Plastidip grill guide (Bumper on)

[kanecullen89]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post a guide on how I plastidipped my front chrome grill without removing the bumper. Plastidip guides and pictures have been fairly well covered on this forum but I couldn't find much about applying the dip without removing the bumper so I though I'd share my experiences.
I know that it would have been ideal to remove the bumper but I'm not hugely confident with unbolting parts!

All original:


My daughter's Po happy with my purchase:


Bought a clear plastidip to shatterproof a glass screen we have. Have not used this yet.
Car all prepped and covered. I cleaned the grill and dried it as best as I could and used masking tape and news paper to cover the body and centre of the grill (want to keep the different shades of black with body and inside of grill):


First coat applied, got to be a fairly light coat to allow the plastidip to bond properly on the following coats:


This is the finish after the 3rd coat, the idea is to keep the can fairly close to the grill while still creating an even coverage. If the can is too far away it starts to blob:


The finished product after 5 coats, I had to be careful when peeling off the masking tape not to get carried away and peel off a large chunk of plastidip. The dip that went on to the paint work was simple to just peel off. I'm really happy with how easy it was and how good the finish is!:


Let me know what you think

Kane

 

[profidriver]

really good job mate, also want get plastidip to do chrome grill, do it exactly same way like you, it is wasting time take off bumper, maybe do alloy wheel aswell

 

[kanecullen89]

really good job mate, also want get plastidip to do chrome grill, do it exactly same way like you, it is wasting time take off bumper, maybe do alloy wheel aswell

Thanks mate. I'm really happy with the end result. Completely changes the front end and so easy to do! Do it!!

 

[Stol1975]

Looks fab. I have been on you tube and seen alloys done in this and am thinking of having a crack at it. How many cans do you think it will require? Was one enough for your grill?
Would it look good on wheels? I would appreciate your thoughts?

 

[kanecullen89]

Looks fab. I have been on you tube and seen alloys done in this and am thinking of having a crack at it. How many cans do you think it will require? Was one enough for your grill?
Would it look good on wheels? I would appreciate your thoughts?

Thanks for the comment. One can was easily enough for the grill. I'd say that I've used less than half the can.
I have seen wheels been plastidip, it's personally not my cup of tea but I can see the appeal. If it was me I'd probably go for a refurb and powder coating with the wheels at only £50 a corner.
I would say that you would need quite a few cans to do a proper job and the hardest part would be the cleaning of the wheel. You want the surface to be as clean as possible otherwise it was be bubbled and peel and getting stuck on grime removed from the surface of the wheel can be near on impossible without sand blasting.
i'd be very interested to see how you get on though

 

[warren_S5]

I was trying to read the sex kitten story in the newspaper at the top right hand corner of the grill, but the spray job looks first class. Big improvement.

 

[Stol1975]

The attraction of plasti dip is its removable if you decide you don't like it or it has gone wrong. I will give the grill a go and decide if I like it close up I think.

 

[bleedout]

does make a huge diff for such a small modification.
has anyone also dont the plastic inner grill at the same time? trying to think if it would just be a bit too much of a change.

 

[profidriver]

just your Opinion. A3 in Ibis White and thinking to plastidip 5 spoke alloy wheel. What colour of wheel you like on white car? plastidip in BLACK, WHITE or idea BLUE?

what you think about R8 alloy wheel on A3? really like them.
18" R8 V10 SPIDER ALLOY WHEELS AUDI TT S3 MK2 A4 A6 A8 TDI FSI SEAT LEON VW GOLF | eBay

 

[STIG]

how the grill holding up mate?

 

[southylad]

how is the grill now mate is the plastidip holding up ok ?

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post a guide on how I plastidipped my front chrome grill without removing the bumper. Plastidip guides and pictures have been fairly well covered on this forum but I couldn't find much about applying the dip without removing the bumper so I though I'd share my experiences.
I know that it would have been ideal to remove the bumper but I'm not hugely confident with unbolting parts!

All original:
View attachment 7689

My daughter's Po happy with my purchase:
View attachment 7690

Bought a clear plastidip to shatterproof a glass screen we have. Have not used this yet.
Car all prepped and covered. I cleaned the grill and dried it as best as I could and used masking tape and news paper to cover the body and centre of the grill (want to keep the different shades of black with body and inside of grill):
View attachment 7691

First coat applied, got to be a fairly light coat to allow the plastidip to bond properly on the following coats:
View attachment 7692

This is the finish after the 3rd coat, the idea is to keep the can fairly close to the grill while still creating an even coverage. If the can is too far away it starts to blob:
View attachment 7693

The finished product after 5 coats, I had to be careful when peeling off the masking tape not to get carried away and peel off a large chunk of plastidip. The dip that went on to the paint work was simple to just peel off. I'm really happy with how easy it was and how good the finish is!:
View attachment 7695

Let me know what you think

Kane

 

[blackz_11]

Done this today on my sline, will post the pics in here instead of making a new thread as its pointless.

But let me say that peeling off the masking tape without trying to peel the plastidip is a BALL ACHE ! Make sure you use a stanley blade.

I also glossed mine, pics will follow !

 

[STIG]

Pics mate?

 

[ApolloS3]

just your Opinion. A3 in Ibis White and thinking to plastidip 5 spoke alloy wheel. What colour of wheel you like on white car? plastidip in BLACK, WHITE or idea BLUE?

what you think about R8 alloy wheel on A3? really like them.
18" R8 V10 SPIDER ALLOY WHEELS AUDI TT S3 MK2 A4 A6 A8 TDI FSI SEAT LEON VW GOLF | eBay

Im also thinking of plasti-dipping my S3's wheels black/gunmetal/black+silver. Dont know how it would compare to having them pro-painted though...

 

[profidriver]

Im also thinking of plasti-dipping my S3's wheels black/gunmetal/black+silver. Dont know how it would compare to having them pro-painted though...

do it, looks different, allready done it

did 3 coats and used 1 can for 4 wheels only

 

[profidriver]

plastidiped front grill surround from chrome to matt black

 

[ApolloS3]

do it, looks different, allready done it

did 3 coats and used 1 can for 4 wheels only

Firstly, thank you - i was reading like 3/4 cans everywhere,

secondly, those wheels look awesome!

 

[profidriver]

Firstly, thank you - i was reading like 3/4 cans everywhere,

secondly, those wheels look awesome!

thank you aswell,
done 3 coats only, someones do 4-5 coats

 

[blackz_11]

Sorry about the delay lads!

Here's the pics of my plastidip grill with bumper on:

This is my sline before getting down to business



I then masked the grill, so only the surround was showing, I wanted to keep the orginal colour of the inner grill



First coat was only 50% transparency, make sure you keep the can warm and shake well. This is it after 3-4 coats



I wanted the gloss finish like the black edition so I brought the plastidip glossifier in a spray can. I gave my grill about another 3-4 coats of the gloss, it all depends how shiny you want your finish to look.



This is it fully done, im 100% happy with the job and suprised how well its holding out! Had rain and snow the day after I had completed it and it hasn't defected one bit !

 

[southylad]

looks good mate i am going to do mine i think but i need to do the whole grill as the middle bit is a a grey colour so i will have to try and get something behind to keep it off the rad and everything else

Sorry about the delay lads!

Here's the pics of my plastidip grill with bumper on:

This is my sline before getting down to business

View attachment 11249

I then masked the grill, so only the surround was showing, I wanted to keep the orginal colour of the inner grill

View attachment 11250

First coat was only 50% transparency, make sure you keep the can warm and shake well. This is it after 3-4 coats

View attachment 11251

I wanted the gloss finish like the black edition so I brought the plastidip glossifier in a spray can. I gave my grill about another 3-4 coats of the gloss, it all depends how shiny you want your finish to look.

View attachment 11252

This is it fully done, im 100% happy with the job and suprised how well its holding out! Had rain and snow the day after I had completed it and it hasn't defected one bit !

View attachment 11253

 

[notta3]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I did this to my A3 recently, a really simple quick mod that has a big effect! Before and after pics are below.

I went for 4 coats with about half an hour drying time in between, its left a nice matt black finish to the surround. When masking up try not to have the tape near the area you want to cover, its far easier to peel plastidip off than it is to try and tease the tape away without taking it off the grille!

I've had a couple of long hauls through gritted and gravel roads, gave it a quick check today and no defects so far, its impressive stuff. I can see how people get carried away and plastidip EVERYTHING!! Has anyone plastidipped their roof?

 

[Stol1975]

Looks great. The black on red really looks simple and cool if you know what I mean. Clean looking you might say.

 

[KevinF]

Attention Southylad - are you going to plastidip spray your original grille or the FK one you bought? Have you fitted the FK one yet?
I have one to fit but if it is going to cause problems then maybe not.

Thanks.

 

[southylad]

hi mate i have plastidipped the chrome frame on my oem grill for now but i am going to fit the fk grill as it has a meaner look about it as it has far less verticle supports in it and looks better, i have seen user gazzago's fk grill fitted to his car and it looks good, i am going to spray my standard s line grill when i take it off anyway because some of the chrome has come off so might aswell have it for a spare all blacked out ready eh hope this helps mate cheers

Attention Southylad - are you going to plastidip spray your original grille or the FK one you bought? Have you fitted the FK one yet?
I have one to fit but if it is going to cause problems then maybe not.

Thanks.

 

[TDI140]

Where did you buy the plasti dip from is there local plases its available as on the youtube vidz all the americans say home depo stores (B&Q) etc etc

 

[ScottD3]

Where did you buy the plasti dip from is there local plases its available as on the youtube vidz all the americans say home depo stores (B&Q) etc etc

Plasti dip direct, frost ltd or eBay..

 

[discostu49]

Think I'm going to plasti dip my grill

 

[J0K3R5]

Done my last week,

 

[iyrix]

Guys, how does this hold up over time? Is it better than matt spray paint in regards to chips etc?

I'm going to do my grill, but i want it to last long time...

 

[Carefree69]

In my opinion plastidip is only ok as a temp mod. I've used it before on grills, prepped properly and it still peels away too easily. When I dipped the grill on my vRS it started flapping about on my very first drive after doing it AND I completely covered both sides.

I can't speak for doing wheels as I've never done them, but it sucks on grills.

 

[iyrix]

Thanks, I'll continue with paint. now i need to decide on Gloss or Matt....

 

[TomSx]

Holds great if you do a thick coat. I did mine about 6 months ago without a sign of it lifting.

 

[Carefree69]

I did 4 coats on my grill surround, building up the layers gradually as per instructions and granted it looked superb, until I drove it.

I'm certain I did it properly as I'm pretty handy generally.

Then again, maybe I didn't.

 

[TomSx]

I did something like 8 coats mind. But still doesnt sound like you did it right. This is a photo from today and mines seen many jet washes. Even the local Bosni-wash.

20150612_121244 by Tom White, on Flickr

One very important thing is to run a Stanley or scalpel around the edge before you peel off any masking. This ensures the edges does not lift which may be what you found?

 

[Carefree69]

No, I took the whole grill surround off when I did mine and coated it both sides, ironically to ensure that the driving wind/air couldn't get behind it and lift it, which it still did.

Clearly I did something wrong which is a real shi77er because it looked really good.

 

[Niall Griffiths]

Great work I plasti dipped my grill last week as well! I took my bumper off though and plasti dipped the entire grilled and chrome

 

[sonny.]

Looks brilliant, I might consider this over buying the black grille as I really don't want to take the whole bumper off.

 

[TorqueTerrorist]

I'm a painter by trade. (14 years)

www.sprayplan.co.uk

I came across plastidip a few years ago and reserved judgement. Mostly due to the fact you don't have to prep the surface you're applying it to, unlike automotive paint.

Let's not beat about the bush here; the Black edition grill is expensive and no one enjoys bumper removal.

So when I saw this thread I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm an expert masker and it still took me nearer two hours to properly mask round the chrome bits. I'd have the bumper off in 20mins...

I warmed the can in hot water for 20mins before I sprayed to get the best performance out of it, and it still spat cr*p out of the nozzle.

It looked awful finished. I even got up early the following day to peel it all off. (Which is great, and the reason I gave it a go)

Sure it's a cheap solution, but we don't drive Audis because we like cheap. I got an Audi because of the car snobbery I have deep inside me...what would my neighbour have thought about my cheap grill mod haha

 

[sonny.]

Thanks for interesting feedback TT. Will possibly reconsider in favour for the grille I've seen from XenonzUK.

 

[Carefree69]

I'm a painter by trade. (14 years)

www.sprayplan.co.uk

I came across plastidip a few years ago and reserved judgement. Mostly due to the fact you don't have to prep the surface you're applying it to, unlike automotive paint.

Let's not beat about the bush here; the Black edition grill is expensive and no one enjoys bumper removal.

So when I saw this thread I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm an expert masker and it still took me nearer two hours to properly mask round the chrome bits. I'd have the bumper off in 20mins...

I warmed the can in hot water for 20mins before I sprayed to get the best performance out of it, and it still spat cr*p out of the nozzle.

It looked awful finished. I even got up early the following day to peel it all off. (Which is great, and the reason I gave it a go)

Sure it's a cheap solution, but we don't drive Audis because we like cheap. I got an Audi because of the car snobbery I have deep inside me...what would my neighbour have thought about my cheap grill mod haha

Which indirectly backs up my experience, plastidip is ok as a temporary finish (if you are lucky) but it'll never replace having a proper job done.