Plastidip my 355?

I just did my 04 Subaru Baja in flat black and it was an OK process with a few shortcomings. Although there seems to be no long term harm to the paint I just would not chance it on the 355. Many things that seem harmless have serious impacts. A product called retrobrite which turns old yellowed video game and computer consoles white again has no obvious effect, yet under a microscope (thanks to a curious chemist / gamer) it was shown to alter the structure of the plastic, perhaps the difference between solid and crumbling in 12 years? With these cars original paint might mean allot one day. Yes I know cars more expensive than a 355 have been dipped, but until I see allot more science on it I would hold off.

 

No. You'll regret it once it's time to remove it.

 

matte colours look terrible on cars with lots of styling lines in them, the 355 doesn't have enough solid body lines for it to look good. Eg lots of audis look decent with matte because of the chunky body panels with not many styling lines.

 

After it bakes on with the hot sun over time you will see that you will not be able to remove it with ease and will be most likely be needing a new paint job

 

Do not do it. Wrap it with film instead.


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have yet to see a wrap does justice to any car....as for pasti-dip? would not risk it.

 

valid concern

 

Been doing wraps at my shop for a long time. In my opinion, the older cars don't work so well with wraps. They just look wrong to me and after studying some of the older cars, I think it's because the rubber, glass and plastics are tired on the car...the matte wrap makes all that stuff look even more tired. New cars look like a million bucks.

Don't plastidip the car....it will look horrible quickly. There is a MASSIVE difference between plastidip and vinyl. Vinyl is really nice stuff and when applied by a guy that knows how to do it, is hard to tell it's not paint. Takes a really good installer. Make sure to see his work...look for seams and keep in mind that to do it right, you should really pull the car apart...on black cars you can get away with a little less disassembly but on a colored car, you need to blow it apart.

Couple shots of a Black Series we did...this car pulls it off well. 3M Matte Charcoal. Purposely kept the bright work on the car bright to help contrast the matte finish.

Lots of pics of cars we've done on my site. c2 design
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not a fan of plasti dip cars. So SO ugly IMO. I think it's a very cheap and hipster thing to do. It's like kids that don't know what to do with cars. I never met anyone in the tuning scene, old rods or supercar scene that thought it was cool. I am in my early 30's though. It may easily be a generation thing (roll eyes) but just looks incredibly cheap to me.

reminds me of when it first started around Jesse James time, customizing was blowing up, and the rockabilly (rat rods) made it popular with the matt black. I think a rat rod is the ONLY car that can pull it off. Then yuppers started doing it to Benz's and hummers, just went all down hill from there.

Or, go ahead and do it, and wear some neon colored ray bans while you are at it..

 

Wow...didn't know I dealt with hipsters and 'yuppers'. Pretty sure Mr. James wasn't the guy who came up with matte/flat/primer paints. Goes back to the very early days of hot rodding when guys didn't have enough money for paint(money was spent on making the cars fast) or their cars were in a constant state of work or they were after more of a sleeper look. James just popularized it for the masses and for people who weren't in-the-know.

It's a trend, no different than colors that fade(no pun intended)in and out popularity...like metallic brown being popular now. I seem to recall seeing some matte paint jobs at SEMA 17 or so years ago....they were fragile back then. Couldn't touch them. Lambo was one of the first companies that I recall offering it. I don't think you could even wash the cars that had the flat factory paint(I think it was the Reventon that had the matte paint first). Must have been a challenge. The paints offered by the manufacturers today are much more durable now but they can easily be damaged and paint repair is a huge challenge. I try to discourage my clients from buying OEM matte painted cars unless they have very good detailers. The vinyl on the other hand is a no brainer. Other than scratching it, you can't really hurt it and if you do, you peel it off and put new stuff on. It's neat stuff and when done right it looks great.

To the OP, if you go with a wrap, check out the satin pearl white offered by Avery or 3M...they are very different from matte finishes...they have quite a bit of a sheen to them...not quite shiny and not quite dull. A satin pearl white would look pretty good on a 355...contrast it with a textured bronze or dark gold wheel and you'd be all set. Grey wheels would be nice too.

We just built this GTR with a full carbon body(all metal OEM body panels removed and replaced with carbon panels)....matte clear coated. Months were spent achieving this look in the body shop(multiple coats of clear, filled, sanded, then finished in matte)....
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I have seen some fantastic wrap jobs done, and yes that includes plasticoat. It all depends on the person applying it. Some look really good, others not so much. Spend a bit more and get a good job done and you should be just fine. Removal of the plasticoat is not an issue really. It's a bit of a pain, but really not too bad.

 

The GTR looks bad ass^^^ I can get on board with anything functional (and I would guess there were some weight savings there). Wouldn't think the same about a carbon wrap however.

Plastidip? Never