DIY:JDM style Dipstick

[infiniti_4_life]

Hey everyone, this is my first DIY, let me know how you like it. To start off, I finally got sick and tired of the eye sore that is my dipstick. Instead of buying a real JDM dipstick for that bling bling effect (and have it read the oil level incorrectly) I decided to do one better... Here it goes.

First you have to clean the dipstick and the area to be painted. There are many ways to do this. You could: Remove loose paint, dirt, grease. scuff/sand, wash with soap and water, rinse well and dry with a clean cloth... OR you can clean it my way, with a splash of brake cleaner and a paper towel.

Next you have to mask off the part of the dipstick that you do not want to paint. I suggest NOT painting any part of the stick that goes into the dipstick hole. Basically any part that will come in contact with oil. The oil will eat away the paint and become contaminated (you do not want this)

Here's mine after I taped up the lower part.


Here is the paint that I'll be using. Its a low gloss high temp engine paint.


After a few coats. I suggest applying very lite coats every 10-15 min to prevent the paint from becoming runny in between coats.


Remove the tape carefully after the last coat of paint, before it dries so its easy to remove (I did 3 coats just for fun, but 2 are enough)


Paint dries to the touch in an hour, and can be handled in 3 hours with 24 hour full cure time. Now the before and after pics.

Before


After, the paint is shiny because it has not fully dried.


THE K20!!! Pardon the Amsoil syntec


And there you go, now you can say you that have the JDM dipstick!
Thanks you, thank you

[infiniti_4_life]

40+ views and no "Nice DIY" comments!?!

[krytikal]

+1 for effort lol

[infiniti_4_life]

Originally Posted by krytikal

+1 for effort lol

effort my a$$! JDM dipstick yo! j/k

[WhiteSicivic06]

I bought the JDM dipstick. I mean, for a cheap DIY it doesnt look bad, but when people look at my motor and say, " ha, I see ya got the JDM dipstick" and can look them in the eye and say "yes. I sure do" as compared to, "No, I just painted it".

[infiniti_4_life]

Originally Posted by WhiteSicivic06

I bought the JDM dipstick. I mean, for a cheap DIY it doesnt look bad, but when people look at my motor and say, " ha, I see ya got the JDM dipstick" and can look them in the eye and say "yes. I sure do" as compared to, "No, I just painted it".

You have a good point there, but its just a dipstick. I have the JDM valve cover tho, and I can smile and be proud of that even with the painted dipstick. I'd rather put the money towards other more productive parts.

[WhiteSicivic06]

True, but the dipstick isnt that much money at all. Id just rather do it right the first time. Last time I painted plastic pieces was on my 97 civic dx. I told myself, no more painting!

[krytikal]

Originally Posted by WhiteSicivic06

True, but the dipstick isnt that much money at all. Id just rather do it right the first time. Last time I painted plastic pieces was on my 97 civic dx. I told myself, no more painting!

the worst is when people start spraying interior parts like vents and stuff

[DatBigDude]

the jdm dipstick isnt any cooler then a painted one... its plastic lol. nice diy!!! lol

[infiniti_4_life]

Originally Posted by WhiteSicivic06

True, but the dipstick isnt that much money at all. Id just rather do it right the first time. Last time I painted plastic pieces was on my 97 civic dx. I told myself, no more painting!

Painting can be tricky, but if done right, I think Honda wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a JDM dipstick and a painted one... Without looking at the length of the stick that is.

Originally Posted by DatBigDude

the jdm dipstick isnt any cooler then a painted one... its plastic lol. nice diy!!! lol

Well its JDM, of course its cooler. I'd get any available JDM parts for my SI, because its major bling points but the dipstick is not one of them.

[WhiteSicivic06]

Originally Posted by krytikal

the worst is when people start spraying interior parts like vents and stuff

yeah that is the worst!!! Definantely looks like crap! Haha and i'll even admidt, my last civic I painted all the vents a light blue! haha BAAAARF!

[trickyazn]

its a never ending trend.. if jdm dipstick was orange we'd paint it orange.. if it was black.. we'd paint it black.

just for that jdm name..

[infiniti_4_life]

Originally Posted by trickyazn

its a never ending trend.. if jdm dipstick was orange we'd paint it orange.. if it was black.. we'd paint it black.

just for that jdm name..

I have to disagree. The reason I painted mine black was because it was a big yellow eye sore in my engine bay. If our dipsticks came in black, and the JDM one was orange I would not want to buy it. Its ugly IMO. I wanted a cleaner looking engine bay...

[trickyazn]

most who wants a black dipstick is getting it for the jdm name, 90% imo.

i like the dipstick orange, looks good.

[darkrom]

Originally Posted by trickyazn

most who wants a black dipstick is getting it for the jdm name, 90% imo.

i like the dipstick orange, looks good.

I'll admit I want it black just for JDM factor. With the small sh!t why not? It when you start spending hundreds of dollars for JDM parts that dont perform OR look better that matter. The dipstick I dunno what I am gunna do. Definately not getting one that doesn't do its job just to be JDM lol. Maybe I will paint it. If there is a JDM one that reads correctly and is reasonably priced, I would rather do that. Either way I hate the orange color. Even if orange was JDM and we had black I dunno if I would want orange. Who knows the JDM inside me might make me use crappy colors to be JDM. We shall see.

[maxxnitro88]

doesn't the jdm dipstick also read wrong? like when u are at the bottom hole of the jdm u are actually at the top hole on the usdm?

[trickyazn]

reads differently not wrong.

[agentgordon27]

You can actually take a center punch and make it read the same as a USDM one. I think the orange looks like crap next to the red valve cover but fine on the silver. I want to get the black dipstick. Sold out at PWJDM, looking elsewhere...

[agentgordon27]

Good gaawd I just saw when the last post was... oops

[db8typer]

Originally Posted by agentgordon27

You can actually take a center punch and make it read the same as a USDM one. I think the orange looks like crap next to the red valve cover but fine on the silver. I want to get the black dipstick. Sold out at PWJDM, looking elsewhere...

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