-10-2010, 09:32 PM
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Yeah, it bugs me too. I was taking a lot of time to do it. The masking for overspray got a little half-assed towards the end cause I just started fumbling around with the newspaper. Then when the whole "peel off on the tape" thing happened, it was kind of a bummer. I took a look at it again a little bit ago and the job I did trying to fix it seemed to look okay.
I'll make a final decision about it tomorrow and whether or not I want to redo it.
I'm extremely **** about my car and usually cant stand it when i drive it at night and get bugs on the windshield. My feelings are definitely mutual on it not being perfect.
It wasn't so much that I was careless about taking the tape off, It just didn't occur to me that the paint was going to come with it like that.
I'll make a final decision about it tomorrow and whether or not I want to redo it.
I'm extremely **** about my car and usually cant stand it when i drive it at night and get bugs on the windshield. My feelings are definitely mutual on it not being perfect.
It wasn't so much that I was careless about taking the tape off, It just didn't occur to me that the paint was going to come with it like that.
10-10-2010, 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Gestapo007
its trial and error ya know, if i were you, having bought a non permanent product, definitly not using the entire can, i would redo it with what you know now. I think ull be alot happier with the end result
I'm glad you guys enjoyed the post, I have a feeling there are going to be a whole lot more Cobalts running around with Evo mods now haha.
