OKAY! I mentioned on a thread about painting the downtubes that engine paint is ruthlessly resilient. So tonight, with my car in shambles, I pulled off the gas cap and sprayed it with Rust-o-lium Engine Primer. It isn't dry yet, but even at this stage, it is far more of a success than Krylon Fusion, Plastidip, or any thing else I have tried with and without adhesion promoter. I predict that with paint atop it, and a clear coat, it may well work better than anything short of vinyl. I'll keep you guys posted, but even at this point, I really had to scratch at it to get it to peel, and even then, it was quite minimal.

 

I sanded, primed then painted my cap with Duplicolor black "bumper and trim" paint 4 years ago and it is still perfect.

 

I didn't try that on the MINI, but had on something in the past, but I cannot recall what. After all night to dry, a second coat, a scratch test, and reprimer, It's almost as rugged as most paint on any other part. Gonna paint it tonight when the last coat of primer dries, if I can manage it between trick or treaters. HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! I'll keep you posted.

 

Plastic-Dip worked fine for me! Has been holding up nicely and I like the texture and look of it.

 

Just as a follow-up, I abused it as much as I was willing to, and there was no peeling or chipping.

 

Sounds good. I used plastidip about a year ago on the gascap/scoop/scuttles/headlight rings and it has been holding up great so far but if it starts to go down hill I may give this a shot. Any pics?

 

A long time ago I had a Wrangler. The previous owner had installed chrome brush guards, grille, head/tail light cages... The works. I sprayed over it with Dupli-Color Truck Bed Liner. It wore like iron wrapped in carbon fiber and dipped in titanium. I rammed a guard rail, bent the 3" chromoly tubing. Not a chip or scratch. Yet the same stuff didn't last 10 minutes on the gas lid. This seems to work. My only complaint would be that it was a bit higher gloss than I'd hoped. But, after a break-in and subsequent annihilation of my dashboard, it will be a while before I can really road test it, or you know, drive it at all. The pics were taken with my iPhone. I didn't dare sneak into the bedroom at 3:00am to look for my digital camera and risk waking the sleeping beast. I mean, my beautiful girlfriend of four years (tomorrow).

As a general note, I didn't notice that the temp slipped to about 29 last night, and it really jacked up the adhesion on the plastic down tubes I was also painting. But it didn't seem to affect anything on the metal gas door.