What's the forum's view on using vinyl car wrapping as I am thinking on wrapping my Luego Viento
Not done it or had it done myself - don't even know what it costs.
From what I've seen on TV it seems to offer the option of changing the colour of the vehicle without damaging the actual paint already on the
vehicle.
I suppose you could also view it as offering protection from small stone chips on the leading edges of the vehicle. I've seen several VW
Caravelle vans with "bonnet bras" fitted, I guess to do the same thing. Sure they're not cheap vehicles, but IMHO the bonnet bras
usually look pretty naff. I think I'd rather go for a transparent vinyl wrap on the bonnet instead of the bonnet bra.
If you've costed the vinyl wrap do you mind telling us the cost so we can gauge it against respray cost?
For the Luego Viento I'm looking at about £150 against £1000 for spraying, I looked into spraying it myself but when you look at all the risks using two pack and the cost of all the equipment you need, I though I'd give wrapping a go
£150 to do the whole car?
That must be a very cheap vinyl,and the cheaper it is the harder it is to use/fit.
Mines wrapped in 3M 1080 vinyl which is a top quality proper vehicle vinyl.
I've done 4 summer's and nearly 12k miles in mine and it's holding up really well 
Went for a matte finish to hide the crap finish on the fibreglass
I just bought a sample of the wrap to try out, but will now have a look at the wrap you have used.
What's the best type of wrap to use
I would be interested in the results as I have a Viento. I have also wrapped cars, lorries and vans in the past but I am in no way an expert. The more expensive the vinyl the better results you'll get. I'd certainly buy a well known brand and make sure its wrapping vinyl as you'll never get cheap vinyl around the nosecones complex curves with any degree of acceptability. The nose and the rear tub will be the tripping point but the nose is by far the worst bit. Vinyl likes to bend in one direction only so wrapping a tube would be dead easy and cheap vinyl could be used. However trying to wrap a football will be very very difficult. The nose is more like a football on the front edges with curves to two orientations. Also the bonnet is very very wide compared to normal sevens. Over 1220mm wide at the scuttle which means you'll need a 1520mm wide roll which is expensive unless you want a joint. Some of the 3M, HEXIS or ORACAL are very very beautiful with absolutely stunning gloss, metallic, flip and pearl finishes.
quote:
Originally posted by Steelman
For the Luego Viento I'm looking at about £150 against £1000 for spraying, I looked into spraying it myself but when you look at all the risks using two pack and the cost of all the equipment you need, I though I'd give wrapping a go
quote:
eh? normally the cost is the other way round. Spray the car yourself its a piece of cake, not sure of the obsession with 2k paints... there are many good alternatives that won't try to kill you and on small cars spray cans are perfectly suitable and will easily give you a finish better than a wrap for a fraction of the price
Steelman, if you fancy a drive over to lincoln I can show you the difference between cheap and expensive vinyl. I'll give you some wrapping tips. Wrapping the nose is going to be tough though.
On something like the nose of a 7 you will need to split the vinyl & make an overlap. I had a Furore professionally wrapped last year & they made joins in several places where the curves are too tight to allow the vinyl to stretch/shrink. If you keep the overlap to a uniform amount, say about 5mm you won't see it from anything more than a very close inspection, unless of course it's patterned ort carbon effect!
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
spray cans are perfectly suitable and will easily give you a finish better than a wrap for a fraction of the price
The obsession with 2k is that it's the best automotive paint available, easy to spray, unrivalled gun finish and relatively cheap. Obvious
downside is the isocyanates try to kill you.
Rattle cans are crap. Ok for small components. Yes with time and effort you can get an acceptable finish but not what I would call good. But then
I'm a picky sod with paint finishes.
I had a 7 wrapped in the same stuff as kev. I got the professionals to do the curvy bits I couldn't and I did the flat bits with the Mrs as
assistant. The pro guy managed to do the nose in one piece some how. The cheap vinyl is generally thicker and won't stretch as well so make sure
it's good stuff.
I HAVE JUST PAINTED ONE OF MY FRONT WHEEL ARCHES.
APPROX COST £15.00
Using acrylic spray cans. 3 coats of primer then flatted with 1200 wet and dry (using water and soap) then 3 coat of colour.
leaving 15mins between coats, then after another 15 mins straight over with clear Lacquer 3 coats 15 mins apart
CHECK OUT THE LAST PHOTO IN MY ACHIVE
I have sprayed the nose cone, rear arches and one side pod with rattle cans.
Wrapped the scuttle, boot lid and one side pod with 3M 1080.
I prefer the sprayed finish, if you use quality paint (uPol in my case) prepare well, 1 coat etch primer, 3 top coats and 2 coats of clear,
you can achieve a very good finish. The wrap is OK, but the gloss finishes aren't really gloss.
You can pop over and see for yourself if you want?
Wrapped pod
Description
Rattle can sprayed nose cone
Description
Description
Rear arches
Description
like the lift 40inches
where did you get it
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Bentley
like the lift 40inches
where did you get it
thanks
quote:
Originally posted by CosKev3
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
spray cans are perfectly suitable and will easily give you a finish better than a wrap for a fraction of the price
What a load of rubbish!!!!
Rattle cans will give you a better finish than vinyl my arse!
Check out my project thread, or my pic archive. Wrapped mine myself for around £100 using KPMF vinyl
Only hard bit is the nosecone which I split into 3 or 4 pieces
James, have you got any close up of the joins you had to make to fit the 3 or 4 pieces for the bonnet? You may have given me an idea
I don't mate unfortunately, and I no longer own the car now so can't get you any. It was the nosecone not the bonnet btw. Bonnet was done in
a single piece.
You couldn't really see the joins once you were a few metres from the car
This had joins in a no. of places, you certainly wouldn't ever see them unless you were specifically looking for them - important to keep an even
edge, say around 5mm overlap
[img]
Description
[/img]
Edited to say, sorry, don't have any closeups of the joins
[Edited on 3/10/18 by russbost]
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
This had joins in a no. of places, you certainly wouldn't ever see them unless you were specifically looking for them - important to keep an even edge, say around 5mm overlap
[img]
Description [/img]
Edited to say, sorry, don't have any closeups of the joins
[Edited on 3/10/18 by russbost]
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
This had joins in a no. of places, you certainly wouldn't ever see them unless you were specifically looking for them - important to keep an even edge, say around 5mm overlap
[img]
Description [/img]
Edited to say, sorry, don't have any closeups of the joins
[Edited on 3/10/18 by russbost]
No, bit of forward planning there, all the bodywork was done in the correct gelcoat blue so no wrapping needed on the lower front end where all the suspension is. TBH, it's only about 1/2 an hour to remove the upper wishbones & pushrods & the lower wishbones could stay in place, so would almost certainly be much quicker than trying to work around the suspension anyway if doing a full wrap
