Nice write up. You're lucky your car is black. Otherwise there would be another step of paint matching. Unless some people wanted black trim on a color other than black.
GOOD JOB!:tu:
GOOD JOB!:tu:
pjotsx's DIY: Plasti-dip Chrome Trim
10
Hey Guys,
So I know that some of you on this forum are curious about plasti-diping your chrome trim and since I have done it three times I decided to write-up a DIY and show you how I did it the last time. The first couple of times it was trial and error for me but now I think I have the best procedure for me at least. You can definitely do this by yourself but having a couple of friends is helpful when prepping and helping you take off the tape. Plasti-dip is awesome, you can use it on your door handles, emblems, and your grille. I have done it on all and am pleased with the outcome. I apologize now for the quality of pics, they were taken with my cell phone(Its all I have). *Remember, plasti-dip is very reversible so if you do not like it after install or a year later your can just peel it right now! No sanding is required*
Disclaimer:
This is just a procedure on how I blacked out my trim using plasti-dip, it is not the "perfect" way but its how I did it and it worked for me. Perform the following procedure at your own risk. Read everything carefully before your start! Take all preventative measures before starting, use protective gloves, and eyewear. I am not be responsible for anyone or anything that happens to their car using this procedure. Do so at your OWN RISK!
What you need:
Blue painters tape
2 cans of plasti-dip should suffice(~$6 a can)
A black handle that attaches to spray paint(its like $2 and makes a painting much easier for me)
Denatured Alcohol
A roll of recycled paper(walmart for like $6 better then newspaper)
2 cans of clear enamel(If your like me and do not prefer the flat finish)
![]()
Prior to painting:
Definitely try to have your car indoors, like a garage, it really makes a difference as I did not have a garage the first two times I tried it. Clean your car and make sure to scrub the trim with soap and water. After it is dried start to tape your around your trim.*One of the most important and time consuming parts about this procedure is taping around the trim.* Grab the blue painters tape and carefully tape around the chrome trim. Get as close to the trim as you can but make sure you do not get any tape on the trim or else when you peel it later it will peel some of the plasti-dip off your trim if you are not careful. Make sure to apply pressure on the tape afterwards and make sure it is on there good so that the paint does not get on your car.(Don't get to worried as you will be able to rub off the overspray or use rubbing compound on a microfiber towel to take it off in seconds)
![]()
Now get the recycled paper and cut it out to accordingly. It covers better then newspaper and it will cut your prep time in half and plus its fairly cheap. Put it around the trim to cover your paint and tape it on top of the tape around the edges of your trim. Then grab some newspaper and cover your side mirrors and windows really well. Put some gloves on. Now use a microfiber towel and pour some of the alcohol on it and rub it on all the chrome trim. Let it dry for ~10 min. This gets your trim really clean and lets the plasti-dip adhere to the trim really well.
![]()
Painting:
Now your ready to paint. I have done various amounts of coats when plasti-dipping and 3 coats of plasti-dip and 3 coats of clear coat has worked the best for me. I painted the car with the garage closed so that no wind or breeze came in but opened it back up to air it out between and after coats. If you have had some experience painting with spray paint then this should be simple for you just slide the black handle from home depot and paint away. If your not so experienced make sure you shake the can up for a couple minutes, then add the black handle for easy painting. Now make sure before you start to read the label on the back and it will tell you how far away from the trim that you should paint. Make sure to do a couple of test sprays before you start. Before each coat I did some test sprays on the brown recycled paper underneath the trim. Make sure you do not spot shoot it and just do a continuos spraying motion along the trim. I prefer left to right. I did half of the top trim, shook the can, the second half. Then repeated it for the bottom half. Note, that for the bottom to angle the can like in the picture so that you can cover the top of the bottom trim well.
![]()
Your first coat is the base coat so we all know that you should spray lightly, it might not cover every spot but thats ok, thats what coat 2 and 3 are for. I waited 15-20min between each coat. On your 2nd coat you can go over it more and by the 3rd coat make sure you cover it well and that it is pitch black. If you are not using clear coat you are done. Just let it dry and peel off tape. I will explain more after talking about clear coat.
My second coat:
![]()
The third coat when dry before clear coat:
![]()
After the 3 coats of plasti-dip where done I waited around 30-45min before I did the clear coat. When you do the clear coat use the same procedure as above but you do not have to be as careful. Just make sure to not spray to close because it runs a lot more then the plasti-dip and it will run down your trim. So be careful. I did 3 coats of clear as well and waited 15-20min between each coat. I have also noticed that besides protection the clear coat will also make the plasti-dip more difficult to take off. It will still come off as clean as the plasti-dip does but the clear coat on top of the plasti-dip makes it a little harder to peel off and requires more elbow grease to remove the plasti-dip if you decide to remove it in the future.
![]()
Clear coat up-close:
![]()
After your done painting wait for it to dry. I waited 4hrs but I am sure after a couple you should be fine. I just wanted to make sure it was dry because the plasti-dip will peel off easier when wet. Take off the recycled paper and newspaper. After that its time to take off the blue painters tape. *Now this is the part where you need to be most careful because if you aren't you can peel off some of this plasti-dip off your trim and the chrome will be revealed, trust me its happened to me and thats one of the reasons I have redone it so many times.* Make sure you peel the tape carefully at the edges and pull away from the trim. Apply some pressure against the edges of the tape above the part that you are peeling from. So that the paint on the trim does not stick to the tape that your peeling away. After you peel off all the tape you are finished! Enjoy the new look and IMO I would not wash the car for a few days just to make sure the paint adheres to your trim.
The finished product:
![]()
Plasti-dip and clear coat dried and up-close:
![]()
As stated above if you have any overspray it is easy to remove just rub it off or use a microfiber towel with some rubbing compound if it is a large area of overspray. I did it, it was simple fast and did not ruin my paint at all. Plasti-dip is awesome and you can use it on anything, like your door handles, grille, even the red markers on your rear bumper. Its a cheap subtle DIY mod. Post any comments(good or bad), questions, or concerns. Please LMK if there is anything I can add or remove to make this a great DIY guide for anyone who wants plasti-dip their trim. Thanks for looking!!! :thumbsup:
So I know that some of you on this forum are curious about plasti-diping your chrome trim and since I have done it three times I decided to write-up a DIY and show you how I did it the last time. The first couple of times it was trial and error for me but now I think I have the best procedure for me at least. You can definitely do this by yourself but having a couple of friends is helpful when prepping and helping you take off the tape. Plasti-dip is awesome, you can use it on your door handles, emblems, and your grille. I have done it on all and am pleased with the outcome. I apologize now for the quality of pics, they were taken with my cell phone(Its all I have). *Remember, plasti-dip is very reversible so if you do not like it after install or a year later your can just peel it right now! No sanding is required*
Disclaimer:
This is just a procedure on how I blacked out my trim using plasti-dip, it is not the "perfect" way but its how I did it and it worked for me. Perform the following procedure at your own risk. Read everything carefully before your start! Take all preventative measures before starting, use protective gloves, and eyewear. I am not be responsible for anyone or anything that happens to their car using this procedure. Do so at your OWN RISK!
What you need:
Blue painters tape
2 cans of plasti-dip should suffice(~$6 a can)
A black handle that attaches to spray paint(its like $2 and makes a painting much easier for me)
Denatured Alcohol
A roll of recycled paper(walmart for like $6 better then newspaper)
2 cans of clear enamel(If your like me and do not prefer the flat finish)
Prior to painting:
Definitely try to have your car indoors, like a garage, it really makes a difference as I did not have a garage the first two times I tried it. Clean your car and make sure to scrub the trim with soap and water. After it is dried start to tape your around your trim.*One of the most important and time consuming parts about this procedure is taping around the trim.* Grab the blue painters tape and carefully tape around the chrome trim. Get as close to the trim as you can but make sure you do not get any tape on the trim or else when you peel it later it will peel some of the plasti-dip off your trim if you are not careful. Make sure to apply pressure on the tape afterwards and make sure it is on there good so that the paint does not get on your car.(Don't get to worried as you will be able to rub off the overspray or use rubbing compound on a microfiber towel to take it off in seconds)
Now get the recycled paper and cut it out to accordingly. It covers better then newspaper and it will cut your prep time in half and plus its fairly cheap. Put it around the trim to cover your paint and tape it on top of the tape around the edges of your trim. Then grab some newspaper and cover your side mirrors and windows really well. Put some gloves on. Now use a microfiber towel and pour some of the alcohol on it and rub it on all the chrome trim. Let it dry for ~10 min. This gets your trim really clean and lets the plasti-dip adhere to the trim really well.
Painting:
Now your ready to paint. I have done various amounts of coats when plasti-dipping and 3 coats of plasti-dip and 3 coats of clear coat has worked the best for me. I painted the car with the garage closed so that no wind or breeze came in but opened it back up to air it out between and after coats. If you have had some experience painting with spray paint then this should be simple for you just slide the black handle from home depot and paint away. If your not so experienced make sure you shake the can up for a couple minutes, then add the black handle for easy painting. Now make sure before you start to read the label on the back and it will tell you how far away from the trim that you should paint. Make sure to do a couple of test sprays before you start. Before each coat I did some test sprays on the brown recycled paper underneath the trim. Make sure you do not spot shoot it and just do a continuos spraying motion along the trim. I prefer left to right. I did half of the top trim, shook the can, the second half. Then repeated it for the bottom half. Note, that for the bottom to angle the can like in the picture so that you can cover the top of the bottom trim well.
Your first coat is the base coat so we all know that you should spray lightly, it might not cover every spot but thats ok, thats what coat 2 and 3 are for. I waited 15-20min between each coat. On your 2nd coat you can go over it more and by the 3rd coat make sure you cover it well and that it is pitch black. If you are not using clear coat you are done. Just let it dry and peel off tape. I will explain more after talking about clear coat.
My second coat:
The third coat when dry before clear coat:
After the 3 coats of plasti-dip where done I waited around 30-45min before I did the clear coat. When you do the clear coat use the same procedure as above but you do not have to be as careful. Just make sure to not spray to close because it runs a lot more then the plasti-dip and it will run down your trim. So be careful. I did 3 coats of clear as well and waited 15-20min between each coat. I have also noticed that besides protection the clear coat will also make the plasti-dip more difficult to take off. It will still come off as clean as the plasti-dip does but the clear coat on top of the plasti-dip makes it a little harder to peel off and requires more elbow grease to remove the plasti-dip if you decide to remove it in the future.
Clear coat up-close:
After your done painting wait for it to dry. I waited 4hrs but I am sure after a couple you should be fine. I just wanted to make sure it was dry because the plasti-dip will peel off easier when wet. Take off the recycled paper and newspaper. After that its time to take off the blue painters tape. *Now this is the part where you need to be most careful because if you aren't you can peel off some of this plasti-dip off your trim and the chrome will be revealed, trust me its happened to me and thats one of the reasons I have redone it so many times.* Make sure you peel the tape carefully at the edges and pull away from the trim. Apply some pressure against the edges of the tape above the part that you are peeling from. So that the paint on the trim does not stick to the tape that your peeling away. After you peel off all the tape you are finished! Enjoy the new look and IMO I would not wash the car for a few days just to make sure the paint adheres to your trim.
The finished product:
Plasti-dip and clear coat dried and up-close:
As stated above if you have any overspray it is easy to remove just rub it off or use a microfiber towel with some rubbing compound if it is a large area of overspray. I did it, it was simple fast and did not ruin my paint at all. Plasti-dip is awesome and you can use it on anything, like your door handles, grille, even the red markers on your rear bumper. Its a cheap subtle DIY mod. Post any comments(good or bad), questions, or concerns. Please LMK if there is anything I can add or remove to make this a great DIY guide for anyone who wants plasti-dip their trim. Thanks for looking!!! :thumbsup:
