The optics
There it is now in front of you, your Grand California, everything is matching, you have chosen the color white. The contrasts between the exterior color and the black foil just match perfectly and then the black awning, gorgeous. Almost… if it weren’t for those silver Volkswagen logos and that chrome stripe on the grille.
That was a thorn in our side from the very beginning. The solution is relatively simple, all silver or chrome parts must be painted black. After a few inquiries at paint shops, which all wanted at least 150 euros for the two logos and the trim, we decided to take the whole thing into our own hands.
Foil instead of paint
We finally decided to “paint” with Plastidip, which is a spray-on film that can be easily removed if necessary. This fact has also taken away a bit of the fear of doing something wrong with the paint job, because if it doesn’t look good or is possibly not so well finished, the film can simply be removed again.
Don’t you think?! Take a look at this video:
Who now comes to the thought, then the stuff comes off immediately when washing, we can reassure. We have now washed our Cali definitely ten times, quite normal with a pressure washer and sponge and nothing has come off the film. The great thing about Plastidip, even if a small corner should flake off, for example during washing or due to a stone chip, you can only repair this corner and it is not even noticeable 🙂
How is Plastidip processed?
To ensure that the film can be removed again without leaving any residues, the surface is not sanded or primed at all. We cleaned both the emblems and the trim on the grille with isopropyl alcohol to ensure a completely grease-free surface. So far, this plan seems to have worked really well.
Dipping itself works just like painting with a spray paint can.
The front and rear emblems are simply clipped onto a carrier and can be removed without any major special tools, NO screws need to be loosened. It is a good idea to use a plastic lever tool, but if you don’t have one yet, we can recommend this set:
This not only allows you to remove the emblems, but also to remove one or two panels in the interior without destroying them.
The trim strip of the radiator grille is also clipped, but can only be removed with assembly effort. Therefore, we decided to tape the whole thing and then paint it with Plastidip when assembled. Always with the thought in mind, we can simply remove the stuff again if something should go wrong. Funnily enough, with such actions it is always the case that nothing happens and the first attempt succeeds directly.
To ensure that the film has sufficient opacity, we applied 4 layers. Only after the fourth layer did no more chrome shine through. Important, please wait until the respective layers are dry, otherwise it can come to paint noses and then you have to start over.
Before & After
Which foil did we use?
We chose the black matte film from Foliatec, but there is a whole range of colors to choose from. Since we weren’t sure how many cans we needed, we ordered the rim set. This contains two spray cans of 400ml each and now we know, one can would have been easily enough to paint the two emblems and the trim.
Foliatec’s price is based on a large Mc Donald’s menu, which is currently 13 Euros on Amazon.
Try it yourself, it’s really not difficult and you can’t lose more than a little time and a Mc menu less.
Ps: Yes the one or other Mc menu less would do me good, but you know: Mc Donalds is just good 😌
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