I have my OEM wheels on the car currently. Many months ago I sprayed them black with Matte Black Plastidip. I have to say that after nearly weekly washings, daily driving (okay, so we're talking only maybe 2 - 3 miles daily...), all types of weather and road conditions, and occassionally letting my wife take the car for a day the black dip has been bullet-proof. I am amazed at how well this stuff has held up -- even on the wheel bolts that I've removed several times for other projects!

But -- and it was bound to happen sooner or later -- as I was washing the right rear wheel today I spotted a few nicks in the black. Must have been something light-weight but with enough velocity to glance off the wheel and cutting through the 5 coats of rubber paint I have on there! I inspected the nicks, and happy to say the only "damage" is to the black rubber paint! The cuts did NOT go through to the wheel enough to leave marks!

So, I wanted to see just how easy it is to "repair" the plastidip coating. Following is a quick step-by-step that I snapped some iPhone pics. Took me about an hour -- mainly wait time of 15 minutes between each of 3 coats. So not that bad!

Here's a pic of the damage:

And a closer shot:

I decided this was a small-enough area that there wasn't any need to take off the car -- I simply masked the area a bit to avoid any clean-up time!


I then sprayed three coats:
#1


#2


#3


After three coats the nicks are no longer visible as anything more than a couple of black bumps or indents. I could spray them a few more times, but I accomplished my primary goal of covering the silver wheel showing-through!

Here is the wheel after I removed the masking:


Not 1000% perfect I know -- and if I was more patient I would have spent some time making sure that the edges of the nick were smoothed-out or something so that they wouldn't be seen -- but honestly, other than me I doubt anyone will notice! LOL

Oh, and for kicks -- Here is what one of my wheels looked like the day I was spraying for the first time:

 

The Dip saved your rim man! Good job on the touch up. Looks way better. I love the Dip!

 

http://youtu.be/4T0jEvxxTzE

 

For a more permanent repair, level the scratched area first by placing a drop or two of namptha or xylene over the affected area and letting it evaporate. continue doing so until the chips have smoothed out. Don't worry if you start fading the plasti dip in the area as your respray will cover it. The point is to take out any loose bits of plastidip. If you skip this step, you'll wind up creating a bubble in the affected area and will eventually start to peel again.

 

I dipped my classic wheels as well. and they have been holding up good.

 

Another great post Plenum. I already have black wheels, but wondering if I should plastic dip them as a way of protecting them, seeing how PD holds up so well and helps prevent chipping. What does everyone think? Also, how it PD with brake dust, does it just wash off. If you spray with wheel cleaner does it have any effect on the PD?

 

Hi! PD is not for everyone.... so please don't turn this thread into a PD bashing! I'll leave it at that.

I've used PD for a large number of projects, and really have grown to like both the protection it offers as well as the ease of changing colors almost whenever I like!

To address your questions: You can use whatever cleaner you'd like on this stuff, and I haven't had any indication that P21S or other similar products cause even the slightest damage to the PD. I wash my wheels almost weekly this time of year, and use various scrubbing tools -- even a horsehair brush! Not once have I found any scratches or other marks in the PD. So yes, you can just wash-off the brake dust.

One thing I've experienced that maybe others with PD'd wheels can chime in on -- I PD'd my wheels Matte Black. I used like 5 coats, but didn't spray with any Glossifier. When I wash the wheels, the water on the wheels dissipates super-fast, so the wheels are dry fast and the PD seems to "absorb" the water.... The PD'd surface also feels "rough" and sticky like you would expect black rubber to. So cleaning takes a bit longer than if the wheel is NOT PD'd! Not sure if it's just because I need to coat with Glossifier which will create a more slick surface.... Thoughts anyone?

 

I put two coats of glossifier on my wheels and they are definitely stickier (tackier) than without. I'm might spray a coat of regular PD to try reduce it a little.