My Blacked-Out Beetle

[CoyoteStarfish]

Years before I owned it:

Clear coat started looking pretty ratty... let's try something new:

Me gusta. More! Paint day..

Done!

More high-resolution pictures to follow..

 

[chewyboy]

is that paint or plasti? i ask because on my screen it looks like it has a plastidip texture.

 

[DSLFAN]

um, that's not blacked out, just black wrap or paint - 8) Blacked out is a whole other level, which is what I hoped to see when I read the title. That's ok, just sayin.

 

[okiebug2006]

^^Well, the yellow got blacked out. But yeah, I was expecting the lenses to be "blacked out" or tinted too based on the title.

 

[CoyoteStarfish]

The headlights were opened and the reflectors were blacked out. I also got some aftermarket tail lights that are mostly black inside. Not quite happy with either of them, so that is why I don't have any pictures of them yet. Still working on it.

 

[Cogen Man]

I like it.

 

[CoyoteStarfish]

is that paint or plasti? i ask because on my screen it looks like it has a plastidip texture.

It's a coating I'm working on which is similar to plasti but has higher UV and scratch resistance and hopefully doesn't "dry out" as much over time. The idea is the same, though. Peelable synthetic rubber coating.


I'm stripping the whole car down and going for a flat gunmetal or charcoal grey in a few weeks..

 

[chewyboy]

mind sharing what coating it is?

 

[FlyTDI Guy]

Sounds like THIS stuff...

 

[deejaaa]

sounds like this stuff...

no!!!!

 

[CoyoteStarfish]

mind sharing what coating it is?

This is a bit of a chemistry project of mine right now. Without going into to much detail (it's actually a product I'm developing for automotive application) it's a copolymer thermoplastic dissolved in a solvent mixture which will not damage existing automotive paint - with added ingredients to buff UV, petroleum and scratch resistance. It sprays on and peels off just like Plasti-Dip would, but retains its elasticity longer. As I develop the formula further I'd be glad to share some more details. With some testing and R&D I may start selling the stuff soon.

I'll be spraying the Bug graphite gray soon and doing a photo shoot. I'll make sure to post some more pictures up then. Stay tuned!

 

[chewyboy]

curious are you spraying it through a regular sprayer or is it a bit thicker and requires something like and undercoating gun to shoot?

 

[CoyoteStarfish]

Using an unmodified HVLP sprayer for now -- which seems to work the best so far. The 'stuff' is heavily thinned, so it takes many coats to get complete coverage. 8 coats gives you nearly full coverage but is still very thin, I like to put 12-14 coats down on a surface to make it a little more durable and peel easier. I've tried thicker mixtures in the past but it comes out looking more like Rhino or undercoating. To get it smooth the stuff needs to be thinned out past the viscosity of even regular automotive paint due to the volatile solvents, otherwise it will gas-out in the air before the material makes contact with the surface creating a very bumpy undercoating-like texture.

 

[BadAssed93Z]

im in pembroke pines, and work in doral if you need volunteers for testing.