47 replies to this topic

[Joshwa457]

I would love to get my car painted but just can't afford it. I'm now currently going down the route of wrapping. Although this too can be around the £800 mark, so I'm wondering if anyone has done it themselves? I've gone ahead and bought a vinyl in carbon black 2m x 1.3m for my roof skin. After watching endless hours of people doing it on YouTube I think I'm gonna give it a go. I'll upload pics next week when it arrives. If anyone has some advice, go ahead....

Also, whist watching the vids on YouTube I came across a paint called plasti dip. Anyone have experience with this? It's like a rubber/plastic paint that you can peel off when you like. And it comes in some luminous colours!

[1275gtowner]

my mate has gone down this route he started on various small pieces just to learn how flexible the wrap is and then moved onto larger pieces ie spare boot,bonnet etc he is quite a perfectionist so really took his time with it but i must say the results were very good.so as for advice all id say is take your time the wrap will split if too much pressure is put on it in the wrong places.but good luck and post pics when you can

[mattw92]

ide definately like to see your results:)

[MiniMitch]

My brother recently wrapped the roof of his saxo and it looks really nice, also mine has been done on the mini, to be honest it doesn't look that hard, also plasti dip is amazing, my wheels are being plasti dipped and I know many people who have done their golfs and various bits on them!

[Joshwa457]

Looks like in going ahead with it then!! :) quite excited now for it to go well because there's sooooo many different types of car vinyl you can buy! And it'll only cost £150/200 to do the whole car!
Everyone loves a bargain! I'll post some pics when it arrives and maybe make a video of it being done so other first timers can have a crack at it

[1275gtowner]

think my pal paid £140-160 for bucket loads of black and white wrap as above he wrapped various parts so he could interchange when he feels the need

[herdy]

i know that they did it on wheeler dealers when they did the mini. it looked quite good to be honest.

[alex-95]

Here's a link to the wheeler dealer one. http://www.theminifo...er#entry2529876

Edited by alex-95, 09 August 2012 - 09:10 AM.

[Joshwa457]

Looks quite cool. Shame about the rust underneath! Luckily for me my min is rust free

[Joshwa457]

Just taken some before pics, as I haven't posted any pics of the car on here yet...

http://i1167.photobu...57/735cba8e.jpg

http://i1167.photobu...57/411200cc.jpg

http://i1167.photobu...57/bd4a6404.jpg

http://i1167.photobu...57/0b410e11.jpg

[donjarr]

Ok so maybe a daft question, but apart from needing a good polish your car looks great as it is. (Personally I would swap the large red spot lamps for chrome ones, but that's just me) and to be honest if you wrap it and in a year or two think nah! I now have the money so I'll get it sprayed, your have a terrible job getting the vinyl off, not to mention it will take loads of prep work to get the body sorted, as over time the vinyl tends to leave its sticky backing behind, which is a nightmare to get off.

I know it's up to you, but I would say think about this for a few months, buy some vinyl and try wrapping stuff to see how you get on. Pros make it look easy, but when you come to the more tricky areas like where the front wing curves round to the headlamp let's just say it takes practice to get that looking good.

If that was my car as I said I would swap the spot lamps for some chrome ones ;) to match and get a set of chrome wheels and give it a good polish with some G10 and be really pleased with it.

However I know each to their own, and it's up to you, but I have found on many message boards people think about doing stuff to their own car like wrapping it, but are unsure so egg someone else on to do it so they can see. That way they see the results without the hassle of doing it, and if when done you don't like it, your left to sort it out.

[Joshwa457]

I completely understand what your saying but. I want to do it. If I can successfully do it and it looks good I'll be very pleased with myself, and if it doesn't work I can take it straight off. As for in a few years when it needs to come off, I'll re wrap it in a nice new colour. I'm starting on the roof anyway, which is currently my own attempt to spray it black with aerosols and looks terrible so something has to be done about it. I figure £25 for an attempt to cover it is a good deal and if not I'll have to put my hand in my pocket and fork out for an actual carbon roof which was my original intention anyways.
But should it go well I'll buy another sheet and attempt the hardest part (front wings). If I can master that then the rest should be a doddle!

[jeebz]

Vinyl wrapping is quite easy from my personal experience. Its best to use a heat gun on low heat or a hair dryer to help stretch the vinyl and bend it around curves. A relatively thin flat edge, similar to a ruler or a credit card but preferably something that doesn't bend too much, to try and get rid of the lumps and bubbles. I used a wax remover from my snowboard. And if you have one, a scalpel, used to pop small air bubbles that are left over, something with a very sharp point is handy as it won't leave a visible hole. The scalpel is also useful for cutting the vinyl up around the edges. Always leave a little left over on the edges to fold it round seams. makes it look a bit better in my opinion, but even if it doesn't you can always cut that bit off afterwards to tidy it up. If you are using details some people put fairy underneath then to position it a bit better before pushing it out with a flat edge, allowing it to stick.

A lot of race teams vinyl wrap their cars instead of painting them. Its easier and cheaper to repair if a panel gets damaged, and if you have a complex colour or design, its actually lighter than painting the car, as you don't have to build different colour layers.

[Joshwa457]

Ooh didn't even think about using a wax remover. I've got one for my board too but I've already bought some wrap fitting tools so Should be ok

[Yoda]

I hope you have ordered two way stretch vinyl specially made for wrapping. I mini has some really tight curves to get round. Also heating and stretching ordinary vinyl will probably end up with it shrinking over time and will look really tacky.