High-top color: wrap, Plastidip or Monstaliner?

[jimf909]

Color matched high-tops look far better (to me) than unfinished white fiberglass caps.

My van is a year or more away from a respray, but I'd like to apply some color to its forthcoming high-top in the meantime.

- Option 1: $3,000 premium paint job (too pricey, and it sure wouldn't match the current battle scarred paint on the rest of the van)
- Option 2: Maaco spray: $800
- Option 3: Wrap $??? (edit: thanks for the link, MMC! Very helpful.)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660316
- Option 4: Monstaliner ~$400 (edit: thx for the suggestion, ILTW)
- Option 5: Plastidip ~$400 (edit: thx MWD)

I don't know the first thing about wraps. Would wrapping a high-top be a feasible solution to covering the white fiberglass? This van is not a garage queen so a perfect match and finish is not needed. Just a bit of color.

Thanks.
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- Jim

[iliketowalk]

Option 4 - Monstaliner- $150

I think there are some pics somewhere in the NAHT thread.
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1986 Weekender "Birch"

[MidwestDrifter]

[jimf909]

Ooh, the plastidip looks like a good solution for a few hundred bucks. $70 for materials means I could change the color of the top each season.

Any tips out there on wrapping the top?

Thanks.
_________________
- Jim

[jimf909]

[MidwestDrifter]

Monstaliner is not coming off easy period. You would need to grind it off... Very tough stuff.

Plastidip can be removed with minimal work as long as you apply according to the instructions. It also holds up fairly well. There was a guy who did his whole sprinter a few years back. Still looks good. When properly applied the plastidip is fairly similar to a wrap, though a bit less durable. It also comes off easier as there is no adhesive.

Apply a wrap is difficult for the novice. It takes some practice to get the process down and to keep the seems from being eyesores. There are tons of materials available, and it will hold up well in the short term.

The monstaliner/bedliner is the most durable. Monstaliner is supposedly 100% UV stable, and I believe it based on results from the jeep and off road community.
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[MayorMcCheese]

Here's a thread from the body/paint section about vinyl. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660316

[0cean]

Custom color monstaliner. Don't worry about scratches or chipped paint ever again.
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[jimf909]

[jimf909]

Closing the loop...

Mike (purplepeopleeater here) sprayed Plastidip on my NAHT high-top. Mike said it was a PITA but I like the results (thanks, Mike!).

It's a reasonable match which works fine given the fair to poor condition of the original paint on the rest of the van. I like it far better than the fiberglass white and I'm hoping the Plastidip can be removed relatively easily if I ever respray the van.

_________________
- Jim

[Steve M.]

Regarding the WRAP...
It looks fine on city busses where it's driving by in traffic or NASCAR racers.
Sitting next to it where you are not moving and have to look at it for more then 2 seconds it looks like shit.

My experience is that on a certain boat the "new" owner was given a pitch line that he bought hook, line and sinker to redo the interior of his boat with a wrap.
Installation team #1 did it and it looked like crap..."they weren't experienced enough to do it properly" was the comment at the time.
Installation team #4 tried it with another brand and texture material.($6,500 for material.)
these guys "were the best in the business" was the comment at the time.
It looked a bit better then the first team, but when standing or sitting still in the same spot having to look at it...it looks like shit.
Each time aside from the last time it cost the owner 5-6g in material + the labor.

The reason being that the wrap is so thin that every piece of dust underneath it shows, every imperfection on the surface will show through it.
He had a perfectionist painter come in on the last attempt to prepare the surface. Hours and hours of super-fine sanding and having to listen to the dysfunctional personality complain about the boat resulted in a finish that was really the best you could attain for it.
Still it looked fine when you first stepped into a room, but be there a few minutes and you could see the problems.
Not only the surface imperfections, but trying to get that perfect corner angles and you have to overlap the sheets like you would on wallpapering the seams show even when they used the thicker textured material.

In the end it was all ripped out and the interior painted and refinished in wood.

The total job costs $$$$$.$$ and two Captains their jobs. ( The second Captain quit when the owner persisted on doing it.)

Not to mention scrapping the surface with a branch or anything that would dig into it and cut the wrap's finish.

Not in my life or my money would I ever try this on my own vehicle, but that gold BMW in the Frankfort car rental looks great as long as you keep walking!
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