[petevandyke]

I've been reading posts on a car forum for months about the use of plastidip spray to modify car parts. In essence, plastidip is a rubberized, hard-coating spray that looks like anodizing/powdercoating. People are using it to turn chromed wheels into matte black wheels, to add some color to hoses and plastic parts under the hood, even to touch up scratches on gauge dials, steering wheels, you name it.

www.dipyourcar.com has hundreds of uses of the stuff, tons of pictures, even an Audi that was completely covered (looks a lot like the M-B Black series matte paint).

What's cool about plastidip is both ease of use, and complete reversibility. You don't have to be an expert in masking off areas, in fact you deliberately leave 1/2 inch overspray area and the excess just peels right off. Decide you don't like it? Just peel it off. And it's cheap, comes in a variety of colors, etc.

Thanks to a mishap last year, I had some deep scratches on my chrome trim on my saddlebags. Unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars to replace it, I tried painting one with chrome paint, didn't like the results at all. Decided to try plasti-dipping it to a matte black (so the strips match the tipover black pieces).


Cost: Plastidip from Home Depot. 1 can, $7.99, roll of tape masking tape, $2
Time: fifteen minutes, total (not including wait time between coats)

comes in multiple colors, if you want a shiny finish, also has a gloss coat

scratched chrome strip

Taped off for overspray, leaving 1/2 inch around the strip--no need to tape over the reflector

Per directions, first a very light coat

I did four coats--you have to have it thick enough so you can easily remove what you don't want, and so you can easily remove it later if you want (thinner layers require some rubbing to remove)

plastidip on reflector peels right off

overspray 1/2 inch all around

peels right off

End result--looks great, matches the black trim on the dash, tipover covers, etc.


I plan on plasti-dipping the tipover covers and re-doing my dash area (faded and some of the rubberized paint has worn) next time I have her apart. Had considered doing the whole bike, making it a "stealth LT" or maybe just doing the wheels. Probably will at some point, if I don't like it it peels right off.


Other users say it holds up to washing really well (but chemicals and power-washing can cause some peeling, easily touched up with more of the stuff)

Neat way to deal with the scratches that many of us in the "Droppers Anonymous" club have on the chrome strips, for 1/20th the cost.

 

[tips727]

Pretty cool trick. Did you have to use a knife to cut a line between the chromed piece and the blue -painted side case lid, or did it just know where you wanted it to break off?

 

[petevandyke]

Pretty cool trick. Did you have to use a knife to cut a line between the chromed piece and the blue -painted side case lid, or did it just know where you wanted it to break off?

That's what's really fun about this stuff, I just masked off an area with 1/2 inch margin and sprayed away, it "knows" where to break off, peeled off clean and happy.

 

[Foiler]

Thanks for sharing the info!

 

[jzeiler]

Just don't exceed 60 mph or it will fly off!!

Looks really good!!!

 

[jrh2020]

Good idea, I just patched a tip-over cover with bumper repair epoxy but wasn't happy with the surface finish and bought a new one. This would have done the trick.

Thanks,

Jim H.

 

[L_Rudy]

Looks great! But, their website says, " It goes on easily, and most importantly, comes off easily as well." So, is it a temp fix? What if you bump it - will it peel off?

 

[petevandyke]

Guys on the auto forum have "dipped" their chrome wheels, run through multiple car washes, driven thousands of miles, and it's looked brand new. you'd have to really scratch at it, deep, to peel it (once you start the peel, it's easy to remove in large chunks), I don't anticipate any issues, even at 61MPH (wink)


I should be a salesman for this stuff...

 

[petevandyke]

I did one of the tipover covers this weekend (had it off to mess with the fuel disconnects). Very impressed with how it turned out:


Before:

After:

 

[L_Rudy]

I did one of the tipover covers this weekend (had it off to mess with the fuel disconnects). Very impressed with how it turned out:

Nice! I got all my tupperware off for servicing and other things - think I'll do the same! Are you planning on doing any other parts?

 

[petevandyke]

Nice! I got all my tupperware off for servicing and other things - think I'll do the same! Are you planning on doing any other parts?

Dash, speaker covers, and UNDERNEATH the chin spoiler--about ten coats to protect from rocks, tar, etc.

Might do the chrome windshield covers, one of mine is a little rough. Still contemplating the wheels, with the brake discs would be messy

 

[Bones1955]

I did the chrome on the bags..worked good but didn't peel off all that easy...more like rubbed off for the most part.
How long did you wait before taking the over spray off?

Your pics of the tip over cover are somewhat deceiving.
It looks to me the finished pic is not the same view as the ones before.

I had a junk of chrome missing off the one side of the bag..I used red putty and sanded before spraying..I can still see imperfections..next time I'll do a better job when it tips over again..lol.

 

[Lynn_Keen]

I'm intrigued with your report on this material and can conjure up lots of uses for it. However have a question; If this stuff sprays on as a continuous film then how does it know where to separate when you peel the excess off without any cutting or other treatment of the "1/2 inch border"? Seems like magic to me!

 

[petevandyke]

Bones, both sides of the tipover cover ended up looking as good, extra coats even filled in the scrapes and deep scratches, the pic I included above was the best of the group, so I picked it. (The top was not only scratched, it was very sun-faded, so the end result is particularly cool). If you want more pics, drop me a note!

Lynn, I have NO idea how it knows where and how to separate, just that it works--I guess seams don't adhere as well, perhaps?

I waited about 15 minutes after my last coat to peel off the overspray--you can see from the first set of pics that once you start the peel, and pull slowly, it pulls away as though you razor-bladed it.

 

[Bones1955]

Bones, both sides of the tipover cover ended up looking as good, extra coats even filled in the scrapes and deep scratches, the pic I included above was the best of the group, so I picked it. (The top was not only scratched, it was very sun-faded, so the end result is particularly cool). If you want more pics, drop me a note!

Lynn, I have NO idea how it knows where and how to separate, just that it works--I guess seams don't adhere as well, perhaps?

I waited about 15 minutes after my last coat to peel off the overspray--you can see from the first set of pics that once you start the peel, and pull slowly, it pulls away as though you razor-bladed it.

I waited a few hours..next time I'll try 15 mins or so.
I'm pretty happy with it!