Bedlined Audi Part III

Hello, and greetings from VWVortex.

As you may of seen, ~3 years ago someone bed-lined an Audi A4, here I am with a couple of requests to jump on board Grassroots with some updates.

This thread will cover in this order:

• Part I, II, And Now III: It's Current And Final Appearance
• A ~3 Year Report Card
• A How To And What The Stuff Is
• My Thoughts And Opinions
• Unexpected Results
• Ultimately The Best Part Of Having Such A Finish
• Lastly

****PART I:*** If you already know this, skip to PART II**

In these times of paying the mortgage, the economy and no respect receiving scratches, dings and scraps from others with-in 6 months of your new paint I decided to take another approach.

I'm sick of buffing, polishing, dings, and the front end rock chips, sun fade in Arizona, 15 second dirt showers, 1/2 pound bugs while doing highway speeds, and of the sort .

I blatantly refuse to pay $2,500 to $3,000 for a paint job, even finding some one to touch it for $1,500 would be if tuff if OEM, but it's not OEM, I had a fully 100% unprepared body kit.

Sadly, you can find these all day long for $3K on Craigslist, as a matter of fact there's a Reiger Audi A4 for $3K with a custom paint job on there now :( .

For what I did, I allowed it to cure and took my largest wrench, and well, beat the car: And the result, nothing, nothing at all. I even tried to scratch it, pull off chunks on corners with my finger nail, and stabbed it with a flat head in the trunk jam, nothing.

She was taken apart and fully sprayed, took about 3 weeks, I didn't want the infamous ghetto non-door jam/interior door/trunk jam non-spray. Washing her is so tremendously easy! I was a little concerned regarding attempting to dry her after a wash, as I figured the finish would tear up a shammy, nope, the finish isn't ruff at all. It's actually pretty smooth, one swipe and she's dry.

I'll do a write up shortly, so here you go:

I did pics in the shade, and in the sun.

***PART II****

Love it or hate it, the first time around I can truly say I was disappointed with the primered appearance. So, here you go:

-Stage II Titanium Silver Painted over the top -Staggered Rims

Unfortunately the camera doesn't pick up the [I]Wet[/I] look from the intense gloss and shine. I'm getting, " It's still wet? Can I touch it?"

***PART III*** It's current state as of 3-26-2010

-Brilliant Black Color Code Blacked out roof -S4 Chrome Mirrors -A complete re-clear coat, talk about wet looking, however....the camera does not pick that up.

To this day, people still ask if it's wet to the touch, come night....ironically.........there's more gloss then daylight.

***3 YEAR REPORT CARD***

After ~ 3 years of daily use:

-No Dings -No Dents -No Scratches -No Pits -No Marks -No Expansion Or Spiderwebing Of The Material -No Flaking AND
-Not a single rock chip

***A HOW TO AND WHAT THE STUFF IS******

By all means this is a professional product and only available via license and not for the public (however you can still obtain it here and there).

Of all the liners, I would NOT do it with anything other then Raptor. As really, this does not look like the norm of bed-liners, is urethane based (rubber), concerning chunks and of the sort it lacks (smooth to the touch), and almost soft.

There's 3 methods to achieve results, and a quick run down of ease.

Prep: Wet sand with ~400grit, fill in any dings, mask. No primer, sealer, blocker, etc needed. Remove anything and everything you can, lights, emblems, etc, the stuff packs a punch out of the gun (over spray).

The bed-liner can be tintable, in which you add (color) tint to the bottles to change to what ever color you like, after you've chosen your color:

Shooting: 3 Methods

1- Tint (color) the bed-liner and shoot: Done

2- Tint (color) the bed-liner, shoot, then clear coat over the top: Done

3- Tint (color) the bed-liner, shoot, allow to dry, then actually paint over the bed-liner with real paint, then clear: Done

[IMG][/IMG]

***THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS***

• Would I do this again? Hell Ya!

• Regrets? None other then stated right below

• If you could change anything? Maybe, just the color choice, just as from a far distance.....the car can give off the appearance of being primered. Any other color, would not give that effect but silver

• If I had a Modern Car? If I had a ~$25,000 car, and something where to become of it, and insurance did not cover a respray.....I don't think I can come to terms dropping ~$4,000 cash for a standard respray. And you ask...resale price...well, I drive my cars for years and years, and the in person random Joe parking lot responses are overwhelming thumbs up(however for those in person who hate, don't vocal there negative responses to my face, and sure plenty hate it but keep to them selves)...so a resale would not be a problem....in fact may make the sale.

**UNEXPECTED RESULTS*

I really did not know what to expect in time or what immediate results may happen, so here you go:

• Road noise : What road noise? It's almost a uncomfortable position to be in, when your cruising @ 100 and the noise your used to is gone.

• Wind noise: It's not louder and would have to say quieter. Windows down, highway speeds, and blue-tooth ear piece...no problem.

• Temperature: Boy, talk about being cooler, especially in Arizona. 120F and your AC settings aren't any where working like they used to need to.

• Dirt: What dirt? It turned out a hella of a lot better then I wanted. I didn't know what to expect concerning dirt and dust. One year I only washed it twice....and that was only because of the brake dust on the rims...and bug splatter on the window. Nothing bonds or sticks to this stuff.

****ULTIMATELY THE BEST PART OF HAVING SUCH A FINISH****

Over all:

Over all the lack of dirt that adheres to the finish, Over all the lack of need to detail, Over all the durability, Over all everything that has made it worth it,

is........the Kodak facial expressions...boy...that there....makes it so worth it. Oh man, talk about good times..........talk about priceless .

***LASTLY***

-And needs to be addressed : This stuff is lighter then a paint job, secondly, just knock it off regarding weight, clicking off a 1/4 mile time isn't going to change because you have what amounts to the weight of a gallon of milk sitting on your passenger seat.

• I do not mind the, " I hope you get shot in the f-ing face and they light your car on fire your pathetic piece of garbage your fing........." If your going to do that, at least make it funny, stop being lazy and put some effort and creativity into your response. No one cares you think my car is garbage, they do care when you rip some one a new one and you have a good Caption This or good GIF response.

-Lastly, the intentions of my doing so, where not for attention. And purely functional and a situation to a bad economy and paying a $1,500 mortgage. All said, I do get a kick out of the Audi Fan Boys overwhelming disgust and ultimate anger to doing this to such a.....greatly desired cough cough car...was a staggering Blue Book Value of cough.......are you ready? $2,000! cough *cough

Enjoy!

I've always liked this car. It really is a cool concept, and you did it well (and first?)

Big thumbs up from me

That's bedliner?

I think I'm gonna try this on the T/A

Shawn

mtn wrote: I've always liked this car. It really is a cool concept, and you did it well (and first?) Big thumbs up from me

+1. Thanks for the write up.

Love it, and thanks for the update.

I like the less shiny version with the cream wheels best. Awesome spit in the face to the shiny guys, especially with an Audi.

the audi guys need that kick in the face sometimes. I have met a few at shows and they are worse than the BMW folks.

While I would not do it to the outside of a car.. It might make a really good undercoating

I love it... it's different, and very functional.

Thanks for the detailed writeup, you were part of the inspiration of our XR4's paint job, we almost went with bed liner, but due to cost we went with single stage poly over terrible bodywork rolled on in a garage, the result, amazing for $35 worth of paint and $8 worth of thinner and a couple hours each night for a week. You are an inspiration!

I love this. Got an 80 quattro with a turbo and a bunch of mods. Unfortunately it came with a maaco paint job that chips if you look at it wrong. After 5 years it faded and just looks like crap. Not worth putting a good paint on, really don't want another disposable paint job either. This sounds like a great option. Two questions. Given how easily the current paint chips do I need to sand that off? I have never used a spray gun, can you provide some details on the process? Where, what equipment, etc?

do you get better gas mileage like the dimpled car on mythbusters?

looks cool. sounds like it would be excellent on my plow truck.

Love it. I have a $500 Outback that I'm thinking of doing this too. I wonder if I could get a tinted bedliner in the classic Subaru green/ten combo?

no paint chips because it already looks like its got tons of paint chips anyway.

an acquired taste

"By all means this is a professional product and only available via license and not for the public (however you can still obtain it here and there). "

it's on ebay for $99 with the gun for the pic you posted, so its available to whoever wants it.

now considering doing the 40 and the 42 in it.

Meh, sorta interesting in concept. I've seen quite a few done with the rock crawler crowd. Collects dust and dirt like crazy. Looks like it was nearly all the prep of a regular paint job - actually two paint jobs.

oldtin wrote: Meh, sorta interesting in concept. I've seen quite a few done with the rock crawler crowd. Collects dust and dirt like crazy. Looks like it was nearly all the prep of a regular paint job - actually two paint jobs.

But how much was the total cost?

part 4 should be testing it in a Cleveland winter and then getting back to us, I'll take mine olive drab

Not really my cup-o-tea, but it does look pretty cool, and I'm all for "new and different" on an older car because...eh, it's an older car!! If you can't do funky things to it, then what's the point?

I had the lower half of my old XJ done in bedliner and it was indeed practically bulletproof I'd say ..

I'm thinking about doing the entire interior of a...new project car I'm probably getting tomorrow....in place of upholstery, etc...with bedliner. Outside, for cheap, I find that 3 cans of matte black rattle-can looks good from just a few feet away and I constantly get complemented on the "custom" paint job that cost me a grand total of about 10 bucks. The vintage car purists hate it

That, and rock chips, scratches are taken care of by the half-can of spraypaint I still have leftover, lol...

Hello guys, here are some answers:

porschenut . Given how easily the current paint chips do I need to sand that off? I have never used a spray gun, can you provide some details on the process? Where, what equipment, etc?

As they say a million times, it's in the prep work. Honeslty, you could probably spray the entire car as is but really you shouldn't do that. Really, spend a couple hours on a lazy Sunday with $10 of sandpaper and/or a cheap $10 Haborfrieght paint stripper attachment (connects to drill to remove the loose paint). You can spray this in your garage, front lawn or driveway. Other then the product, you need:

Really, you couldn't really mess up if you tried, becuase if you did....lol....you wouldn't see it. But please, don't be sloppy and ghetto, don't be lazy, and do spend a day carefully masking the windows and seals...and for gods sake remove your emblems, headlights, taillights, etc.

patgizz do you get better gas mileage like the dimpled car on mythbusters

I wish I took measurments, however I changed turbos, so would of really known.

speedblind I wonder if I could get a tinted bedliner in the classic Subaru green/ten combo?

ANY COLOR! 2 ways, you get the tintable bedliner (does not come with color, just it's tintable as you add tint/color) and pour in any color you want, it changes the liner to that color perfectly, the second, spray the liner, then paint over the top of your choice.The best way to do it, is tint the liner the color you are going to spray, then spray it the same color over the top...just as if anything where ever to ever happen...it would still be the same shade underneath.

mtn UltraDork

But how much was the total cost?

As I did the entire car, all door jams, all interior doors, entire trunk, under hood, engine bay, with the acutall paint job and clear ~$500-$600 tops. If you did just the outside of a car, ~$200 plus what ever masking tape, paper, tarps

I didn't realize that the paint job would be that light. I guess I was expecting something closer to Rhino Liner or something.

In reply to irish44j:

irish, stop posting pics of that car. It makes me want mine back.

And that's a serious problem for me because I might know where it is (and SWMBO sez no more until I get the Alfa running/driving).

In reply to TheA1andA2German:

Thanks for the post, man! I like the car. I didn't realize you could actually change the color of that stuff. I think I'll keep my black Corrado shiny, even though that'll mean another Maaco job in its future...but the green one may go HPDE toy. I wonder if I can find a tint to match the original C6U.

I like alot

I really like the uproar that this caused in the audi community. Personally I like it, I would live to see the rims with colored bedliner but a polished face on all the outward surfaces, it would be one way to carry the theme without having the whole rim painted.

Hope to see you around Phx!

patgizz wrote: now considering doing the 40 and the 42 in it.

Do it. It would be bad ass