So after lot's of research and watching numerous videos by Fonzi of DYC on you tube I decided to have a go at plasti dipping my A3 matt white.
I thought I would share my experience and try and give as much information as possible which may help any one else wanting to have a go at DIY dipping there Audi. There is a lot of info out there but I struggled to find anything based on real experience other than from the pro's which doesn't really count as they make it look so easy. Don't get me wrong, achieving great results with plasti dip is not too hard, but I was a car sprayer for 6 years, all be it over 10 years ago, and I still made lots of mistakes which I will share with you all to help you not make the same mistakes I did. So have a read and look at the pics and hope it helps. It's a bit lengthy but feel free to ask me any questions if I've missed something out.
Project Audi A3 Sportback 2006 from OEM Blue Metallic paint to matt white
Equipment and materials used
I ended up buying 4 gallons of White Plasti Dip Sprayable from Plasti Dip Uk at £82 each. This is ready to pour straight into the spray gun tub (no thinners needed)
DipYourCar.com recommended 3 gallons would be enough but I ended up using just about the full 4 gallons and I didn't even spray the roof so I would deffo suggest 4 gallons of colour if you are doing a pure colour matte finish on a similar sized car to Audi A3.
I used the Earlex 3500 spray station £100 from Home base which is brilliant for the job.
You need a proper chemical resistant gas mask as the dip is extremely toxic as I found out on the front end just using a general dust mask.
Other materials needed - masking tape and mask paper, washing line to put behind the rear wing window trim to lift it off the body work, panel wipe, tack cloth, thinners to wash out the gun, gazebo (preferably 4 metres by 6 metres which will allow you enough room to do the car in one go),
Preparing the car
The great thing about plasti dip spray is that it sticks to any surface which means if your car is in mint condition, you do not need to do anything to prep the body work. Now my Audi is nearly 10 year old so it had a few dints which I filled, primed and sanded smooth. Any surface rust needs to be sanded out and primed as it has shown through on the sill through the white. Obviously any other imperfections like flaky paint or whatever should be sanded flat to achieve the best results. Although plasti dip is temporary and peelable, with little prep you can get a better finish.
Now there are plenty of videos on you tube about masking up, which is actuall very tricky to be honest so all I'll say is this, take plenty of time, be patient, don't rush. It took me about 3 hours of figuring out where to mask up. Unlike normal paint jobs, where ever the masking tape is, if the plasti dip covers it, it dries a solid covering so removing it with good edge becomes impossible. I removed some of the door trims but like the rear wing window, I put some washing line under it to lift it, allowing the plasti dip to go under creating a full bond. I'm hoping this will help protect it from peeling back with weather.I aslo did this along the roof sill but taping down the door trims that touch the roof sill to allow the plasti dip to penetrate a bit further inside. I made some mistakes mind you so again any questions on this part feel free to ask.
Jet washing your car the day before spray is vital, and panel wiping it down and tack clothing also a must.
Spraying the plasti dip
With car masked up, panel wiped and tack clothed, I was ready to go and extremely giddy.
It took me about 3 hours or so to spray the car with a total of 6 coats.
I found it best to give the plasti dip tin a right good shake for about 2 minutes or so with the lid still sealed. Then give it a good stir and fill your spray gun tub to the 1 litre mark. DONT FORGET THE MASK!
First 3 coats
These are the absolute important coats, you want to turn the pressure dial on the gun down to about a quarter with a vertical spray pattern on the gun. You really do not want a lot of pressure. This was you can go slow on the first 3 coats but without having too much paint pressure to control, too much paint on the first coats and it will run. Go slow, with 50% overlap on each pass. It's during these coats you want to put a lot of focus on getting all your panel edges covered so adjust your gut to spot spray and get those edges coated.
You will need to refill your gun during each coat so bare this in mind, I refilled after doing half the car and after doing the bumper so it didn't really have any impact.
LET EACH COAT COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE THE NEXT. With the first 3 this happened pretty much by the time I'd got to the end of the coat.
After the 3rd coat I took off the front bits of the gun and soaked them in thinners as the plasti dip started to dry and stick the the plastic. I would recommend this for sure.
4th Coat
For this coat I slightly increased the flow pressure but maintained the same speed, this way I got more paint on but still stayed in good control of the coverage. After this coat I had full coverage. Not one but of blue paint visible.
DO NOT STOP HERE. The next two coats are where you get your smooth finish, the peelability and the protection from damage.
5th and 6th Coats
The last two coats went on a lot more heavier. You want to be achieving a full gloss application almost the point where you think it will run. I upped the pressure ever so slightly to achieve about a 6 inch spray. I don't think it was even past half way on the pressure dial though still. It really is key to get a really good amount of paint on during these coats to achieve a flat, smooth, even, durable and peelable finish.
Drying time obviously increased after the 5th coat but not much more than 20 minutes. This may increase during the colder days. Each of the 5th and 6th coat took nearly two full refills of paint (about 1.8 litres of paint) so that gives you an indication of how much to put on.
It is quite nerve racking putting it on during the last two coats but have faith that it will go flat and run free.
After the 6th coat you need to go round and peel off the masking tape anywhere where you need a clean line for example if you were doing a stripe. If not then let it completely dry which took just over an hour and half for me and you can start peeling it off.
Be carefull tho as a little bit of pressure for example from your finger nail will mark the finish so again be patient at this point, better to let it go off entirely and problem free.
After care
I got some Rubber and Vinyl spray on wax treatment by Auto Glym but a lot of folks say use Liquid Ice Spray Wax by Turle Wax. I sprayed this on the day after. It gives the car that lovely smooth finish to the touch rather than the rubbery feel but most importantly it protects it and makes it easier to wash.
Verdict
Honestly, I think I'm hooked, it's only been white a week and I'm already thinking of what colour to go next spring. And this is the beauty of this product. For just over £300 you can colour chanbge your car, obviously if you want to use the glossifier and clear coat with pearls it will be more expensive but still cheap for a full colour change.
Also, remember it's a removable paint so don't get too wound up if you make a mistake, easily fixed.
A lot of customisers say it's the "Poor Man's" vinyl but I completely disagree. It's the more clever option, not only is it a 3rd of the cost of vinyling but you can Do It Yourself...
I actually work with vinyl and the finish I've achieved is on a par if not better than vinyl.
So I really hope this is helpful to any DIY enthusiasts on here, please ask anything you want and I will answer with my own personal experience.
Happy Dipping Folks
My photo's are not the best but hope it does it some justice
P.S I am actually black gloss vinyling the roof LOL
I thought I would share my experience and try and give as much information as possible which may help any one else wanting to have a go at DIY dipping there Audi. There is a lot of info out there but I struggled to find anything based on real experience other than from the pro's which doesn't really count as they make it look so easy. Don't get me wrong, achieving great results with plasti dip is not too hard, but I was a car sprayer for 6 years, all be it over 10 years ago, and I still made lots of mistakes which I will share with you all to help you not make the same mistakes I did. So have a read and look at the pics and hope it helps. It's a bit lengthy but feel free to ask me any questions if I've missed something out.
Project Audi A3 Sportback 2006 from OEM Blue Metallic paint to matt white
Equipment and materials used
I ended up buying 4 gallons of White Plasti Dip Sprayable from Plasti Dip Uk at £82 each. This is ready to pour straight into the spray gun tub (no thinners needed)
DipYourCar.com recommended 3 gallons would be enough but I ended up using just about the full 4 gallons and I didn't even spray the roof so I would deffo suggest 4 gallons of colour if you are doing a pure colour matte finish on a similar sized car to Audi A3.
I used the Earlex 3500 spray station £100 from Home base which is brilliant for the job.
You need a proper chemical resistant gas mask as the dip is extremely toxic as I found out on the front end just using a general dust mask.
Other materials needed - masking tape and mask paper, washing line to put behind the rear wing window trim to lift it off the body work, panel wipe, tack cloth, thinners to wash out the gun, gazebo (preferably 4 metres by 6 metres which will allow you enough room to do the car in one go),
Preparing the car
The great thing about plasti dip spray is that it sticks to any surface which means if your car is in mint condition, you do not need to do anything to prep the body work. Now my Audi is nearly 10 year old so it had a few dints which I filled, primed and sanded smooth. Any surface rust needs to be sanded out and primed as it has shown through on the sill through the white. Obviously any other imperfections like flaky paint or whatever should be sanded flat to achieve the best results. Although plasti dip is temporary and peelable, with little prep you can get a better finish.
Now there are plenty of videos on you tube about masking up, which is actuall very tricky to be honest so all I'll say is this, take plenty of time, be patient, don't rush. It took me about 3 hours of figuring out where to mask up. Unlike normal paint jobs, where ever the masking tape is, if the plasti dip covers it, it dries a solid covering so removing it with good edge becomes impossible. I removed some of the door trims but like the rear wing window, I put some washing line under it to lift it, allowing the plasti dip to go under creating a full bond. I'm hoping this will help protect it from peeling back with weather.I aslo did this along the roof sill but taping down the door trims that touch the roof sill to allow the plasti dip to penetrate a bit further inside. I made some mistakes mind you so again any questions on this part feel free to ask.
Jet washing your car the day before spray is vital, and panel wiping it down and tack clothing also a must.
Spraying the plasti dip
With car masked up, panel wiped and tack clothed, I was ready to go and extremely giddy.
It took me about 3 hours or so to spray the car with a total of 6 coats.
I found it best to give the plasti dip tin a right good shake for about 2 minutes or so with the lid still sealed. Then give it a good stir and fill your spray gun tub to the 1 litre mark. DONT FORGET THE MASK!
First 3 coats
These are the absolute important coats, you want to turn the pressure dial on the gun down to about a quarter with a vertical spray pattern on the gun. You really do not want a lot of pressure. This was you can go slow on the first 3 coats but without having too much paint pressure to control, too much paint on the first coats and it will run. Go slow, with 50% overlap on each pass. It's during these coats you want to put a lot of focus on getting all your panel edges covered so adjust your gut to spot spray and get those edges coated.
You will need to refill your gun during each coat so bare this in mind, I refilled after doing half the car and after doing the bumper so it didn't really have any impact.
LET EACH COAT COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE THE NEXT. With the first 3 this happened pretty much by the time I'd got to the end of the coat.
After the 3rd coat I took off the front bits of the gun and soaked them in thinners as the plasti dip started to dry and stick the the plastic. I would recommend this for sure.
4th Coat
For this coat I slightly increased the flow pressure but maintained the same speed, this way I got more paint on but still stayed in good control of the coverage. After this coat I had full coverage. Not one but of blue paint visible.
DO NOT STOP HERE. The next two coats are where you get your smooth finish, the peelability and the protection from damage.
5th and 6th Coats
The last two coats went on a lot more heavier. You want to be achieving a full gloss application almost the point where you think it will run. I upped the pressure ever so slightly to achieve about a 6 inch spray. I don't think it was even past half way on the pressure dial though still. It really is key to get a really good amount of paint on during these coats to achieve a flat, smooth, even, durable and peelable finish.
Drying time obviously increased after the 5th coat but not much more than 20 minutes. This may increase during the colder days. Each of the 5th and 6th coat took nearly two full refills of paint (about 1.8 litres of paint) so that gives you an indication of how much to put on.
It is quite nerve racking putting it on during the last two coats but have faith that it will go flat and run free.
After the 6th coat you need to go round and peel off the masking tape anywhere where you need a clean line for example if you were doing a stripe. If not then let it completely dry which took just over an hour and half for me and you can start peeling it off.
Be carefull tho as a little bit of pressure for example from your finger nail will mark the finish so again be patient at this point, better to let it go off entirely and problem free.
After care
I got some Rubber and Vinyl spray on wax treatment by Auto Glym but a lot of folks say use Liquid Ice Spray Wax by Turle Wax. I sprayed this on the day after. It gives the car that lovely smooth finish to the touch rather than the rubbery feel but most importantly it protects it and makes it easier to wash.
Verdict
Honestly, I think I'm hooked, it's only been white a week and I'm already thinking of what colour to go next spring. And this is the beauty of this product. For just over £300 you can colour chanbge your car, obviously if you want to use the glossifier and clear coat with pearls it will be more expensive but still cheap for a full colour change.
Also, remember it's a removable paint so don't get too wound up if you make a mistake, easily fixed.
A lot of customisers say it's the "Poor Man's" vinyl but I completely disagree. It's the more clever option, not only is it a 3rd of the cost of vinyling but you can Do It Yourself...
I actually work with vinyl and the finish I've achieved is on a par if not better than vinyl.
So I really hope this is helpful to any DIY enthusiasts on here, please ask anything you want and I will answer with my own personal experience.
Happy Dipping Folks
My photo's are not the best but hope it does it some justice
P.S I am actually black gloss vinyling the roof LOL
