[daveydave]

Hi gang, I have a white 2014 SE hatch and have always liked the look of the ST's ground trim being the same color as the body, vs black on mine. I had once taken it to a paint shop, actually 2, to see about them doing it, but both talked me out of it. They said the paint really wouldn't last long on the plastic. Of course I could spend $$$$$ and buy a whole body kit, THEN have that painted and mount it, but no way. So I was thinking of doing plasti dip. My thoughts were to remove the parts, do about 4-5 coats, use the glossifier, and pop them back on.

I'm figuring the white dip with glossifier would match up to the Alpine White pretty close. Do you guys think it would hold up well enough to occasional gravel, etc. that those panels can be exposed to? Also, can anyone point me to a good DIY video for removing the front and rear bumper? I think I have one for the side skirts but haven't found the front/rear yet.

Thanks!

 

[Nmarzoli04]

I think it should hold up reasonably well, I mean people do their wheels all the time. I dipped an area on my rear bumper last summer and I've had no wear issues so far.

 

[Ott_dont_touch_that]

I've watched a bunch of videos on youtube about plasti dip and they say as long as you have 4-5 coats it will hold up nicely. dipyourcar on youtube is a good channel to watch.

 

[dnjnkns]

Did the center on my '12 SEL with 5 coats and holds up really well!!

 

[daveydave]

I think I decided against the Plasti dip, only because I've been told the white is different enough from the Alpine white of the Focus to look bad. Mismatched. I was hoping it was going to be pretty close.

 

[Toaster-Six]

I ended up plastdipping my sides.

In Australia, we've got Fords frozen white. And the white plastidip i used was arctic white with glossifyer.
They're similar, but you cant tell the difference unless it's super bright out.

I ended up actually painting the rear bumper - colour matched. And will remove the plastidip from the sides and use actual paint on the side and front.
Plastidip gets dirty real quick. Especially white dip

 

[daveydave]

Hmm, well even with the slight mismatch in color it still looks better than the black IMO. I'm thinking I'll save my pennies and get side skirts and a rear and have them painted. I'd probably be ok plastidipping the front black plastic parts on either side since they seem small enough to not notice the color difference.

Thanks for posting that pic though, it's nice to see for once what it would actually look like.

 

[Juicedz]

I did mine about 6 months ago. The front and back areally holding up but the sides are not. Maonly because this is where people get in and out. Also, as noted this stuff gets dirty fast and isn't easy to clean. I would like to paint them but not sure how much it would cost. The tabs on the rear break easy too so be careful. I'm worried a.second removal might break more and I'll be stuck ordering an aftermarket unit, which is more cash.

I wouldn't go back to black though. It looks waaay better matched.

 

[Toaster-Six]

I did mine about 6 months ago. The front and back areally holding up but the sides are not. Maonly because this is where people get in and out. Also, as noted this stuff gets dirty fast and isn't easy to clean. I would like to paint them but not sure how much it would cost. The tabs on the rear break easy too so be careful. I'm worried a.second removal might break more and I'll be stuck ordering an aftermarket unit, which is more cash.

I wouldn't go back to black though. It looks waaay better matched.

Aha, just an update, but exactly the things you mentioned.

I kinda got sick of it getting super dirty, so I ended up peeling all the plastidip from my side skirts, and went to the guy that painted my rear.
All in all, he's charging me $100 for the sides and the little front parts. He charged me $150 for the back.

I get it on Monday.
(Australia here)