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Auto dip review on test grill

12K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  ND 4SPD 
#1 ·
Ok so like a lot of us I've bin searching for a way to get rid of all the chrome trim. So when I was getting my wheels powdercoated I talked to them about doing all my trim (they also paint) they informed me of a special painting process that they use on trims and grills they said the finished product will be almost as strong as powder as far as chipping resistance. So that sounded great so I left them all of my trim pieces to get that done. However since I own a coupe I cannot remove the rear quarter trim around the glass so I opted to leave the window trims for now and look into my options for a diy option. I can't leave my car there for them to do it on the car. Everything is apart and unable to be driven at this time. So anyway I started looking into ways to do it myself. Everybody's first response was plastidip however I am not a fan of the textured matte finish. So that was out. After further research I found a product called autodip. From pictures on the website and YouTube videos of the product I said holy crap that shit looks great nice gloss black smooth finish exactly what I was looking for. So I went on amazon and bought three cans for 50 some odd dollars. Much more expensive than plastidip. Not knowing how it would turn out I decided to do a test grill. With a decent smooth surface so I could gauge how it would look on the long smooth window trims. So I cleaned and prepped a grill I had laying around.

Test grill

Product

First coat as per instructions very light one pass coat

I believe this is the fifth coat starting to see some coverage as per the instructions for coats 2-6 you do overlay half of your stroke according the the instructions you should have full coverage by six coats depending on color. Waiting 5 mins in between coats.

This is about 9 out of 10 coats. As you can see it is starting to run and doesn't appear to want to stick to certain areas. As per the instructions. Coats 7-10 should be double strokes going for a smooth finish. But when I was going for a smooth finish it would run in areas and have severe orange peel.

The finished project. As you can see some spots look ok but then others look like complete shit. At this point I'm pretty much convinced I wasted more than 50 bucks on this garbage. But I figured hey maybe I did something wrong maybe I should have waited more between coats i dont know stuff happens. So this morning I decided I would give it another shot. So I went to the garage and grabbed another grill. I cleaned it with soap and water then rubbing alcohol. Let it dry completely and tried again. This time I decided to do half the grill so if it did come out good I would have enough left to do my car.

Test grill

The side I will be doing

Just skipped to the finished product on this one as you can see it's not dry yet but imo it still looks like complete shit. Not sure how I could have prepped it any better or done anything different to make it better. Needless to say I'm very disappointed in the finished product and I will not be using it on my car.

Here you can see a random dot that it decided it just didn't want to stick to. So it's looking like once I get the car all back together in the weeks to come I'm either going to drop it off to get them painted on the car or I might try my luck at vinyl wrapping them. We'll see. Hopefully this helps someone.
 
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#7 ·
Thanks for reporting your experience with the auto dip product.

The Plastidip product and its durability is hard to beat with all else considered. As like most others, that is what I used on my grilles and fog buckets. You can get somewhat of a semi-gloss finish by applying a couple of coats of Plastidip glossifier afterward. It is a plasticdip "clearcoat' so to say.

I'm always on the lookout for better products as like yourself. I did run across another product similar to Plastidip which promises the same durability, with a smoother and glossy obtainable finish. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, but I may try it on the V window trim, and on my GMC wheels once it warms up around here. The name of the product is Raail. It is made by Raail Protective Coatings. It's about 4 or 5 bucks more than plastidip per rattle can so it's still reasonably priced.

Raail Protective Coatings - Baltimore, MD

Check it out, may be useful for what you're looking for.
 
#9 ·
you're very welcome. I will follow up here if I end up trying the Raail product.

You likely are already aware vinyl wrap seems to be the favorite for trim items. I plan to give this a try as well.

Best of luck with your projects.
 
#10 ·
I'm surprised that you didn't like this product. I used it on my wheels and it actually turned out really well. The gloss look looks way better than using the plasti dip brand gloss on plasti dip.
 
#11 ·
Yea as you can see in the pictures my finish came out really bad and it didn't want to stick in certain places. I wonder if I got a bad batch or it sat on the shelf for a year i dont know. Or maybe it just doesn't like the plastic. But it says it for wheels and trims so i dont know.
 
#12 ·
Could the temp/humidity have affected the results? I had a similar result with Plastidip when the surface and the ambient temp in the room was about 55°. Plastidip works real well above 70°.
 
#15 ·
Absolutely agree but when it doesn't stick to certain spots it's very hard to try and do a good spray I tried that's all I can do may people have a better experience yea maybe I was just warning people and giving my review. Could it be user error absolutely. But I have spray painted things that came out looking great unlike this.
 
#20 ·
Has anyone used the gray metallic plasti dip?


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#21 ·
You should maybe consider looking into Haloefx. Unfortunately you do need s little automotive paint experience since it require a paint gun. My mercedes was done with it. Came put a lot smoother than plastidip and peeled off really easily.



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#22 ·
So when I was getting my wheels powdercoated I talked to them about doing all my trim (they also paint) they informed me of a special painting process that they use on trims and grills they said the finished product will be almost as strong as powder as far as chipping resistance. So that sounded great so I left them all of my trim pieces to get that done.
What is the painting process they use? I'm not far from Jersey, and could send them my grilles/trim to do.
 
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