LGT project: matte black vinyl wrap

You passed me today on 31 in Flemington, car looks good black, along with the tails makes me wish I still had my legacy...

Any trick to doing the door handles?

I was sceptical reading the title but man. That looks really, really, really good. I might even attempt to do the same on my car. Scale of 1-10 what is the difficulty? Just take your time and work the sections, or is it more than that?

This is bad ass. How did you do the door moldings? Remove them first or just use one piece of vinyl and cover the whole door?

Any trick to doing the door handles?

 

 

did them in separate pieces.. one piece for the actual handle, and then one for the surrounding piece, i was able to stretch the vinyl out a bit so it covered the indentation under the handle. this piece was the same piece of vinyl as the door, but I did cut around the seam with a razor, using a little heat, and pushed the vinyl in the gap between the pieces

Edited July 18, 2011 by ArcTec34

I was skeptical reading the title but man. That looks really, really, really good. I might even attempt to do the same on my car. Scale of 1-10 what is the difficulty? Just take your time and work the sections, or is it more than that?

 

thanks!

 

out of all my projects (I get bored and build stuff.. my exhaust, tail lights, and a bunch of stuff around the house) this was the most frustrating. more fustrating than building an automatic watch movement haha. so.. high on that difficulty scale. A lot of it is patience, but the bumpers are REALLY tricky and you have to really know what you're doing for them, lots of stretching and heating and more stretching and heating (but you can't stretch matte vinyl very much!). By the end of the project, it was much easier. you also need one other person to help you for many of the pieces.. 2 people, even better.

it seams almost easier to paint your car tho. but there are definate advantages to this.

 

i think a tiny string inbeded under all the vinyl so you could just take all the vinyl off in 1 min ! be good for evading police

How is the wrap holding up these days? You have about a good year and a half on the whole setup now right?

Also interested ^

I have some vinyl coming in the next week and my uncle who sells the stuff recommended that I get a 3M primer pen and apply it to the edges to reduce the likely hood of them peeling up.

 

Did you use any of the 3M primer stuff?

I haven't had any issues with my wrap peeling up at all. Just heat the edges. I have heard of people recommending it, though.

Here's my wrap.

That looks sweet man! Good job.

Car looks great man.

 

What is your technique for cutting the vinyl? More specifically the roof. I have work with di-noc on my interior panels and have tinted lights with film. So I understand the application. I am wanting to do just the middle section of the roof with matte black but am concerned about hitting the paint when trimming the edges. Is there anything that can be done to aid in the trimming?

There is a type of tape you can buy that has a thin piece of metal in it that you pull up to cut the vinyl without cutting it on the paint. I just followed the body lines carefully with a very sharp exacto knife. If you're careful, you can cut on the body without cutting paint.

I've been debating whether to PlastiDip or Wrap my 05 LgT. Im planning on doing it either this or next year. Would you say wrapping would be easier. My car is SWP and going for a Matte White look.

Plasti-dip would definitely be easier

But would it be durable? I don't mind doing a little work with the vinyl. The flaw I have with the Dip is that it can come out with a roughness to it. For a first timer do you think I could do it myself with Vinyl? Got quoted $3500-$4500 by a shop here in Addison, TX

Vinyl is a pain in the ass and takes patience. I gave up twice before I finally figured it out. And if you want to do it right, you'll need to take off all your trim. You've seen my vinyl thread, right?

 

I just plasti-dipped the grill on my girl's LGT and my Outback. Very easy to work with and you can gauge how you want the texture, although it would be hard to keep it consistent on an entire car. Vinyl will definitely look better.

Yea your car turned out nice. Since I'm wanting to go Matte White on a Whitevcar wouldn't it be easier? A can order a kit for plastidiping my car Matte White for around $300. How much would I need to spend for a similar Vinyl wrap, doing it myself.

I used two rolls of vinyl for my car, each costing ~$550. I still have leftovers for patches, interior trim, etc. Then I spent another $100-$200 for knives, roller, squeegee, masking tape (to line up cuts), heat gun, and VHB tape for moldings.

Damm that's a lot but your car looks clean! Since I'm not a 6 figure salaried guy ima try the PlastiDip. Hopefully it turns out good. Thanks for the help man!

I'm not either, but I had to do something different Thanks!

There is a type of tape you can buy that has a thin piece of metal in it that you pull up to cut the vinyl without cutting it on the paint. I just followed the body lines carefully with a very sharp exacto knife. If you're careful, you can cut on the body without cutting paint.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I am not sure if I am ready to take the plunge free hand cutting on top of my nice paint. I was reading about that tape but holy hell that shit is expensive. I saw a roll for like 50 bucks! I suppose though that is worth it to save the paint on the roof/quarters from a big ass cut mark if i get a little heavy handed.

Wrapping cars/vans kinda sucks sometimes, but sometimes you get to work of cool stuff. Turned a silver FF matte white little while ago. 3M 1080, Seamless.

 

http://i.imgur.com/qpXGt.jpg?1