"MarquetteLa" (marquettela)
07/10/2015 at 10:51 • Filed to: None
0
28|
"MarquetteLa" (marquettela)
07/10/2015 at 10:51 • Filed to: None | 0
| 28 |
It’s starting to feel a whole lot like Christmas...due to the red hardtop I just put on my green Miata.
I want to plastidip the hardtop to (a) protect its somewhat ragged paint and (b) change the color to something not so Christmasy. But I have exactly zero experience working with plastidip and I don’t even know what color options are out there.
So what color hardtop do y’all think would look good on an Emerald Mica Miata? And does anyone have any tips working with plastidip? Thanks!
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! & !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! : @MarquetteLa
jkm7680
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:53 |
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Black!
G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:54 |
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Black is always a good choice, although I would go the extra mile to sand it back and colour-match it. Nice NB!
Sam
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:55 |
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When you spray the dip, make sure that you lay down a few light base coats, to give the rest something to stick to. You could probably get it professionally done with the DipYourCar clear coat that makes it look like paint, instead of the matte finish.
CalzoneGolem
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:57 |
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All you have to do is spray plastidip on where you want it then peel it off where you don’t want it.
LongbowMkII
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:58 |
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White and white wheels.
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MarquetteLa
> G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/10/2015 at 10:59 |
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Thanks! I’m actually not planning on keeping the hardtop for very long, as the NB will become an Exocet within the next year or two. My soft top was punctured by hail about two weeks ago, so I figured I could re-sell a hardtop rather than sinking money into a new soft top.
Jcarr
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 10:59 |
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I did the wheels on my Jetta with the aluminum/silver color and clear gloss about a year ago.
Here’s a link to the post I did that has some pointers.
I would recommend a dark color as I’ve found that it is a chore to clean (it’s rubbery and requires more scrubbing than smooth paint) and it will eventually start to stain with dirt/dust/bird poop/etc.
GTI Sprinks
> jkm7680
07/10/2015 at 10:59 |
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Agreed. Black plastidip, and if you’re feeling fancy, add some of the glossifier (clearcoat plastidip) to make it look better than just standard rattlecan.
Also, light coats (and minimum 3 coats), keep the can away from the surface, give 1/2 spray width overlap to keep it tidy an so you don’t end up getting streaky, and don’t just spray all wild. Keep your motions left-to-right or right-to-left or up-down.
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MarquetteLa
> Sam
07/10/2015 at 11:01 |
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This DipYourCar thing sounds pretty interesting. Surely it would be pretty affordable for something as small as a hardtop!
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MarquetteLa
> LongbowMkII
07/10/2015 at 11:01 |
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Ooh, this is an interesting idea. But I’m actually not planning on keeping the hardtop for very long, as the NB will become an Exocet within the next year or two. My soft top was punctured by hail about two weeks ago, so I figured I could re-sell a hardtop rather than sinking money into a new soft top.
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MarquetteLa
> Jcarr
07/10/2015 at 11:02 |
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Those are pretty good results! Thanks for the info.
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G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:03 |
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Why would you Exocet a mint NB?
Justin Hughes
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:05 |
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I dipped my stock wheels last fall and they’re unrecognizable as stock now. It was real easy, if you have any experiencing spray painting. Start with a very light coat, then build up a few heavy coats on top of it. At that point, the heavier you can go without runs, the better, because the easier it will be to peel off later.
For your car, I say black. You’ll never match Emerald Mica, so don’t even try. You can either go with a high gloss finish to match the car’s natural shine a bit better, or leave it matte and make people wonder whether you have the soft or hard top up.
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MarquetteLa
> G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/10/2015 at 11:07 |
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Because the hail that punctured the soft top also damaged the rest of the body (even though I can’t really see the damage on the very dark paint). My insurance declared it a total loss and cut me a check (AKA solid start for my Exocet budget).
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Jcarr
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:08 |
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No problem, good luck!
I don’t have any recent pictures, but they’ve held up quite well over the past ~14 months. That includes an Iowa winter with plenty of snow and road salt.
The material itself is still intact pretty much everywhere. The only real degradation has been some staining from the typical road grime. I haven’t been able to devote much time to washing them regularly so that might be mitigated by regular cleaning.
Either way, it was $60 and a few hours of work.
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G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:09 |
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That would explain it. I hate it when bad things happen to good cars.
OPPOsaurus WRX
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:10 |
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you could do a tan color so it looks like the soft top.
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MarquetteLa
> G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/10/2015 at 11:12 |
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I’m looking at it as a blessing in disguise. I’ve lusted after Exocets for a while now and planned on picking up an old NA as a donor, but my NB really is the perfect donor: Torsen LSD, Ohlins coilovers, 6-speed, VVT on the motor. I’m excited to get the project underway.
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MarquetteLa
> OPPOsaurus WRX
07/10/2015 at 11:12 |
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I’m actually thinking about gold!
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MarquetteLa
> Jcarr
07/10/2015 at 11:14 |
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That’s awesome. I’ll be driving my GTX in the winter, not the Miata, so the hardtop dip should last a long time.
DrScientist
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:14 |
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that’s a tough color to find an attractive contrast for.
others have said black, but i think black will just look mismatched. white, might be an option.
check out some racing liveries to get ideas.
and maybe also consider doing the mirrors so whatever color you get looks intentional, not like you just found a spare hardtop lying around and put it on.
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MarquetteLa
> DrScientist
07/10/2015 at 11:17 |
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The mirrors don’t have the same color consistency as the rest of the car (some sort of plastic paint that has lost its luster), so that’s a great idea.
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G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:17 |
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That would be cool.
Needmoargarage
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:27 |
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Make sure you put down a lot of coats, or it will be a nightmare to peel up again someday. I find that anything less that 7-8 light coats makes it difficult. Also, you won’t be able to get as smooth as a surface finish as paint, so you need to be ok with that. Plastidip will go on real rough, and flatten out a bit. If you make your last few coats heavier it will lay out smoother.
Also, black with a coat or two of glossier is the only color I think would look good on your car. Good luck!
daender
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:29 |
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Hell yes, I like this one so much that I might actually do it to my own Emerald green top.
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MarquetteLa
> daender
07/10/2015 at 11:33 |
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Ooo, wanna swap? :P
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DrScientist
> MarquetteLa
07/10/2015 at 11:33 |
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also, if you feel like getting fancy with the hood and/or front bumper, check out these old lister jaguars. they did green and yellow fairly successfully... and roadster too. :)
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MarquetteLa
> DrScientist
07/10/2015 at 11:41 |
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I love the old Lotus green/yellow F1 liveries. But I’m actually not planning on keeping the hardtop for very long, as the NB will become an Exocet within the next year or two. My soft top was punctured by hail about two weeks ago, so I figured I could re-sell a hardtop rather than sinking money into a new soft top.