DIY Vinyl Wrapping

F

frankkao14

Member
Location
Indianapolis
Car
2007 FX35
Hello everyone,

I am thinking about do the vinyl wrapping by myself.

I want to try to do the vinyl wrap on the hood first.

Is vinyl wrap easy to do? I know some of the people on IS have done it and is there anything I have to be aware of before I start wrapping my hood?

Anyone know a good website to get the vinyl wrap and the equipments for vinyl wrapping?

any information would help!


Thank you


Frank
 
Its not easy, but not hard. Get a heat gun and I would recommend 3m primer and edge sealant. It will help the wrap last longer.
 
DaveButcher said:
What color are you going to do?
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Im going to wrap the hood with carbon fiber. I have a Black FX35.

---------- Post added at 05:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------
shadow191 said:
Its not easy, but not hard. Get a heat gun and I would recommend 3m primer and edge sealant. It will help the wrap last longer.
Click to expand...

how long does the wrap usually last for?
 
It's not that difficult to wrap a flat area such as a hood. The more corners/edges the surface has the harder it becomes. I suggest watching a few wrap videos to get some hints. Depending on the quality of wrap and weather conditions it'll last 3-10 years
 
sir21 said:
It's not that difficult to wrap a flat area such as a hood. The more corners/edges the surface has the harder it becomes. I suggest watching a few wrap videos to get some hints. Depending on the quality of wrap and weather conditions it'll last 3-10 years
Click to expand...

Yeh I have watched couple videos of wrapping on youtube and I think I should be able to do it! What kind of Vinyl wrap do you think it has good quality? I was thinking about the 3M carbon Fiber.
 
3M is a good brand. I used 1080 before and it's very forgiving and has air release channels which make the job much easier. Just don't rush it and take your time.
 
Hood is easiest panel to wrap. Bumpers are the hardest in my opinion. I never formally measured, but 60x60" should be enough, but measure. 3M 1080 is a good choice, so is Hexis. I've used both CF vinyls and put them side by side, there is no visible difference and the Hexis is slightly cheaper. All vinyls for wrapping cars have air channels, even the cheapest stuff made in China. Most of the name brand vinyls are rated for anywhere from 5-8 years depending on how much sun it gets. The hood will be on the lower side of that range since it is flat and sees the most sun, a door panel would last for longer. If you keep your car in a garage it will last longer.
 
Like guys above chimed in, make sure you buy the quality stuff, I used 3M, 1080 and DiNoc and liked them all. Def primer, heat gun, squeegees, and practice with a small piece first. Heat it up, see how it reacts to stretching and how well does it regain the shape upon heating up.
Other than that, just go slow and you'll do just fine.
 
One more tip, around all the edges and corners -anywhere you are heating and stretching the vinyl- make sure to let it cool and then heat it up again. Often times, people will install vinyl and it will look good, then the next day it is coming up in corners and around curves. That's because vinyl wants to regain it's original shape which is flat since it's cast that way. If you heat it up a few times and work it back down, that will help it set in it's new shape. This is more applicable to bumpers and interior pieces with complex shapes and lots of stretching.
 
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