mx5cartalk.com

I see plastidip offer a glossifier product that converts the matte finish to glossy, that goes for around the same price as a can of normal dip.

Would it not be the same as spraying a layer of plastidip first, then a layer of enamel gloss paint second?

Plastidip glossifier costs around $25
Enamel Gloss paint costs around $3

Any disadvantages in doing this, is it messy to remove?

Plastidip is like rubber, paint dries hard.
After a short time the standard clearcat will just crack and look awful (I imagine plastidip expands/contracts with temperature)

That's of course assuming the clear doesn't react with plastidip. Some paints don't play well together and will bubble and wrinkle.


And then there's the fact that it will just look sh*t, as plastidip does.
Plastidip is a slightly rough finish, which is part of why it's matte finished.
Putting a clear over it will just look like a matte finish under a clear covering.

Yeah that was my concern that the dip material will flex under various conditions and cause the enamel paint to crack.

I might give it a go (actually I have already done a bit on the fire extinguisher mount plate as a test) but not keen to waste too much on dipping if the end result is shortlived finish.

If you put normal paint over it and you wanted to take it off down the track (one of the main advantages of plastidip) it would probably come off in hard chips instead of pull off like rubber, & removal would probably require some kind of prying tool that could scratch the surface underneath.

That said I painted my chrome wheels in plastidip then a few layers of normal clear coat paint, I never tried taking it off, but the guy I sold the car to has been seen at track days with the wheels back to chrome again. guessing that would've been a nightmare for him to remove. I don't know what condition the chrome is in now (probably scratched to hell) but it can be done.

hejira wrote:If you put normal paint over it and you wanted to take it off down the track (one of the main advantages of plastidip) it would probably come off in hard chips instead of pull off like rubber

I'm pretty confident it would still peel off like normal.

While clearcoat dries hard, it's also a very thin coating, so you'd just need to start lifting the plastidip underneath and the clear would just crack and fall off as it is flexed.

I've sprayed over plastidip before (duplicolor spray paint) and it came off ok.