To paint or wrap?
 

Would like some opinions on painting vs wrapping the 7. MB is the color now, but she is severely beat. The clear coat etc. She needs paint. I thought about spot painting, but it would be spots over the entire car so why not just paint the damn thing.
Going for satin black. I will most likely end up with a vented hood (not sure if it will be painted or leave carbon fiber). I am set on the color, just would like some opinions of wrap vs paint.
pros and cons.
Engine bay will not be painted or wrapped. Just any crevices that are exposed with everything closed. The door jams, inside of hatch, sunroof, etc.
Thanks

What do you mean by "wrapping"??

Paint.

Nothing beats paint.

If you want to cheap out, and do it only for looks, then wrap away.

would do wrap if you wanted to preserve the paint while changing it up a bit..
but wraps also have been know to remove paint when peeling it off..
but i agree with 403.. nothing beats paint if done right...

It isnt about cheaping out, it is more about preserving original paint. I haven't heard of wrap peeling paint, but again this paint is so poor it would probably peel.
I would be cheaping out painting it as I am not doing the engine bay. Maybe down the road for a rebuild I would, but I am not yanking the motor for paint.

A proper wrap job really needs a pro to do it and it's WAY more expensive than you would think - like pushing the price of a paint job. Like $2-3k. Yes, you can do it yourself, but it's a TON of labor and there's a lot of learning curve involved.

If you want an in-between option look at Plasti-Dip. I've dipped my car a few times (it's currently a dip version of CYM) and it's very easy and forgiving to do. Get the kit from DipYourCar.com and watch their videos.

But, for durability and long term, paint is the only way to go.

Dale

You know. Like Kanye West...

Thx. I was quoted 2k by some guys that wrap Buggati, Lamborghini, etc. Includes door jams etc. I would not take that work on myself.... ever.
Paint I am around 3k, but again this is obviously not an award winning finish. It is however paint and the guy gives me a lifetime against cracking, peeling, etc.
not really into dipping. This isn't going to be a show car, it just has to make me happy looking at it, and hopefully others will enjoy also.

would love to see pics of this dale...

I'd like to see the dip job as well, Dale.

as always it depends,

the wrap is nice because you don't need the painter, or body shop, any of the rest of it. the downside is that wrap is expensive, and it either peels or oxidizes. its really only good for wear parts, or temporary stuff like race cars.

paint sucks because you need a painter, and these never work like they should. its always expensive, and its never as good as its supposed to be, and it takes too long. adhesion is a problem, unless its overspray, then it never comes off.

with both the car needs to come apart to do it properly, and it'll break when you do that.

Gordon, i lol'd at dip job..

Damn decisions. I guess it is better to have them than not.

The only wrap i'll ever put on my car - is 3M Xpel ...clear, and only clear.

If you're worried about protecting paint you have 2 options in my books:
-Don't drive it
-Clear Wrap

But I'm a paint elitist.

Keep in mind, a paint job is only as good as the prep work, paint and finishing work (wet sanding, buffing)..... it can be good, but its not going to be cheap.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...97f57c8d89.jpg

This is how my car currently looks. Car is a black R2 with absolutely SHOT paint. I need to get a paint job but I've been buying time with Plastidip.

I think it's about 6 coats on there, white as a base coat, then plain yellow Plastidip. Then a top coat with the Dip Pearl Top Coat with the Nebula Yellow pearl mixed in. It looks pretty damn good in person and I've had a number of compliments on it.

The wheels are Hyper Graphite spray can dip.

For my car, I used 2 gallons of white dip as base, 1 gallon of yellow dip, 1 gallon of the clear Dip Pearl Top Coat, and 2 25g bags of the Nebula Yellow pearl. Supplies from DYC was $273. I would buy their gun (about $200 I think) and then you need masking supplies, etc.

I did it in my driveway with a clear tarp down to keep dip off the driveway. Don't have enough room in my garage. About half a day to clean the car really well and mask everything off and remove things (tail lights, license plate, etc.). Few hours to lay down the coats of dip, then 30-45 minutes to break down the masking and bolt things back on. Best to have someone helping to carry and manage the air hose to the turbine and watch out for things.

The good thing with dip is it covers a LOT of sins. I have primer spots, filler in rock chips on the front bumper, bondo with filler on it, etc. - the car's finish looks like hell under that. It's VERY reasonable cost-wise to do, probably $500-600 with tools and everything and only takes a day. There's a HUGE world of colors and pearls out there and you can get some REALLY cool looking finishes on your car. It's also nice if you've had the same car forever and want to freshen it up and make it look new/cool without going irreversible.

Down sides is there is a LITTLE bit of a learning curve to doing it. You have to accept that you could royally screw it up and you have to peel and re-do it. I did the car once at the end of the day thinking it would be cooler/less sun but BUGS like crazy got in the wet dip and I had spots that ran and fisheyed - had to peel it all off and start over. If you have a large enough garage to do it inside you can easily tarp up the whole garage and do it inside, that will give the best finish and less chance of environmental factors.

It's also no where as durable as paint. If something sharp snags it it could tear or mar the finish. Also petroleum-based products will eat it off, if you spill gas on dip it will eat the dip. They have the dip protect detail spray that helps a LOT, it makes the surface more smooth and less likely for stuff to catch on it.

One of the first FD's around here that I helped dip is still running the streets - it's parked outside, rarely washed, but the dip is still holding up great and the car looks decent. It is a red touring with a BADLY faded paint job where many spots are pink and panels look to be different shades of red. Now it looks decent and he's proud to drive the car around and didn't break the bank doing so.

I've also heard of guys dipping their car as a protective layer on a good paint job for doing track events or autocross.

If you are considering it, DYC has TONS of videos on Youtube explaining how to do it, showing different colors, etc.

Dale

I'm a big fan of plastidip as an alternative to an expensive paint job. My FD has battle scars from the track and will probably be damaged again in the future. I don't want to spend big bucks on a nice paint job until the car is retired from active duty. I've done three full dips in different colors so far. It's fun to change colors on a whim, inexpensive, and always gets people talking at the car shows. As Dale says, it's not nearly as durable as paint. However, with proper care it can last years and can be easy to repair as well should a tear occur.

Also I thought I was Mr. Crafty and bought a gun/turbine for Plastidip off Amazon that was the "same thing" but cheaper. I ended up having to buy different nozzles and dork around with it and it didn't work as well as the DYC gun. They have done a number of custom upgrades on that gun that make it worth the price they have it listed for.

There's lots more I could fill in on, that really should be its own thread though. Suffice to say it's a great, inexpensive, DIY to get your car looking really good.

I think there's a lot of snobbery when it comes to Plastidip, it being a "cheap" version of vinyl or something. I think a lot of that comes from internet warriors seeing Gallardos with $10k vinyl wraps and thinking that's the only way to go, anything less is "cheaping out". Also people have seen half-ass Plastidip jobs that were done with a brush or spray can or some crap and think that's what you're going to get.

For me, vinyl would be cool if it wasn't damn near the price of a paint job. To me it only makes sense if you want a particular look or you have really nice paint that the vinyl won't damage.

Dale

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8818b9a171.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a90173d7eb.jpg
Go with paint. Wraps are cool and all but nothing beats the shine and depth of proper paint.
FD's are pretty simple to wrap with the exception being the front and rear bumpers due to the heavy curvature. Also you will need to have a seam on the roof where the sun roof usually is due to the material being 60"

pic of my FD I wrapped my self
color is Avery Dennison Matte Khaki Green

Orange and black is the wrap I had on before I got a bunch of door dings and new bumper

Here's my DIY plastidip job. This is using their topcoat product that came out a few years back with blue pearls on a black base. You can go even glossier if you use straight up clear coats on top of this but I stopped at the pearls. I haven't tried their new professional or performance series products yet.

http://armitage.crinkle.net/gallery/...617_080935.jpg
http://armitage.crinkle.net/gallery/...502_174851.jpg

Thx for all the replies and good looking pics! I have decided to paint. I want to address any corrosion and protect her as much as I can. This will be a lengthy build so I don't need her corroding before I am finished