I want to cover my Plywood rear sheelf with vinyl, but i have not done it before.

Has anyone got any tips, or a web page guide on the best approach?

Hi

This how I did mine but it was my first attempt so I dare say people will be along with more experience later with a better way.

1. make sure the vinyl is warm as it's eaier to work with, put it near a radiaotr or in the airing cupboard.

2. I didn't stick the vinyl to the surface visible as depending on the grain in the ply and the thick ness of the vinyl it can show through. I only stuck the vinyl to the rear and kept pulling it tight whilst gluing.

3. I used Evo stick red contact glue, easy to work with and holds well.

I'm happy with the results, take your time and don't rush it. If in doubt about doing corners etc practice on an off cut first.

Best of luck
Nigel

Use spray glue to fix hippy roll onto the plywood, rounding the edges of the plywood first (use 2 coats, one to seal and one as the adhesive). Spray glue the vinyl onto the hippy roll and use stainless staples on the underside to secure. The spray glue has a limited lifespan (2 years?), but the staples will retain the shape after this time.

check the backside of the vinyl that it is smooth and no bit of drit/stuff attched otherwise you end up with lumps (don't ask how I know that).

I covered the plywood with a very thin layer of foam (3mm ish) from Woolies first. Makes it nice and smooth and gives it a tiny bit of give. Nice

Cut Vs in the vinyl where you fold it round curves so you don't get bunching. Spray glue on the back and stick the tails as well as stapling them. Run a line of gaffer tape over the staples to tidy it up.

[Edited on 11/6/08 by Peteff]

brill tips, thank you all.

my dash is 9mm thick. If i use foam, under the vinyl ( thin foam ) do you think i need a 19m radius on the bottom?

You probably will still need to sort out the radius bottom. as if you look at the specified degree of protection needed to avoid the radius test you need a quite strong yet deformable foam (like a lagging foam) yet the upholstry foam usually used for dashes is very light stuff and easily squashed....

you could do what I did.....

Get some 15mm pipe lagging and cut out a 1/4 of it, glue a plate onto that and attach it to the bottom of the dash board. When you wrap the dashboard in vinyl you can wrap the vinyl around the pipe lagging. that way you get a deformable 19mm radius- best of both worlds.

Hope that makes sense, let me know if not and I'll attempt a diagram!!!

HIPPY ROLL !!!!!



[Edited on 11/6/08 by Mark Allanson]