Dipping a car - anyone done it?

ThePrettyDamned

digitalscream said:

axisus said:

Wow. Some people sure have money! I don't have money ....

Well, neither do I really - this'll cost less than any of my guitars...

It's about £350 for the kit (including the turbine gun), and I'm looking around at pop-up marquee tents for the driveway...looks like that'll be about £150.

£500 would get you a tubescreamer with a flip flop paint job I reckon.  

Gassage

Matt and Silk finished cars are absolute chav central, sorry!

I have an uncontrollable desire to write noughts and crosses on them in chalk.

And, they all look as if they've not been finished properly and have an undercoat on.

That 1 series looks like a council primer painted coffin.

digitalscream

Gassage said:

Matt and Silk finished cars are absolute chav central, sorry!

I have an uncontrollable desire to write noughts and crosses on them in chalk.

And, they all look as if they've not been finished properly and have an undercoat on.

That 1 series looks like a council primer painted coffin.

That's kind of the joke. We're living the younger years that we never had

Simonh

My son did his in our car port - okay it is a double car car-port but it worked fine, I think a pop up tent  if you enclose the sides will be fine. you will be surprised at how good the initial finish is, with it being rubberised it kind of finds its own level.

The satin look can work really well depending on the car and other mods (wheels, ride height etc)

@digitalscream I'd practice with the gun a bit first before having a go on the car.

digitalscream

Simonh said:

My son did his in our car port - okay it is a double car car-port but it worked fine, I think a pop up tent  if you enclose the sides will be fine. you will be surprised at how good the initial finish is, with it being rubberised it kind of finds its own level.

The satin look can work really well depending on the car and other mods (wheels, ride height etc)

@digitalscream I'd practice with the gun a bit first before having a go on the car.

Yep, this is what I'm looking at (the 6-wall version, although I'll probably leave it open at the house end) - should work well, as long as I can tie it down reasonably securely.

So far, I'm looking at £400-ish for the FullDip kit and flake, £100 for the fuel-resistant top coat (10 x rattle cans ), and £90 for the tent. However, ~£180 of that is reusable - the turbine sprayer and the tent - so it's not all that bad.

Of course, I'm also going to have to send the wife and daughter away for the weekend, so train tickets and a hotel/AirBnB get added to that, probably another £150.

I reckon I can do all of that in a day and a half:

Assemble tent - 2hrs
Clean car - 1hr
Mask car - 1hr
2 x primer coats and drying - 2hrs
5 x colour coats and drying - 5hrs
~~~
1 x topcoat and drying - 2hrs
Remove masking - 1hr
Break down marquee - 1hr
Figure out how marquee bits go back in the box - 2hrs



Still quicker, cheaper and less risky than a respray.

Simonh

I think you might need more than 2 primer coats as that is the bit that provides the "peelability" so more is better there in our experience.

Snags

Stupid question: how much would it cost to get it wrapped, and how long would it take?

Because, let's face it, absolutely no time estimate for a DIY job is ever even remotely accurate, and that's without the fuck-up fairy coming to town.

digitalscream

Simonh said:

I think you might need more than 2 primer coats as that is the bit that provides the "peelability" so more is better there in our experience.

Looking at the website, the primer coat is just the normal FullDip stuff, but coloured grey. Not even sure I'd need it, given that the car itself is silver. From what I've read, it's more about the total number of coats, with 6 being the minimum for peelability.

digitalscream

Snags said:

Stupid question: how much would it cost to get it wrapped, and how long would it take?

Because, let's face it, absolutely no time estimate for a DIY job is ever even remotely accurate, and that's without the fuck-up fairy coming to town.

A good wrap job would be on the order of £2-3k, same as a pro dip spray (including the topcoat). I'm rather fond of my wife, but not that fond

axisus

digitalscream said:

axisus said:

Wow. Some people sure have money! I don't have money ....

Well, neither do I really - this'll cost less than any of my guitars...

It's about £350 for the kit (including the turbine gun), and I'm looking around at pop-up marquee tents for the driveway...looks like that'll be about £150.

er ..... you know I was including the car in the assessment right? I have a knackered old secondhand Mazda 2, cost £500, ECU fails in the rain. I dream of a BMW!

Hey, cool car though and great idea!

Simonh

digitalscream said:

Simonh said:

I think you might need more than 2 primer coats as that is the bit that provides the "peelability" so more is better there in our experience.

Looking at the website, the primer coat is just the normal FullDip stuff, but coloured grey. Not even sure I'd need it, given that the car itself is silver. From what I've read, it's more about the total number of coats, with 6 being the minimum for peelability.

I would say the primer is essential for peelability - My sons initial attempt was to try and use as little as possible so he could get  his and a mates car done for the price of one effectively. It didn't go well and was a bugger to get off. he had double the amount of colour coat on because he was trying a red/bronze flip effect without paying for the red/bronze colour change dip.

This was a couple of years ago now so things might well have changed.

PolarityMan

Are you factoring the time to peel it all off if she inexplicably doesn't like it?

This sounds like a high risk endeavour to me. This would have been an absolutely class Emp Fab thread, it's almost a shame it was started by someone who may actually do it. 

skunkwerx

Not to be a killjoy but it definitely needs notifying to the DVLA. Vinyl wrap is a definite, I would presume plasti/any form of dip is too or any method of changing the vehicles colour. 

I see their responses in work quite often and they often say the vehicle needs to be identifiable in traffic to the authorities.

I believe from 2017 is when they changed stance on this regarding wraps. 

The other aspect is insurance as they would 100% need to know. I’m not sure who you’re with but a lot of standard/general market insurers don’t often like wraps or dip as mods… but you never know. Might want to give them a bell and ask the question before you go ahead. No harm in seeing it its acceptable or if not if you can get it placed elsewhere for a reasonable premium.

Simonh

This checks out  - what I do know is that my son certainly DIDN'T notify the DVLA and nothing ever came of it, though he only ever had a new colour a few months at a time over the course of about 18months before he got bored changing it all the time.

digitalscream

PolarityMan said:

Are you factoring the time to peel it all off if she inexplicably doesn't like it?

Oh, I guarantee she'll like it. For a little while, at least

PolarityMan said:

This sounds like a high risk endeavour to me. This would have been an absolutely class Emp Fab thread, it's almost a shame it was started by someone who may actually do it. 

So...what you're saying is that you want pics as I get through the process?

There are still a lot of moving parts involved - not least the fact that I'm somehow going to have to get her out of the house for a couple of days, which won't be easy...not to mention somehow getting everything delivered without her noticing. I may have to enlist my brother in the conspiracy.

skunkwerx said:

Not to be a killjoy but it definitely needs notifying to the DVLA. Vinyl wrap is a definite, I would presume plasti/any form of dip is too or any method of changing the vehicles colour. 

Noted, I'm going to look into the process before I get it done.

EDIT: Interesting to note that the car in the OP is still registered under its original colour (black).

p90fool

skunkwerx said:

Not to be a killjoy but it definitely needs notifying to the DVLA. Vinyl wrap is a definite, I would presume plasti/any form of dip is too or any method of changing the vehicles colour. 

I think only two of our five motorcycles are the colour stated on the V5, in fact this one is supposed to be army green....



Notifying the DVLA i s one of those things you're "supposed" to do obviously, but in a world where the police won't even come to your house while you're being burgled nobody really cares. 

skunkwerx

p90fool said:

skunkwerx said:

Not to be a killjoy but it definitely needs notifying to the DVLA. Vinyl wrap is a definite, I would presume plasti/any form of dip is too or any method of changing the vehicles colour. 

I think only two of our five motorcycles are the colour stated on the V5, in fact this one is supposed to be army green....



Notifying the DVLA i s one of those things you're "supposed" to do obviously, but in a world where the police won't even come to your house while you're being burgled nobody really cares. 

Very true, same as illegal mods, tinted front windows, leds, illegal spaced number plates etc, they all seem to get away with it.. 

It’s just that if a cop does spot it… its an easy job for them to pull ya over. 

I know what you mean though.

digitalscream

skunkwerx said:

Very true, same as illegal mods, tinted front windows, leds, illegal spaced number plates etc, they all seem to get away with it.. 

It’s just that if a cop does spot it… its an easy job for them to pull ya over. 

I know what you mean though.

And....let's face it - with a sparkly matte purple paint job, like I'm planning, it's going to be a fuzz-magnet.

Kittyfrisk

I think only two of our five motorcycles are the colour stated on the V5, in fact this one is supposed to be army green....



Urban dazzle camouflage green innit...

Snags

digitalscream said:

skunkwerx said:

Very true, same as illegal mods, tinted front windows, leds, illegal spaced number plates etc, they all seem to get away with it.. 

It’s just that if a cop does spot it… its an easy job for them to pull ya over. 

I know what you mean though.

And....let's face it - with a sparkly matte purple paint job, like I'm planning, it's going to be a fuzz-magnet.

Is that a discrete way of saying you're hoping to get laid on the back of all this?