Will soon be to the paint stage, have been having a difficult time finding a good paint shop. I have begun looking at wraps for cars, has anyone used them? If so, what product did you use, are they precut, or did you shape and cut yourself? Any and all feedback is appreciated, Thx, byron

 

I have been wondering the same thing, I know of a lot of people who have wrapped trucks but never a 3rd gen. On trucks I know it is pretty expensive, I wonder how much it would be for a small car...

 

I don't know the cost, the cost of the product is not prohibitive, however the labor cost is high. I have done a few wraps on consoles etc, I might try a few other odds and end jobs to work on bending/smoothing. I might go at it myself. Thx byron

 

I do window tint and vinyl professionally. More tint than vinyl though. I'm sure there is precut patterns, I have a machine at my work where ya put in the make, model and year, sometimes it has patterns. I never use it though, its a waste, since to contour to corners and bends, it has to be heated with a heatgun and stretched.

As far as brand, don't go cheap. Go 3m, or a higher end Avery line. I use almost exclusively 3m, but use higher end Avery when 3m isn't available. The rolls aren't expensive, you'd only need a 60" x25' roll, which, depending on color and pattern, should be around 300 before shipping. That will leave you with extra as well, for when you mess up. When, not if.

I can answer any questions ya have to the best of my knowledge.

As someone else said, the price of the material isnt that high, its labor. Not terribly hard, just very tedious and time consuming. Actually a third gen would probably be one of the easier cars, since theres not a whole lot of curves.

To do it yourself, you'd need the material, a hard card squeegee,
A spray bottle with baby soap (like Johnson and Johnson. One bottle will do more than a whole car), a general spray cleaner (I use ammonia free window cleaner), a heat gun (not a hairdryer..)a degreaser, and an alcohol spray, plus a buddy to help with larger panels. I use ppg multi-prep and also a clay bar, but that isn't really worth it for a one time deal. Make sure you're doing it indoors, in a low dust environment. The cleaner the better.

The process is straight forward. Using a hood for example. Wash your whole car, just use soap ans water. No wax. Remove any removable inserts in the hood. Spray with general cleaner and wipe it off, just to get all the big dirt off.
If you have a clay bar, then clay bar the panel as well. Then go over it with a degreaser, wipe it off.

Then go over it with your alcohol/prep spray, and wipe it quickly.

Now, spray the hood with a light-medium coat of slip solution (spray bottle with maybe half a spoonful of baby soap and water. Just barely enough soap to let the film move some).

The actual install process, I would just YouTube it. I could try explaining, but it makes more sense to actually see it.

 

Dixie, thank you for your explanation, much appreciated. On your hard squeegee do you put some type of padding on it? On the you tube vids, looks like some type of a Velcro strip?. Thx byron

 

Velco would absolutely destroy vinyl. The one that is use is this, but I wrap it in a microfiber cloth.



There are ones like this


That have a soft edge, but I find they aren't that great. I get better results and less scratching from just a normal squeegee with a microfiber towel

 

I have ordered in some samples for the color I will do the car in (if I take that route), I will start with the mirrors, it that works I will be able to do the rest of the car. And, have the most difficult part completed. Thanks, byron

 

The mirrors on a third gen would definitely be the most difficult, followed by (depending on the year and style) the nose. Most everything else is mostly straight panels, which are easy peasy.
Take them off though. Trying to do mirrors while on the car is far more of a P.I.t.a., especially with our mirrors being so close to the door.

Another thing that will help, but definitely isn't mandatory, is edge sealer.

It's used to, as the name implies, seal the edges. Use it where you tuck the ends of the film, in areas that will see lots of water, dirt..etc. Such as fender wells, under the car, under the bumpers..etc. Don't use it on a visible surface, it CAN take some paint with when removed.

The mirrors are just tedious. Lots of heat, stretch, anchor, heat, stretch, anchor, peel some, heat..etc. Removing the trim pieces that go along the middle of the fender, door..will help get a little cleaner finish, at the expense of more time. Vinyl is similar to paint, in that the better you prep everything and more time you spend, the better it will come out.

 

Dixie, with your experience, if using 3M 1080, what would be the life expectancy of the vinyl in a car that is only driven in fair weather and always garaged be? Thx b

 

The 1080 scotchprint series is actually the main series I use, I really like that type. Typically, vinyl lasts about 5 years, daily driven, Bout 3, and upwards of 7, POSSIBLY more for a garage queen. For a weekend cruiser that's garaged, I would say 7 years would be quite possible

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...-not-wrap.html

 

Dead bird, great article, thank you for sharing. Regards, byron