There have been many threads showing the use of plastidip on dsm's and other cars and parts but never a step by step on how to prep a car and do a full paint job with the gallon buckets and paint sprayer vs's the aerosol cans.

the first step is to wash the car really well with a mix of dish soap and lots of water to remove any dirt from the paint. you can allow the paint to air dry but to speed the process up I used my air nozzle on my compressor.

now at this point you are going to start looking for dents , dings, deep scratches or any other blemish you want to get rid of before you dip the car. I chose to remove my rear wiper, some dents and my side skirt holes since its a track car. now since i did the 1gb conversion i had a set of sun damaged front fenders that were a different color they needed some prep.

some steps for basic body work for non body repair(hammer and dolly) dent repair.

Step 1. sand to bare metal with 36 grit about 2-3 inches past the dent or area to be repaired.

Step 2. clean with a fast evaporating cleaner like paint prep prior to applying any body filler to the area. Bondy can only be used to fill 1/4 inch or less if the dent is deeper than that you need to do some metal reforming.

Step 3. When mixing body filler make sure the hardener and the filler is totally mixed if you can see streaks in the mix keep going. Use a one direction motion for mixing to help avoid air bubbles as this will save time later. Only mix what you can apply and work in about 3-5 minutes as this is how long the body filler will stay workable. The rule of thumb for mixing the body filler is for a golf ball size of filler use a 1 inch line of hardener.

Step 4. When applying the filler use thin coats up to about 1/8 inch thickness in a application. DO NOT apply body filler over paint as it will not stay adhered and it will start to separate quickly.

Step 5. Do not sand between coats if additional filler is needed so that the surface is rough enough for good adhesion between the layers. Once the body filler is even with the surface and ready for the next step let it cure for a few hours. If you used properly thin coats there should not be any need for major filler removal and just sanding should be good.

Step 6. once the filler has cured it is ready to smooth out. For plastidip a some what rougher surface is acceptable but paint will require finer sanding. The first step of sanding body filler I use is 80 grit dry paper and i use an x pattern. USE A LARGER SANDING BLOCK!!! do not use your hand or a small sanding block as you can get low spots due to uneven pressure.

pic 1
body filler done and ready for 80 grit sanding. After 80 grit i move up to 180 dry then I do 220 wet.


pic 2
After the 220 wet sanding I clean once again with a was and grease remover and i apply a glide coat of primer to check for high / low spots and re-wetsand after it is dry


pic 3
for the fenders hoods and doors that are clear coat damaged and feel like sand paper i used the same method to smooth everything out


pic 4
almost done with this side


pic 5
DO not forget the roof Look at the car from all angles to find dents and small imperfections. painting will make them more obvious plasti dip will hide some of them




once you have gone around the whole car and done this you are ready to wash the car with dish soap and lots of water. The reason to use dish soap is the grease removing properties and it dosnt leave residue. After you have let the car dry or blown it off with compressed air wipe the whole car down with 91% isopropenal rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth and let it fully dry. remember moldings and side skirts will hold the liquids unless blown out.

My car is a panda so i did the black first. I taped off the windows and the body as they suggested in their how to videos from dipyourcar.com by leaving large 2-3 inch uncovered strips around the windows that i didnt tape off so it would peel easier.

I started from the roof and worked my way down I didnt try to do heavy coats and the new style sprayer they ship in the kit allows you to control product flow better than the wagner sprayer does.

here is after the first coat of black


second coat of black dip


This took half a gallon of Dip but the coverage is good and it peels clean and separates at the body lines perfect.

the white i taped off the fresh black dip and painted the white. I used 2 gallons of white and did 5 or 6 coats. Total time from start to finish of spraying the dip and peeling off the black and clean up after was about 6 hours



here is a shot of the finished car


this is a process that is simple and easy to use. I would rate this a 2 out of 5 for difficulty and only because of the body work you might do.

any questions send me pm's and as i get better pics of the after i will post them.