Any of you skilled gentlemen (and ladies) ever tried vinyl wrapping a car?

I have a white defender and I recon it would look nice with a black roof.



However, I don't think I can get a single piece of vinyl big enough to do it in one go.

So how do the pros do it?


Could I use two narrow pieces and very carefully butt them together in the middle?

All the photos I look at have the roof and gutters wrapped. This can't be one piece? Would you assume the gutters are wrapped first and then the roof after?

I've wrapped a whole double decker bus! This was my first time - easy on the flat bits, not so easy on the corners.

I got my vinyl from Star Vinyls www.starvinyl.co.uk and they sell it by the meter but the roll is 1520mm so might be enough to cover your Landy. They are the cheapest place - better than fleeBay...!

The easy way to do the flat bits is a bit like window tints - use a solution of soapy water on the panel and also get a sprayer bottle and squirt the glue side of the vinyl once you take off the backing paper - this allows you to move the vinyl and re-stick it once it hits the panel. The down side to this is you need to let it dry over night - even when using a heat gun as it just isn't sticky. Best to get the main bit down, leave it and come back to the more complex bits the next day.

For complex corners, pros heat and stretch the vinyl with a heat gun - it's a two man job and it is very easy to mess up or burn through the vinyl.

It isn't as easy as it may first seem - but a bit of trial and error can achieve okay results. Probably be easier and cheaper to get the roof sprayed! Having said that, my bus cost £450 in vinyl vs £5000 respray...

I have wrapped maybe 30 vehicles and the above advice isn't bad. I wouldn't use soapy water though just normal water. Don't be tempted by cheap vinyls, you need a specific wrapping vínyl. I would use metamark 7 series cast vinyl and I would expect to pay over 7 a meter at 1520mm wide.

Thanks for the comments guys.

1520mm I don't think is quite wide enough once you have wrapped down the sides of the roof into the gutters

Arse

Just checked out starvinyls. They are a hexis reseller. You will get the best results from their black gloss air release. The glue is thousands of tiny dots that let the air squish out. Good stuff.

Do it properly
Get it sprayed

Have you looked at the spray-on vinyl wrapping?

I only know of it because a friend mentioned it to me.

Spray Wrap

One of the benefits is you can just pull it off when you're bored of it!

Hmm.. I don't think the spray on stuff looks very DIY..

For those with experience.... do you think you could wrap from the top of the roof onto the vertical back section above the rear door in one piece? Its a rather sharp corner made more complex by the curve either side.



[Edited on 17/8/14 by tegwin]