Started the Vinyl process on my Hood on Monday.... It went pretty well, I learned a few things and got a groove for it. It's definately not for the faint at heart, but it works and looks cool. I bought gloss black vinyl but in reality it looks more like a Satin black. In the pics it looks slightly more glossy but it's Satin.
One thing is, IT"S VERY TIME CONSUMING. it took me 2 hours to do the hood. Here's the pics
When I started, my hood looked like this: Black Rustoleum wet sanded and smooth, with the exception of the drivers side light lid You lay it half on starting from the middle and squeegy it out towards the ends. Have it laid here but not all the bubles worked out GOt it laid, 95% of the bubbles out, stretched a little where I had to. I continued throughout the day watching it for bubbles and re-heating corners that might have come up after it sat. I drove it to work today. Looks better after a day of sitting and laying down more.
THe one thing, if there are any un-smooth imperfections on your the body below it, it will show through. I am going to re-do the driverside headlight cover due to rough paint under the vinyl..... BUT it's one and really cool looking. Gonna get some more and start doing the rest of the car. BUT in my case I need to wet sand the rest of the body to get the trash out of the paint to lay the vinyl down nice. I could leave it and cover it but then it looks like a bad paint job with trash all in it and that's what I'm trying to get away from.
I emailed the guy I bought it from and asked if he might have sent the wrong kind..... We will see. It's easy to re-do, just time consuming. It's kinda fun to do. Like painting real quickly with less prep.
I used to work with vinyl for a living, even did many a wrap.
I am thinking of doing my GT in flat black this summer.
A couple pieces of advice, there are some great vinyls out there for vehicle wraps, much more forgiving than the older stuff (Cast vs Calendered and 2mil vs 3 mil thickness), make sure you are getting the correct kind. 3M make great vinyls but so do other companies such as AVERY. Ask the vendor for what they would sell for complete wraps. Often they have vinyls that have "conform" technology and air channels so bubbles are almost a non issue these days.
Get a good vinyl installers "squeegee" and as you pointed out the surface of the substrate being overlayed must be immaculate. a good idea is to wipe the surface with 99% rubbing alcohol.
I believe there is another "sign shop" guy that contributes to the site, he may have some suggestions as well.
I used to work with vinyl for a living, even did many a wrap.
I am thinking of doing my GT in flat black this summer.
A couple pieces of advice, there are some great vinyls out there for vehicle wraps, much more forgiving than the older stuff (Cast vs Calendered and 2mil vs 3 mil thickness), make sure you are getting the correct kind. 3M make great vinyls but so do other companies such as AVERY. Ask the vendor for what they would sell for complete wraps. Often they have vinyls that have "conform" technology and air channels so bubbles are almost a non issue these days.
Get a good vinyl installers "squeegee" and as you pointed out the surface of the substrate being overlayed must be immaculate. a good idea is to wipe the surface with 99% rubbing alcohol.
I believe there is another "sign shop" guy that contributes to the site, he may have some suggestions as well.
oh and looking good so far!!
Thanks, yea the guy just responded back about the color. He said he has a glossier version from 3m. This is 3m material, but the other is called Oracal black, it is glossier. I like the black that I have, although I was intending on it being glossier. It will be more of a Satin black than a gloss, but actually the further you step away the glossier it looks. Kinda strange. But either way I will get a solid durable color on the car for the next 5-8 years. Don't think I will keep it that long but it should preserve the car for whom ever has it when I ever I decide to get rid of it.
The stretch of it is pretty good. Can pull it about 2" before it discolors. Found that out the hard way. Past 2" it will break as well. ------------------ Car Thread: 86 GT https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...ML/085541.html
[This message has been edited by jwrape (edited 03-14-2012).]
The down side could be stone chips. It will be interesting. What is the thickness? I have 3M clear protective film on the front of one vehicle, but that stuff is pretty thick.
The down side could be stone chips. It will be interesting. What is the thickness? I have 3M clear protective film on the front of one vehicle, but that stuff is pretty thick.
Is your whole car gonna be black or are you doing any graphics, or different colors? Seems this is perfect for graphics they could print them on the vinyl just like the advertisement cars ya see driving around.
The pontiac lettering on the headlight door will be too small for it to sink into?
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 03-14-2012).]
Get a good vinyl installers "squeegee" and as you pointed out the surface of the substrate being overlayed must be immaculate. a good idea is to wipe the surface with 99% rubbing alcohol.
Where can you buy 99% Isopropyl alcohol? Highest I've seen is 91% at Walgreens in here in the states.
quote
Originally posted by newf:
oh and looking good so far!!
^This! Though I did love your gunmetal paint job, at least from your pictures. Though I do know what you mean when you say it was a 10 footer, as mine is a 10-15 footer itself and I would love to re-paint it.
Where can you buy 99% Isopropyl alcohol? Highest I've seen is 91% at Walgreens in here in the states.
Electronics supply stores for one... It's used for cleaning circuit boards and such. Doesn't leave a residue like the stuff you buy in the store that has skin conditioners or whatever in it. It's a "bit" more expensive than the store stuff though.
[This message has been edited by Riceburner98 (edited 03-14-2012).]
I had mine done by a local company. For my next one I will do a better job preping. After several weeks of being my daily driver there have been no problems.
Maybe I missed it but what's the point to wrapping it? I would do it in a heartbeat if a sponsor was paying me, but on my own not so much.
I get to put a durable straight color on the car the is rock chip resistant and although my car looks good the color it is, there are tons of chips where the factory RED comes through the gray and the gray also has tons of trash as well as being very uneven. This gives me a even solid color and will look clean and newer. I want the car to be clean and not look like a 25 yr old car.. EDIT: Oh and it will be about $2500 less than a real paint job. I never wanted to spend $3000 on a $1500 car. Doesn't seem reasonable. Rather put the other money into upgrades otherwise.
[This message has been edited by jwrape (edited 03-15-2012).]
I had mine done by a local company. For my next one I will do a better job preping. After several weeks of being my daily driver there have been no problems.
Where are your seems? I am doing my best not to have seems but it does look like I will have two seems on the roof since it is one continuous panel from the side up to the roof. The rest will be seemless.
I am can only afford to do a solid color. Although I might add some Carbon Fiber on the Mirrors, hood and Deck, just for a slight contrast. But can remove it if I don't like it.
I had mine done by a local company. For my next one I will do a better job preping. After several weeks of being my daily driver there have been no problems.
Where can you buy 99% Isopropyl alcohol? Highest I've seen is 91% at Walgreens in here in the states.
99% is not a necessity, 91% would work as well, just something to take any grease or contaminants off. I've used Methyl Hydrate and other high alcohol type cleaners.
Where are your seems? I am doing my best not to have seems but it does look like I will have two seems on the roof since it is one continuous panel from the side up to the roof. The rest will be seemless.
I am can only afford to do a solid color. Although I might add some Carbon Fiber on the Mirrors, hood and Deck, just for a slight contrast. But can remove it if I don't like it.
A couple of small seams on the pillars shouldn't be too noticable. Your biggest challenge in my opinion is going to be doing your front and rear bumper, convex curves can be very tricky especially if you are not using a premium vinyl.
[This message has been edited by newf (edited 03-15-2012).]
A couple of small seems on the pillars shouldn't be too noticable. Your biggest challenge in my opinion is going to be doing your front and rear bumper, convex curves can be very tricky especially if you are not using a premium vinyl.
It will be slightly more challenging but the vinyl I'm using is 3M. It should take it and work out well. Although I have not tried it yet, I have seen it done a few times. It's not too bad. The Fiero front end is really not a super challenging front end compared to others I've seen.
Yea, a couple of Pillar seems were what I was thinking as well. Shouldn't be very obivous. Mayeb 12" away you can see them, but not too much further away.
It will be slightly more challenging but the vinyl I'm using is 3M. It should take it and work out well. Although I have not tried it yet, I have seen it done a few times. It's not too bad. The Fiero front end is really not a super challenging front end compared to others I've seen.
Yea, a couple of Pillar seems were what I was thinking as well. Shouldn't be very obivous. Mayeb 12" away you can see them, but not too much further away.
I like the confidence!! Good luck man, let us know how you make out, with pics of course.
I like the idea of vinyl you can get a custom look for a fraction of the cost and if you have a accident the graphics can be repaird to good as new if you store all the info . I wish i had the artistic tallent to design paint scheems i think that one could develop the skills to wrapp the vehicle all though i will say some are better than others doing thing's
This is a nice alternative to paint. I would entice the idea of doing this myself. Jwrape, where did you get your vinyl from? Does O'Reilly's carry it?
This is a nice alternative to paint. I would entice the idea of doing this myself. Jwrape, where did you get your vinyl from? Does O'Reilly's carry it?
No, it's not sold at local stores. I got it off Ebay, but there are sign stores and custom stores that sell it.
I had mine done by a local company. For my next one I will do a better job preping. After several weeks of being my daily driver there have been no problems.
Wow i like this idea. How much would it cost to maybe get a vehicle wrapping place to do it. Like the ones that do the wraps for businesses.
From what I have heard/read, it's $2000-$3000 to have it done. If you take the leap of faith and do it yourself, the material is about $450-$500 for a standard color. Designs are more from what I have read.
I am sure you can get it a little cheaper around town if you shop it, but it's not cheap to have it done for you due to the labor involved. Very Labor intensive. Took me about 1.5 or 2 hours to do the hood, but then again it would get a little quicker as you get used to it, but you still have to work it until the bubbles and creases are gone.
I'm buying it one piece at a time. A 60"x60" piece at a time. Cost $54 shipped for plain black or Matte Silver. Depending upon the color the cost goes up. I am really going for the cheapest wrap out there and will add a little Carbon fiber for accents, but not too much. I'm not a HUGE Carbon Fiber fan but I like it when it's toned down and simple.
The Matte Black and the Carbon Fiber are the cheapest wraps because they sell more of them than the other colors. My hood is "called" Gloss black but it's more of a Satin.
I would say the only thing I didn't realize was the finger prints that you have to wipe off every time you touch it. But other than that, I love just looking at it. Looks like you have a coating on the car and it's really durable.
Metro has the chrome but it is only 2 ft wide so if you make your seams at trim level on the sides you can make it look all right and cover the othe seams with racing stripes it could be done for about $600 i think http://www.metrorestyling.com/
[This message has been edited by engine man (edited 03-17-2012).]
Metro has the chrome but it is only 2 ft wide so if you make your seams at trim level on the sides you can make it look all right and cover the othe seams with racing stripes it could be done fore about $600 i think http://www.metrorestyling.com/
Yea, that's rich folk Wrap. I'm cheap as they come, LOL
Also, I may have missed it but where did you get your wrap from? Which product is it specifically? I like the satin look it has. Should be really nice when you finish it.
[This message has been edited by GraterFang (edited 03-29-2012).]
