Vinyl wrapping - help needed!

[andibell]

Morning folks,

My bonnet's in a bit of a state having been attacked by a flock of birds and their leavings and needs some TLC....  I'd like to have a try at vinyl wrapping it and maybe a couple other parts of the car, but having bought some vinyl and had a go myself 2 things have become abundantly clear:  (1) I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing and (2) This is a two man (person) job...

So; is there anyone out there that knows what they're doing who would be goodly enough to offer to lend me a hand?  I'm happy to travel or cover travel costs for someone to come to me and throw in a few beers and some eats.
Alternatively, if there are a few people who'd like to have a try at wrapping, I'd be happy to host a mini get-together at mine - break out the BBQ and make a day of it.

[AckersMR2]

Having successfully wrapped my motorbike panels I'd have a go, just too far away though  s:( s:(
I can offer these tips though
1 make sure your bonnet is spotlessly clean, any crap on the surface will show under the vinyl and look rubbish.
2 Leave about an inch overlap To wrap around the under side of the bonnet.
3 "Slowly Slowly Catchee Monkey"  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  Start with a corner nearest the windscreen, slowly start to peel off the backing and smooth it down onto the bonnet as you go with a cloth, making sure the vinyl is square over the bonnet before you start, you don't want to happily start sticking it down only to find as you get across to the other side it's off square and the vinyl doesn't cover the bonnet!
4 Don't worry too much about the crease in the bonnet where it raises to follow the shape of the lights, get the biggest flat area covered first.
5 As you get across to the crease press with the cloth into the creases as you peel the backing off, you dont want any air trapped in there.
6 If you need to lift it just carefully pull it up and warm it with a hair dryer, that will remove any creases and lay it back down.
7 Whilst using a hair dryer warm the overlap of the vinyl to make it stretchy and plyable and then pull it over the edge and stick it underneath.
8 If its hot probably no need to worry but once applied run the hair dyer over the whole bonnet to warm the vinyl which helps the sticky surface to go off.

Good luck.......  s:) s:)

[Mr X]

Hey, Ive done my whole car in vinyl, its easy (once you get the hang of it)
The panel MUST be spotless, the slightest piece of dust/grease and it all goes to pot! Use thinners, glue remover or anything that doesn't leave residue. If you're not bothered about the paintwork now is the time to fill and chips and wet+dry any scratches. Just make sure it's clean. This includes the back of the panel where the film folds round.
Leave as much as possible to fold over as the more you can the less chance it will peel back from the edges.
Place the section flat on the panel and put tape along the edges holding it down.
You want to peel off half a section. Fold it over half way, peal the film back and then cut it. Don't tear the backing as or you will put bits of paper/dust on the vinyl and start again.

Work from the middle to the outside using a card with cloth wrapped(I glued it). First work down/up to the edges then work across the panel. bumps/curves need to be done by heating it up with an hot air gun. Hair driers do not get it hot enough (altho anything helps). once you have gotten to the edge untape the other side, fold it back, remove the backing and do the same.

Only use the air gun as little as you can get away with! Stretching makes matte effects look blotchy and thins out gloss.

The reason you should start from the middle is to keep the film uniform and works best if you're doing a panel that's mirrored (hood, bonnet, bumper etc) . If you start from the left and go to the right its a lot harder to get good results.

Remember, the film will always want to go back to its original shape over time. try to do as little stretching as possible. Although, this is always needed.

Only other thing i can say is good luck, take lots of time, buy spare film (you will need it) and best prep you can do is the key!!!!

oh, and here is my shot:



good luck!

[wotugonado]

Hi, don't know if this 100 % applicable to vinyl wrap, but I'm a glazier by trade, and sometimes have to apply uv/obscure vinyl to glass. We always make sure as acker's said that the surface is totally clean an debris free then we liberally apply glass cleaner/ washing up liquid solution then put the vinyl on with backing tape removed and working from the middle outwards with a window squeegee pushing out all the liquid from under the wrap, in tight intricate areas we use a credit card, when happy with finish we dry out with a hairdryer, smoothing out any bubbles as we go.  Hopefully this may be of help to you, post up some pics after, I'd like to see finished result.

[AckersMR2]

I don't think vinyl wrap works with the soapy water method?

[wotugonado]

As I said not 100% sure it would work with vinyl wrap, might be worth playin around with an offcut first, because it would be easier than doing it dry and also allows you to lift and remove/reposition easily to get desired finish, I believe this is how they put tints on car windows too.

[andibell]

That looks absolutely mint! Almost exactly the look I'd like to go for, except possibly with the colours reversed.   s:D s:D

[andibell]

Thanks for all the advice guys; I watched a few videos, tutorials and read loads of (usual conflicting) advice on the web before I made my first attempt and it just all went to pot.  Bought about 3 times as much vinyl as I needed and used all of it.  All I ended up with was a sticky mess!

[Jay67]

if you need an extra pair of hands i'm off work for the next couple weeks, give me a shout if you plan on trying again  s:) s:)

[Mr X]

As I said not 100% sure it would work with vinyl wrap, might be worth playin around with an offcut first, because it would be easier than doing it dry and also allows you to lift and remove/reposition easily to get desired finish, I believe this is how they put tints on car windows too.

Soapy water doesn't work. Vinal is not the same as window tint and you will ruin the film... In fact, the more it sticks the better as you need it to stick to the contours of the panel.

Also, watch out for hot hands. Sweat also stops the film from sticking and then you have to try to evaporate it :/ I found this often didn't go well once it happens   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

[andibell]

if you need an extra pair of hands i'm off work for the next couple weeks, give me a shout if you plan on trying again  s:) s:)

Hi Jay.
That would be great, thanks. I'm between contracts so how's good in terms of free time for me too.
I'll investigate buying some vinyl and see what delivery times are like.

[AckersMR2]

Bought about 3 times as much vinyl as I needed and used all of it.  All I ended up with was a sticky mess!

Did you get the hump and screw it all up into a sticky ball and throw it across the garden?  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[andibell]

Bought about 3 times as much vinyl as I needed and used all of it.  All I ended up with was a sticky mess!

Did you get the hump and screw it all up into a sticky ball and throw it across the garden?  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Pretty much! But substitute garage for garden...   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Jay67]

if you need an extra pair of hands i'm off work for the next couple weeks, give me a shout if you plan on trying again  s:) s:)

Hi Jay.
That would be great, thanks. I'm between contracts so how's good in terms of free time for me too.
I'll investigate buying some vinyl and see what delivery times are like.

let me know when you've got another load of vinyl and we''ll pick a day   s:) s:)

[andibell]

let me know when you've got another load of vinyl and we''ll pick a day   s:) s:)

Just ordered a couple of sheets and some applicators - should arrive in the next few days so I'll drop you a PM when I know when they're coming.   s:D s:D  
Thanks again
Andrew

[andibell]

Well, what can I say...  Jay67   s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:    s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:    s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:   What a great guy and a true asset to this club, with a beautiful '2...  Gave up most of a day to help me wrap the bonnet.  Took some doing, even with two of us, but perseverance, determination and judicious use of the hot-air gun won out   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  By the ned of the day we'd turned a very messy, flaky, stone-chipped bonnet (which I forgot to take a before picture of) in to this:





It's not 100% perfect, but that's mostly down to how bad the surface underneath was and it's definitely 100% better than it was.  Flushed with success (and left over vinyl) we then set about wrapping random other pieces including:

Fuel filler cap and side scoops:





and then after Jay had left I decided to try and tackle the rear spats which have been sat in my garage for over a year.....





I'm very pleased with how well it all turned out - the pictures don't look anywhere near as good as the real thing.  I've got some headlight eyebrows which may get the treatment next and a rear diffuser on it's way to fill the gap between the exhausts oh and there's also one or two small children who'd look much better in carbon effect!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[trevsmr2]

Looks good ,like the vents ,want to do my hardtop?
curious on the rear diffuser ,got any pics

[Richard41]

That looks really nice.

[Anonymous]

Looks good ,like the vents ,want to do my hardtop?
curious on the rear diffuser ,got any pics

Is it the same as mine?   l viewtopic.php?f=8&t=38803&hilit= l

[andibell]

Looks good ,like the vents ,want to do my hardtop?
curious on the rear diffuser ,got any pics

Happy to lend a hand wrapping your hardtop if you'd like - once you get the hang of working with the wrap it's not too bad.  The rear spats were the hardest thing to do due to all the changes in curvature, I ended up using the wrap more like vacuform and heat shrinking it over them.

Diffuser is from a well known internet auction site and looks like this:

[andibell]

Looks good ,like the vents ,want to do my hardtop?
curious on the rear diffuser ,got any pics

Is it the same as mine?   l viewtopic.php?f=8&t=38803&hilit= l

No, but really like that one - where did you get it?  Same well known internet auction site?   s:D s:D   We really should have an abbreviation for that...  ebay, perhaps   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Jay67]

scoops and spats look great, did you have another go at the mirrors or are you saving them for another day?

[andibell]

scoops and spats look great, did you have another go at the mirrors or are you saving them for another day?

Decided they need to come off to do the job properly and at the moment need them attached to the car!   s:D s:D  Will do them at some point though as I think they'll look good.
Thanks again for all your help.

[Jay67]

Yeah I think that's gonna be the easiest way to do them and you're welcome, give me a shout if you ever need a hand with anything else  s:) s:)

[Patch]

Bonnet, spats n' scoops look REALLY nice...