Still a few months of getting the body work onto the car. But I am trying to do as much of my car as possible. And am starting to think of body colour
and styles. Now I havnt had alot of practice with paint spraying and dont really want to go down that route at home. I plan to keep my mk for a while
and see ut changing and adapting over tine and dont want to be re painting panels and trying to mtavh colourand finish
Has anybody wrapped theres in vinyl by themselfs?
If so what pros and cons have you had
Pro's
Covers light scratches.
Cheaper than paint, gun, compressor etc
Cons
Very hard to apply
Looks rubbish if not done well
In my opinion it's harder to apply than a 2k paint job
Doesn't like heat eg exhaust heat....
I tried covering a bonnet and cycle wings and I won't do it again.
Ive looked at this before, and wondered if anyone has tried it, it does look good from what i can find on youtube.
Spray applied wrap - http://www.cardipuk.com
John
I too am in the same quandary currently. I like the idea of the wrap as it is reasonably cheap (£100 approx to do a kit car) but have heard that it is
not simple and quality of product seems to be a bit hit and miss. Most recommending 3m products.
I have done quite a bit of research on Youtube and the professionals do make it look easy, which i'm sure it isn't.
Cleanliness seems to be the key, along with loads of spare vinyl!
More than likely we'll be going for the wrap.
I decided to try and wrap my car with some cheap but supposed to be good quality automotive vinyl (not 3M) and it was an absolute nightmare and decided to give up as I couldn't get the quality I was after. I got quoted £300 to get most parts wrapped by a professional using 3M vinyl, so have since decided that I will instead buy a painting setup and have a lot of practise until I get it right.
I was also wandering which route to take with my car, decided against wrap as i have some nightmare curves to deal with and don't really have the room to set up my own spraying area so will just be getting it sprayed, there is a college locally that teaches panel work and spraying etc and i hear that they often need cars to use for their lessons so think i'll look them up.
Please please do a search on Vinyl wrapping on here before posting. I am bored of retyping this.
I am a proffessional vinyl wrapper and I have wrapped lots of cars and vans. Mostly vans to be honest. Vinyl wrapping is quite hard but good results
can be achieved by a amateur in his garage. I think a amateur wrapper can achieve a better finish in his garage than a amateur sprayer can. Here
some basic wrapping tips.
Vinyl: I would use this http://www.hexis.co.uk/Hexis/Automotive_-_HX30000_Vehicle_Wrap.html or this
http://www.metamark.co.uk/pages_sv/7series.htm
These are cast vinyls that are not cheap but applying them and their lifespan will be worth the extra money. They are specially designed for wrapping
and can be heated into the tightest of complex curves. If stetched and distorted they can be 'got back to good' with a heat gun. I will be
wrapping my car and I will use one of these vinyls.
This link shows you how good quality vinyls can be abused and are still useable. Stetched
Vinyl
Also you'll notice how vinyl has a Year Grade applied to it. Thats how long the vinyl will last on your vehicle. Generally the longer the life
the better quality and the EASIER it will be to apply. I have seen 1 year vinyl on vehicles shrink over time by at least two inches.
Applying it: The car needs to be spotlessly clean. Pay attention to where the edges of the vinyl will be. The insides of doors or under cycle
wings. You can use water or you don't have to (professions don't). I wouldn't put washing up liquid in it. It just negates the glue
on the vinyl. Get someone to help you and remove all the backing paper at once and drape over the desired part. Use a applicator to push the air out
of the vinyl. Start in the middle and work towards the edges. Push the bubbles towards the nearest edge. I start in the middle of a piece and I
work up and down until I have a correctly applied strip. I then reposition both sides.
For curves you need to use a heat gun to stretch the vinyl and persuade it to conform.
Look on youtube for professional wrappers
Buy 3m 1080 wrap as it is much easier to apply as the air will exit via the channels in the adhesive.
Wrapping staight panels is easy, but complex curves can be difficult (you need to heat and stretch). I tried front cycle wings in 3M carbon, but
getting the side curves to look good was a real pain, as you need to heat and strech the stuff. Tried again using 3M gloss balck and it was a doddle.
Buy some decent 3m wrap and have a go.
We're currently wrapping a Locost. Never done it before but to be fair it's not too bad.
As has been said previously, make sure everything is spotlessly clean and take your time.
Done the bonnet and one side so far and pleased with the results.
given the unusual shape of a 7 why not try something funky and stand out from the crowd
my old tin top was sprayed with £40 worth of airsoft matt camoflage paint and nothing more fancy than card mask, took all of 3 hours to do start to
finish. It's lasted really well with minimal touch ups for a heavly over used daily driver.
I originally got quoted £1500 for just the materials for wrapping it in plain orange! 
Description
quote:
Originally posted by jwhatley
Ive looked at this before, and wondered if anyone has tried it, it does look good from what i can find on youtube.
Spray applied wrap - http://www.cardipuk.com
John
, quote:
Originally posted by PAUL FISHER
quote:
Originally posted by jwhatley
Ive looked at this before, and wondered if anyone has tried it, it does look good from what i can find on youtube.
Spray applied wrap - http://www.cardipuk.com
John
Just looked at the car dip spray on youtube John, it looks good, and a full kit can be bought for around £180, I fancy having a go at that
It looks alot easier than wrapping.
I have no painting experience, watched a few youtube vids on painting and prep and then did a half decent supermarket spay can job. Its not difficult
but a little frustrating sanding back your mistakes. I definitely needed more paint then an expert would
I had the same dilemma and decided to stick with paint. My only experience with spraying was with rattle cans on small parts. I used HVLP (Earlex)
system off ebay along with some cellulose paint and thinners and had a go.
Description
Cost less than £100 including the second hand sprayer. The vinyl wrapping youtube vids make it look easy, but I doubt this would be there first
attempt. I'm sure several pieces would be screwed up, cast to the floor and repeatedly stamped on.
Paint it if you can. I've got car vinyl wrap backgrounds on my fish tanks and although it's easy to use on glass rectangles it's got to be a pita on a car. Also it scratches very easily. I thought about doing the side panels on the seven with vinyl and painting the rest of the car but that doesn't really achieve anything and matching vinyl colour to paint would be difficult.