Full Vinyl Wrap Project -- Input and tips appreciated
Took the suggestion to practice on items lol. I only had a small sample piece of 3M CF from like a year ago....
Learnt that CF shouldn't be stretched or it gets all distorted (cup)... You'd think thats common sense but I did not know that... So when I am doing the hood later on tonight or tomorrow I'll try to strtch it as little as possible.
Learnt that CF shouldn't be stretched or it gets all distorted (cup)... You'd think thats common sense but I did not know that... So when I am doing the hood later on tonight or tomorrow I'll try to strtch it as little as possible.
Last edited by rollaspeed1; Jul 24, 2014 at 01:40 PM.
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Took the suggestion to practice on items lol. I only had a small sample piece of 3M CF from like a year ago....
Learnt that CF shouldn't be stretched or it gets all distorted (cup)... You'd think thats common sense but I did not know that... So when I am doing the hood later on tonight or tomorrow I'll try to strtch it as little as possible.
Learnt that CF shouldn't be stretched or it gets all distorted (cup)... You'd think thats common sense but I did not know that... So when I am doing the hood later on tonight or tomorrow I'll try to strtch it as little as possible.
https://www.3mcustomerinsight.com/R.aspx?a=3796
Here is a good video from 3M when dealing with textured vinyls. This definitely applies to carbon fiber. Hope this helps you out. You really shouldn't have to stretch it much for a hood though. By the way, from your username, are you from Rolla, Mo? Just wondering since I am in St. Louis.
https://www.3mcustomerinsight.com/R.aspx?a=3796
https://www.3mcustomerinsight.com/R.aspx?a=3796
Thank you for the great tips so far. Fingers crossed on getting the CF delivered today so I can do it tonight. And I'll be sure to check out the video after work.
If you have any nicks in your clear coat you need to touch them up before you wrap. Infinti paint in my opinion is crap. Its way too soft. If you have any clear coat blemishes the clear can & most likely will peel off when you re-position the vinyl. This happened to my on my hood. I had 1 small nick in the clear coat where the hood rubbed the fender, while repositioning the vinyl it peeled the clear off like it was nothing.
Also having a 2nd person to help hold the material is a plus, if your working solo make sure to get some vinyl car magnets to assist holding vinyl in place. It can be done solo but your time required almost tripples. With a second set of hands wrapping things like doors, hoods, trunks are a cake walk!
Also having a 2nd person to help hold the material is a plus, if your working solo make sure to get some vinyl car magnets to assist holding vinyl in place. It can be done solo but your time required almost tripples. With a second set of hands wrapping things like doors, hoods, trunks are a cake walk!
If you have any nicks in your clear coat you need to touch them up before you wrap. Infinti paint in my opinion is crap. Its way too soft. If you have any clear coat blemishes the clear can & most likely will peel off when you re-position the vinyl. This happened to my on my hood. I had 1 small nick in the clear coat where the hood rubbed the fender, while repositioning the vinyl it peeled the clear off like it was nothing.
Also having a 2nd person to help hold the material is a plus, if your working solo make sure to get some vinyl car magnets to assist holding vinyl in place. It can be done solo but your time required almost tripples. With a second set of hands wrapping things like doors, hoods, trunks are a cake walk!
Also having a 2nd person to help hold the material is a plus, if your working solo make sure to get some vinyl car magnets to assist holding vinyl in place. It can be done solo but your time required almost tripples. With a second set of hands wrapping things like doors, hoods, trunks are a cake walk!
Thank you. Infiniti paint IS crap lol. But I think my clear cost is fine. Btw I do have magnets coming.
OK so my order of 5ft x 10ft of CF is here along with everything I need. I'll be starting in about 5 hours. So I figured, I'll measure the hood, mark and cut the wrap to size with some to spare, wash/prep/degrease the area, lay the sheet, then with a helper I'll peel off the backing, stretch manually and lay it down dry. I'll then spray some soapy water on top of the wrap and start squeegeeing from the middle down. I'll keep heat and stretch to the minimum and won't use primer or edge sealer except for the final points UNDER the hood for some extra grip. Once its all done, I'll hit the whole thing with a heat gun to make it stick nicely. Am I missing anything?
Last edited by rollaspeed1; Jul 24, 2014 at 05:44 PM.
Thank you. Infiniti paint IS crap lol. But I think my clear cost is fine. Btw I do have magnets coming.
OK so my order of 5ft x 10ft of CF is here along with everything I need. I'll be starting in about 5 hours. So I figured, I'll measure the hood, mark and cut the wrap to size with some to spare, wash/prep/degrease the area, lay the sheet, then with a helper I'll peel off the backing, stretch manually and lay it down dry. I'll then spray some soapy water on top of the wrap and start squeegeeing from the middle down. I'll keep heat and stretch to the minimum and won't use primer or edge sealer except for the final points UNDER the hood for some extra grip. Once its all done, I'll hit the whole thing with a heat gun to make it stick nicely. Am I missing anything?
OK so my order of 5ft x 10ft of CF is here along with everything I need. I'll be starting in about 5 hours. So I figured, I'll measure the hood, mark and cut the wrap to size with some to spare, wash/prep/degrease the area, lay the sheet, then with a helper I'll peel off the backing, stretch manually and lay it down dry. I'll then spray some soapy water on top of the wrap and start squeegeeing from the middle down. I'll keep heat and stretch to the minimum and won't use primer or edge sealer except for the final points UNDER the hood for some extra grip. Once its all done, I'll hit the whole thing with a heat gun to make it stick nicely. Am I missing anything?
Did it by myself. Didn't do a very good job but learnt why. Didn't heart enough in the beginning and melted the vinyl in 2 places. Overall, is a success for the first time. Also, I played around with leftovers after. You'll see.
Last edited by rollaspeed1; Jul 25, 2014 at 12:27 PM.
After being parked in the sun for a few hours most imperfections disappeared. II'lltake a needle to the rest. Still have 47x50 left, maybe for the trunk. The rest comes in Tuesday.
I'm writing from my phone but also wanted to let you know you can clear coat over the vinyl to make it glossy and a darker black. I can post some pics of some fenders I did a while back if you want. They were cleared after the wrap.
Post them! Does it protect the vinyl from the sun? Does it make removal harder?
It removes just the same but you have to be careful about overspray if your doing it on the car. I did these while they were off the customers scooter.
3m dinoc uncleared
Cleared:
In the sun, cleared:
Customer installed Pics on a shady day, if there was direct light on them the color and pattern would really pop, really not a good example of installed pics to be honest.
The big thing with clearing the material is it has to be done after its wrapped & you need to do wet coats. If you do too thin a coat the material gets a weird dry look when its done drying. I do 1-2 wet coats. You may notice the clear looks white when you spray it and the CF pattern is gone completely however once it drys it makes the cf look more a dark black and the pop of the cf is multiplied. You loose that any angle cf dry look and gain a glossy dark black w/tons of pop at angles cf look. You will want to test on a spare piece first as I have only cleared di-noc materials but I love the effect it gives them. I have more examples but they are all paintball related smaller wrapped items. I wrap car stuff but just really by word of mouth so a lot of small interior stuff, scooter stuff etc. I have not tackled a whole car wrap, just hood, roofs & trunks. I do a lot more paintball related wraps than anything. I feel like plasti dip would be cheaper/easier if I wanted to change the color of the car completely and wanted a satin or matte color finish. For gloss wrap would definitely be the only option.
3m dinoc uncleared
Cleared:
In the sun, cleared:
Customer installed Pics on a shady day, if there was direct light on them the color and pattern would really pop, really not a good example of installed pics to be honest.
The big thing with clearing the material is it has to be done after its wrapped & you need to do wet coats. If you do too thin a coat the material gets a weird dry look when its done drying. I do 1-2 wet coats. You may notice the clear looks white when you spray it and the CF pattern is gone completely however once it drys it makes the cf look more a dark black and the pop of the cf is multiplied. You loose that any angle cf dry look and gain a glossy dark black w/tons of pop at angles cf look. You will want to test on a spare piece first as I have only cleared di-noc materials but I love the effect it gives them. I have more examples but they are all paintball related smaller wrapped items. I wrap car stuff but just really by word of mouth so a lot of small interior stuff, scooter stuff etc. I have not tackled a whole car wrap, just hood, roofs & trunks. I do a lot more paintball related wraps than anything. I feel like plasti dip would be cheaper/easier if I wanted to change the color of the car completely and wanted a satin or matte color finish. For gloss wrap would definitely be the only option.
Last edited by digital sol; Jul 26, 2014 at 03:39 PM.