adversexreality Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 i think the cleared headlight would bring better contrast with the mirror turn signals.. great work though, and thanks for the bigger picture for my desktop I make T-Shirts! and I Detail Cars(I'll go to you!) Send me a PM!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 IMHO, I think you need to get a smidge lowered, some tints, and clear those headlights. No tinting of tail lights or blacking out of headlights needed. How's it holding up so far? its holding up really well! better than I thought it would... other than getting hit with a blown out tire which scratched it and actually went through it in some places (the vinyl definitely saved the paint, though) its held up really well- weeks of salt without wash, an inch of ice on it last week, snow, etc, no problems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tito_b0y Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Impressive! So, when are ya free to do mine? Matte Navy, prease! 2006 SWP 3.0R 5EAT VDC BBQ 2008 OBP 2.5i 4EAT BBQ [RIP] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Inspirational I'm planning on doing mine real soon. not in matte though... Did you prepare your car at all prior to laying the vinyl? wash/wax? no wax prior to install? no wax on the vinyl after (for you) because it's Matte? what about glossy? wax ok? or no? if you (or anyone viewing this thread) knows any of those answers, please post! Also I heard if you remove vinyl when it's cold, it'll rip up clear coat and possibly paint... thats one fear holding me back a bit. but I definitely like the idea of added protection against chips/tire chunks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 (edited) buy good quality vinyl and you'll be fine. DONT wax before applying, then rub with isopropyl alcohol. never ever wax vinyl, either! Edited February 9, 2011 by ArcTec34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk mk8 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 How much did you spend to wrap it minus labor.... Which film did you use? Do you wanna take a trip to Miami and do some quick work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Here's a quick question... How many feet did you use total? and you got 36" wide right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Doesn't make much sense to me to wax then rub with alcohol. The alcohol would just strip the wax you just put on. My suggestion would be to wash the car with a non scented/ additive dish soap, then rub down with the alcohol. That would ensure that your car is as clean as it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 oh excuse me, I typed that too quickly, DON'T wax before applying..haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoisonousBeef Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Clay bar before the wash/alcohol would be the ultimate clean surface to lay the vinyl. If you've never used the clay bar it is amazing how much dirt and debris is still lying on a "clean" car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 haha all this work makes me think i'm going to need more then a weekend to get it done... with 2-3 people though I think we can make it happen. it'll take a day just to prep the car for vinyl haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 There are so many freak'n Vinyl's out there... Jeesh! I've found the vinyl I want to use but it's not the air release kind of vinyl... and i've heard that can be a real PITA when applying to large area's (such as the doors)... i dont see a problem with the hood/trunk/roof/quarter panels... those are pretty straight forward... the bumpers are going to suck though... oh well... also i'll have enough extra to do a second car if i don't screw up a lot (which I suspect I will because it isn't the air release kind). I think i'm going to order the vinyl in 2-3 weeks... then there's a 10day lead time... so next month i'll get it and start the vinyl process... just in time for my birthday (sorta). happy b-day to meeeee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanstelp Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Goog luck with the project. Be sure to keep everyone posted on how well the non-air release vinyl works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 There are so many freak'n Vinyl's out there... Jeesh! I've found the vinyl I want to use but it's not the air release kind of vinyl... and i've heard that can be a real PITA when applying to large area's (such as the doors)... i dont see a problem with the hood/trunk/roof/quarter panels... those are pretty straight forward... the bumpers are going to suck though... oh well... also i'll have enough extra to do a second car if i don't screw up a lot (which I suspect I will because it isn't the air release kind). I think i'm going to order the vinyl in 2-3 weeks... then there's a 10day lead time... so next month i'll get it and start the vinyl process... just in time for my birthday (sorta). happy b-day to meeeee i REALLY would stress buying a sample first and trying it out.. the non air release vinyl is a completely different animal and I can't even imagine how much harder it'd be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanstelp Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 For those of us(me) that don't know the difference between the non-air release vinyl and a hole in the wall, what is the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 one gets rid of bubbles under the vinyl when you put it down and disperses the air though little pockets or right through the vinyl itself, while the normal cheaper stuff doesn't do anything you air gets trapped under, making bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanstelp Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 ahh, that's what I kind of figured. Is there a considerable price difference between the cheap and the good stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planelazy Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Clay bar before the wash/alcohol would be the ultimate clean surface to lay the vinyl. If you've never used the clay bar it is amazing how much dirt and debris is still lying on a "clean" car. That ain't no joke. I went to wax my lgt last month.. decided not to.. gotta clay the car first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amit0z Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 hey guys, new to the forum, jus bought a '05 BSM LGT 5spd limited! wooo!! im very excited and you guys have a lot of great useful information on this site, anyway i was checkin this vinyl job out and its CRAZYY!!! @ArcTec34: you have an amazing skill man! the amount of time and dedication you put into your car, that things look amazinggggg!!! where exactly near bethlem, pa are you? im right in phillipsburg, I'd love you come meet up and take a look at the car one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planelazy Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Can you take some pics of how far you made the vinyl stretch around curves and doors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000_LegacyOutback Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 looks amazing... i wish i had the time and talent to do this with my car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 heres a post with some PM's and answers, I've been getting a lot recently: i Hey, I just had a few quick questions about your vinyl wrap project and figured it'd be better to send you a PM than to post in the thread. How would you recommend someone who has never, ever wrapped anything with vinyl before practice on working with vinyl? Do you know of any good websites/PDFs that kind of outline the whole process (as in... squeegee-ing, when to use the heatgun, etc.)? Can you recommend a place to buy the vinyl from (I vaguely remember you saying something about 'your' distributor in the thread... do they have a website I can buy vinyl from)? And finally, the thing that makes me curious about this whole matte black vinyl wrap project the most is how did you take care of the stuff? Is it as easy as say, spritzing down the vinyl with a bit of water and wiping away the dust/dirt or did you have to use actual soap like a normal car wash? How badly does it show oil and fingerprints? You should definitely buy a piece and work with it. I don't know of any good walkthroughs, and I'm sure either this thread or another by some BMW guy is as good as it gets, not to mention I'm here to ask questions to. Squeegee- use a felt-tipped one, it won't leave any scratched heat gun- for MATTE vinyl expecially, DO NOT use too much heat. a hair dryer is plenty! use it on high heat settings taking care of it- right now, not really.. its been covered with snow/salt for a month, it all just washes off. BUT do not use: automatic touch carwashes (the ones with the swinging brushes etc), wax, anything that'd scratch the vinyl. Normal hand wash with a sponge and dry with towels is perfect, or a touchless car wash. normal soap is fine. yes, matte vinyl shows finger prints/oil/smudges easier than regular paint, as you'd expect. washes off just the same, though. In the summer i was anal about finger prints and would always keep a towel and some isopropyl alcohol handy to remove them Thanks for the info Arctec... So you used Air release Oracal Vinyl? You're damn lucky on the price if you did... that ish is expensive!... I found I can get a single roll of the none air releasestuff for $500ish... ... I think what I'm going to do is anywhere there's going to be a seam I'll keep the backing on so I can slide something underneath and cut it to get a seam free type finish... f you want to know what vinyl is like to work with, buy a sample of the vinyl first to try it out. I used some boring oracal vinyl which doesn't have the quality of the 3m and its really tough to work with. I got mine through a NJ distributor that my friend worked at, unfortunately they don't work there anymore though. see if you can just order the vinyl through a shop and be nice and maybe they'll help you out on that. I will find pics of my seams. but in short- I cut clean edges, and then overlapped them by half an inch. I only needed seams on the A and C pillars, and on the hood scoop inlet. I never cut on the car, and brought a flexible plastic "cutting board" that I could slide under and cut on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 that $500ish was also for 50yards of it... so essentially if you know someone who wants the same vinyl wrap color (matte black or whatever) you could split the cost and it'd be pretty cheap (assuming you don't need more then 75ft of it)... however that is a quote i got for non-air released kind. Arctec34, You never said how much you actually used. how much did you use not including mess-ups? did you use anything underneath to position the vinyl? when I did stripes on my old GTI, we used windex or 401 or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArcTec34 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 including mess ups, I used about 15 yards. I didn't put anything under it and I don't recommend it if you're using a decent vinyl- it will make it impossible to do the really curvy parts. also- as I said before, buy a smaller sample of the non-air release kind and try it out, because I think you'll hate your life for a a while/maybe not be able to finish the car with it if you have no experience with vinyl. most of that type of vinyl is not meant to wrap cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Instanced Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I agree with everything but the last sentence... the non air release vinyl is used for large graphics on the sides of vehicles, walls, windows, etc etc etc... I think they're really meant for flat surfaces though... but even still a lot of them are capable of complex bends... however I doubt anyone in their right mind would wanna wrap something complex with it (say a whole car for example)... good thing my mind isn't right I'll def have to try a sample of it though first... however I think I found my 4x4 rig so i might buy that instead of vinyl. goin stage 2 didn't help pay for vinyl either haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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