Plastidipping my grill (A quick guide to dipping)

Right, so... I am in the process of p'dipping the body-color front grill on my 2nd gen, to cover up some scratches and dings on it. I'm a bit of a fan of Plastidip... I've used it both on my ford and on my 1986 BMW, and have always gotten great results.

Step 1:
Have something you want to dip! Our subject today is the front frill on my '96 Sport.

On a 2nd gen, the grill comes out with a handful of screws and a few clips. Without it in place, my truck looks really sad.

Step 2:
Put down a tarp, or some bin bags, or something so you don't get PlastiDip everywhere.

Step 3:
Put down a very light coat. Do not try to cover every angle at once. Just get the part you are dipping looking a bit spotty. The 1st coat does should not achieve anything close to full coverage, and does not need to get every nook and cranny.

Wait 15 minutes for this first coat to dry.

Step 4:
2nd coat. After the 1st coat is dry, apply the 2nd. Again, more thin layers is better than one thick one. Plastidip builds pretty well, and in the end, you should have 3 - 5 coats to achieve a good finish.

As you can see, i've propped the grill up on an old box. We really go for top notch equipment here!
(and yes, I know this grill is broken... t'was like that when I bought the truck, and the local you pick hasn't had any 2nd gens in).

2nd coat is drying now... New post shortly. In the mean time, any questions are welcome.

 

[96Green]

3rd coat:

We're pretty much there at this point. I'll look a bit blotchy 'till it dries. Don't panic. I cannot stress this enough. A light dusting is FAR better than a drenching.

Also, you will notice that I painted over the Ford logo. Once it dries, you can peel off the excess. A properly applied coat of plastidip tears naturally at seams when you peel it off.

 

[96Green]

And we're done!

I tossed a light 4th coat on, just to even out the finish.

A few pics of the finished product:

 

[Sitcoms]

Plasti dipping is a great way to get a new look that is inexpensive and removable. I've touched up some of the black trim on my 99 sports, as well as the outer part of the stock rims (Everything except for the chrome centercaps)

 

[Paraphoe]

Looks good. I'm curious how it will hold up to highway rocks/chips, etc. I'm a little wary of the Plastidip stuff since it can be peeled off....

 

[Sitcoms]

Looks good. I'm curious how it will hold up to highway rocks/chips, etc. I'm a little wary of the Plastidip stuff since it can be peeled off....

As I posted I dipped the outer edge of my rims (a picture is in my registry thread, link in my signature) about 3 weeks ago (they were dipped 06/24/15) and i have a daily commute of about 30 minutes high way driving on a rather poorly paved highway. They've held up admirably, no chips or anything. This stuff isn't coming off unless you pull it off.

 

[Zach7]

Great post! Nice job on the plasti dip! I dipped my grill a couple months ago and it is doing great.

 

[96Green]

Looks good. I'm curious how it will hold up to highway rocks/chips, etc. I'm a little wary of the Plastidip stuff since it can be peeled off....

The front grill, wing mirrors, and taillamp trims on my other car have been plastidipped since last summer, and have held up fantastically well. Dip is easy to peel off, but, you have to want it to come off.

 

[cwol97401]

So what exactly is plastidip? The name alludes to something being dipped but it is actually sprayed?
Is it anything like spray on bed liner?

 

[turboranger91]

I plasti dipped the grill on my super duty a couple years ago. After a few months, it looked terrible. Ended up peeling it off and actually painting it. Plastidip is more like a rough draft to see if you like it. Lol.

 

[96Green]

Just as a quick update... It's been several months, and the dip still looks great. The truck is filthy, but, i'll grab a pic tomorrow if I remember.

 

[mchilese]

I plastidipped my grill gray last summer. Still looks good. Way better than having that fiberglass showing through. OP did it the smart way, taking the grill off. I just taped it off while still on the truck. Surprisingly, I didn't have any overspray.

 

[96Green]

OP did it the smart way, taking the grill off. I just taped it off while still on the truck. Surprisingly, I didn't have any overspray.

Thanks! For something as easy to remove as a grill, taking it off is the way to go. That said, I did do all the side skirting and the bumpers on the truck. In that case, the key is masking off well w/ painters tape & newspaper.

 

[Sitcoms]

To those saying that after a while their plastidip looks iffy:
Either it wasn't applied correctly (Bubbling, etc) or something. As I posted on this thread back in August I dipped my stock 99 rims (Except for the center caps) and the plastidip is still on there and looks fine to me. Its dirty because of the salt/dirt on the roads up here in New England during the winter, but the dip has held up admirably.

For being an area that sees a lot of abuse, being that close to the roads during salty/dirty New England winters, and having a drive of 4 hours/250 miles every couple of months, the plastidip has been even better than I thought it would be. Ill snap a pic before I leave later on today to show what they look like now (Ill attempt to clean them a little haha)