Vinyl Wrapping

[Lawnik]

What is covered by this DIY

I am not a professional installer and this was my first full vehicle wrap. This DIY process is what I used and comes from professional advice, research and my own technical know how. Follow it at your own risk and feel free to leave your comments if you would have done anything different.

I wrapped my Raven FRS on June 17th through the 23rd Dark Matte Grey. It took approx 50 hours with an assistant for about half of it. To my knowledge it is the first full matte wrapped FRS/BRZ/86 and the only one in this finish.

You will know every inch of this cars body once you are done, things that most owners will never notice.

General process and characteristics
Materials
Workspace
Car Prep
Wrapping
Care
Removal

General process and characteristics

Vinyl car wraps come on 5’ rolls with a backing which is pealed off before applying vinyl film directly to painted surfaces. There are many colors, finishes, and textures. The film conforms to most surfaces and can be stretched up to 30%. (note that it can stretch beyond 30% but the adhesive is compromised) Heat is applied to help uniformly stretch the film. The film can be laid down and then lifted and re-laid if necessary. Full adhesions occurs when pressure is applied to the laid film and perforations in the film allow air to easily escape. Once pressure has been applied the film can still be repositioned but the perforations will be sealed so air bubbles can occur. Heat is also used when the film has bunched up or adhered to itself. This is not a problem because the film can be pulled apart gently then heated to “iron” the film back to its original state. There is really only one thing to avoid which is tearing the film which usually occurs when bunches are being pulled apart too aggressively which is easily avoided with some patience.

Patience and persistence are key to a good result. A whole car is 40 hours minimum for a beginner and a willing assistant is required. A good wife or a non drunk friend will do.

Learn on YouTube there are many videos. knifelesstechsystems.com has a great video section, watch them all.

Heat gun use is going to vary, watch the videos to see how much heat should be applied. I used only quick flashes of low setting heat to “Iron” and stretch the vinyl. To “Iron” hold the vinyl straight with tension, but not pulling which will stretch it, on all sides then flash it with bursts of heat till all wrinkles are removed. You’ll see the vinyl go loose as heat is applied, that is enough. Decreasing the amount of tension will allow the vinyl to shrink back to original state, increasing tension will smooth out wrinkles. To stretch hold the vinyl straight with tension, apply heat till vinyl goes loose then lay over panel will outward pulling on all sides to limit wrinkles. Trial and error will help find good technique.

Once the vinyl is laid use the heat gun to “cast” the vinyl into its new shape by heating the entire surface till it’s almost hot to the touch.

Side Mirror trial (Recommended)

Try it out by getting one foot of wrap and do the glossy part of your side mirrors. They have a little shape and an edge to trim which makes for a great trial. If the mirrors go well the rest will too if you take your time. I will add a video or pictures of a mirror wrap shortly.





Materials (Required) -Pictures to be added
$475 -55ft 3M 1080 Scotchprint Vinyl Car Wrap (Autovinylsolutions on eBay or http://www.autovinylsolutions.com)

55 ft will give you about 3 extra feet which is enough but for the incremental cost I would have went with 65’ to have some extra. Comes on a 5’ roll. There are many colors and textures to choose from, order the swatch for $6 or check out a local dealer to see actual samples instead of pictures on the computer screen. AVS also sells Hexis and Avery which have some unique finishes.

$19 -3M Squeegee x 4 (Autovinylsolutions)

Order 4-5 with your vinyl and get a deal and get the ones with the felt. I also took one and cut 1” off to make a mini squeegee for the hard to get areas and tucking behind seals.

$66 -Knifeless tape –Finish line 2 x 50m roll (Autovinylsolutions or knifelesstechsystems.com)

Order 2 rolls with your vinyl and get a deal

$10 -Small utility Knife x 5 (Any hardware store)

Get several so a new edge can be used for each cut.

$10 Isopropyl alcohol 1 liter (Any drug store)

$5 Demineralized/Pure Water (Automotive supplies store as radiator water)

Materials (Recommended)

Car prep

$70 -New emblems Scion, Subaru or Toyota. (Dealer)

For best finish remove and replace emblems over vinyl. Use dental floss to cut behind emblem then clean with 3M adhesive remover.

$28 -3M adhesive remover (Various vinyl outlets or Auto Obsessed http://autoobsessed.com)

$17 -IronX (Auto detailer like Auto Obsessed http://autoobsessed.com) or T.R.I.X from same company.

$17 -P21S automotive cleaner (Auto detailer like Auto Obsessed http://autoobsessed.com)

$20 -Micro fiber cloths Bag of 20 (Auto detailer like Auto Obsessed http://autoobsessed.com)

$20 -Absorber towel (Auto detailer like Auto Obsessed http://autoobsessed.com)


Application

$30 -Wall mount and 6’ bar (Rona/Home Depot/Canadian Tire etc.)

This is basically a closet kit consisting of a hanger pole and pole mounts which your vinyl roll will be placed on about 6.5” up a wall for easy vinyl dispensing. It should be mounted in a place so that 12’ can be pulled off without touching the ground or other obstacles.

$30 -Heat gun (Rona/Home Depot/Canadian Tire etc.)

Two speeds/heat settings is nice and a proper heat gun is much better then a hair dryer. A $30 heat gun will do.

$20 -25’ extension cord (Any hardware store)

$50 -2 or 3 portable positionable work lamps

$10 -4 high strength magnets (Generic ones at almost anywhere or wrap specific at various vinyl outlets)

These will hold the vinyl in place on the car when the backing is still on it for positioning, trimming and planning.

$40 -Tool belt custom for vinyl wrapping (Various vinyl outlets)

Holds your heat gun, tape and cutter.

$30 -Shop Stool (Canadian Tire)

Saves your back and holds some tools. And good for having a beer and admiring work as well.


Materials (Optional)

$100 -Shark fin antenna (Beat Sonic and others)

The antenna can be wrapped and the larger base covers any gaps left around the stock antenna base.

$16 -3M Primer 94 ½ Pint (Autovinylsolutions or vinyl outlet)

Where edges cannot be tucked and have to show seams, apply for stronger hold.

$6 -3M Edge sealer tape (Various vinyl outlets)

Same purpose as primer above but for the afterthought if vinyl is already applied and additional hold is required.

$3 -Safe Cutter (Any hardware store)

$38 - Knifeless tape –Bridge line 50m roll (Autovinylsolutions or knifelesstechsystems.com)

Workspace

The key attributes to a good workspace are;

Enclosed
At least 12’x20’
Even floor, cement or anything that can be cleaned and doesn’t stir up dust
Well lit or purchase extra portable work lights
Cleaned, free of dust and as many bugs as possible
Large work bench is a plus but not necessary
Shop tools help, dry vac, tool set, jacks and stands etc.


Car Preparation

The wrap will look better, adhere better and the paint will be in better condition when the wrap is removed if the surface is properly prepared.

Process;

(Optional but recommended) Remove all badges using dental floss and 3M adhesive remover. There is already a DIY for this so I won’t repeat.

-Regular wash as per your normal routine, leave wet
-Spray IronX over entire painted surface, I did this in the car wash, leave for 2 min.
-Agitate the applied IronX with micro fiber cloth in slight back and forth motion
-The solution will turn purple if iron is present, either way rinse it off after agitation
-IronX or T.R.I.X. are the only two car finish safe product that get iron deposit off, T.R.I.X. is also a tar remover so use it if you have any tar on there already
-After the IronX or T.R.I.X. is rinsed off go through your regular wash routine again
-This time completely towel dry, I used The Absorber towel
-Apply and use the P21S cleaner as per directions on bottle. P21S works like a polish and removes small imperfections but leaves nothing behind
-Fix any paint chips with touch up paint and allow to fully dry, the P21S can be used on the area once dry to improve the touched up finish
-Remove tail lights, antenna knob and mud guards and clean the areas uncovered
Clean under the edges of everywhere the wrap will be wrapped around or tucked under (hood, trunk, doors, door sills, fuel door, under fenders, front bumper tow hook cover etc)

The only panel which will need to be removed is the front bumper with headlights but only when it’s going to be wrapped which I will cover on its own since it’s the most technical area. Leave it on for now.

Wrapping

-Focus on a single panel at a time. The hood is a good one to start with after the side mirrors
-Mix Iso and water 50/50. Wipe down chosen panel and slightly onto neighboring panels with 50/50 solution including the under edges of the chosen panel
-Apply knifeless tape for all cuts (Do not use a blade on any painted surface)
-Pull off required amount of vinyl for panel with 6” excess on all sides, cut from roll using safe cutter
-Lay over panel for test fit
-With assistance hold vinyl vertically, one hand each on top and keep it under some tension. Peel backing off, keeping the top under some tension using your free hand. Allow backing to drop once peeled away
-Grab the bottom corner with free hand, and get vinyl sheet right over the chosen panel
-Have your assistant apply some heat if the panel is highly contoured, most of the FRS/BRZ panels are, then with tension lay the vinyl onto the panel as smoothly as possible. Technique and hand placement is key here but practice makes perfect and if it didn’t lay down a good sized smooth section, pull it up now before applying any pressure reheat and retry. The larger the first lay down the better.
-After a good sized section is laid down apply some pressure to it with your 3M Squeegee to lock it down.
-Work around the applied section, lifting just enough to get a clean edge then apply heat to “iron” the film, then pull to outside and lay down another section as large as possible, then apply pressure.
-Continue this process until the whole panel is covered and overlapping onto neighboring panels
-Pull the knifeless tape lines to trim the panel, ensure all the pieces of green tape are removed
-Tuck and fold edges trying to limit folds even on the undersides, opening the hood, doors and truck at this stage make it easier to fold under.
-Special attention is required on corners, do not bunch up the excess vinyl in the underside of corners, cut slits and overlap the pieces on the underside.
-Apply pressure to all tucked and folded sections to ensure a good bond.
-Re squeegee the panel to ensure all air is removed
-Heat entire completed panel to “cast” the vinyl into it new shape.

Tips
-Hood, roof and bumpers do center section first then the sides
-Panels other that listed above start with the largest flat section of the panel first
-Trunk is a combination of the two tips above, since the top of the trunk is the largest flat section start with it but do it center first then sides, then move on over the back of the trunk.
-Do the small panel on the trunk before the rest of the trunk
-Do the small side panel vents before the rest of the front fenders
-Do the gas cover before the passenger rear quarter panel
-Do the door handle recess before the door
-Things like the antenna will be wrapped over, to limit stretch and distortion of the vinyl cut a small hole when you get right up to it, much smaller than the antenna base, over the antenna then work the vinyl over it. The hole is small because it can stretch to a larger hole. Make the hole as round as possible to limit the chance of tearing when stretching the hole. Same for the door handles, side mirrors when doing the door panel and the emblem if not removed.

Knifeless tape –Works great but has its limitations. Watch the video’s on their website and YouTube then practice with some. For it to work it needs to be securely sandwiched between the panels painted surface and the vinyl. The extra time planning and laying the tape is made up in the trimming stage and the finish is great. Also with the tape trimming can be done in spots where even a small knife wouldn’t fit. Just make sure to remove all the pieces after trimming.

Panel specific suggestions/observations;

The rear quarter panels are the largest section. They go from the rear corner next to the tail lights all the way up under the doors and down the windshield pillar. Do this in one piece starting at the back working to the front. Do the largest flat section first which is where the fuel door is on the passenger side, go right over the wheels and trim it latter leaving 2-3” to wrap under the fender undersides. The ruff finish under the doors is were I left my edge since it wont adhere as well to that surface. I plan to add a strip to cover and wrap under which will take a lot of abuse but be easily replaceable in the future because it is a separate piece. Run the knifeless tape on the edge of the windshield, along the roof channels and down the edge of the rear glass and open the trunk to run it in along the side of the rear quarter panel. Use another piece of knifeless tape in the tail light recess, since the tail lights are removed, and then about 3mm onto the rear bumper and into the rear fender. This will leave enough vinyl to jam into the panel seam between rear qtr panel and rear bumper. Run knifeless tape along the line created by the ruff finish under the doors. Run knifeless tape inside your door jams and around your rear quarter windows and over the side windows and down the windshield placing the tape on the edge of the window trim. This will leave enough vinyl to tuck under your trim for a truly seamless finish. Use a squeegee to gently lift the soft window seals back then with another squeegee like the custom mini one I mentioned to push the vinyl under and take your time. Once the section is laid on the surface and overlapping onto neighboring panels trim around the door but leaving 3” so it can be opened and the vinyl can be wrapped into the door jam. On the passenger side don’t forget to put knifeless tape on the fuel door as well.

The rear bumper can be done in one piece with some effort or two. The horizontal section directly behind the trunk can be done first leaving a seam right on the edge.

The front bumper is the most challenging panel. I strongly suggest removing it, which is easy, then removing the headlights, center grill, side grills and lights and side marker lights then reattaching the bumper to the car. This allows access into these areas so the vinyl can be wrapped around the backside of the bumper. I suggest doing the front bumper in four pieces, one for the lower middle section below the center grill, on one for each headlight inside corner, then the rest in one large piece. The reason is that there will be excess material in the lower center which would require a center seam at minimum and the seams hide better on edges or inside corners, the headlights create too deep of a pocket for the vinyl to be stretched into. Lay the knifeless tape and wrap the panel on the car, then do some trimming leaving 3” around parameter. Pull the panel off again, wrap your edges around the backside, replace all grills and lights, remount panel then cast the entire panel.

A note on seams and patches –Seams from using multiple pieces on one panel and patches hide very well, at least on the flat finishes. When the seam can be planned have them on edges or in inside corners, they hide better and look like normal light reflections if noticed. Overlap the vinyl by at least 3mm for durability, and using 3M primer wont hurt either.

Care

Care and maintenance is simple. To maintain the best finish clean the car as per your usual routine regularly keeping it free of hard to get off debris. Try not to blast high pressure water directly at seams, use a presoak, let soak, then agitate to get off the hard stuff instead.

Towel dry with The Absorber for best results.

Rocks do take out divots, mainly from the front bumper but chips are much less likely which is a good reason for wrapping. These divots can be repaired with small patches of vinyl and the do hide very well. If the panel gets too many divots, remove wrap and repeat.

Removal

Lift edge and pull, use some heat if necessary, clean residue with 3M adhesive remover. Pile badges off vinyl with some heat and reapply.

Wash car.

[Lawnik]

More

[Lawnik]

Held for future updates

[chulooz]

Great first time results! Why was it removed so soon?

[Lawnik]

I was just giving the procedure of how to remove, I only had to remove and replace one of the side mirrors. Im actually going to change the side mirrors from flat black to flat gray.

The pictures were taken yesterday after 2200km of daily driving.

So how do you like the flat grey?

Im impressed with the wear resistance so far.

[Erroneous]

This blows my mind. Did you do it mostly for protective purposes?

Thanks for the tutorial - looks like a lot of effort went into providing it (on top of all the time spent on the car!)

[mashal]

good job on the vinyl, not a big fan of that color but your work looks great. Noticed you live in edmonton , I live in Calgary. I was thinking of doing mine flat black over the course of winter (yes i will be driving it in winter) because its pearl white and hoping that will protect it over the season. Do you or does anyone here know if it will hold up against our weather? -40's and slushy seasons

[chate]

Great job!

[Lawnik]

Originally Posted by mashal

good job on the vinyl, not a big fan of that color but your work looks great. Noticed you live in edmonton , I live in Calgary. I was thinking of doing mine flat black over the course of winter (yes i will be driving it in winter) because its pearl white and hoping that will protect it over the season. Do you or does anyone here know if it will hold up against our weather? -40's and slushy seasons

Im in Calgary weekly, we should hook up if your into showing me the cruising routes.

I was told it does become brittle and can crack with -25 and below weather. I plan on trying some winter driving too, but not on the extreme days. Hopefully next winter is as mild as the last one and there will be plenty of days to drive it.

[Lawnik]

Originally Posted by Erroneous

This blows my mind. Did you do it mostly for protective purposes?

Thanks for the tutorial - looks like a lot of effort went into providing it (on top of all the time spent on the car!)

50/50 split for protection and visual appeal

I like that I could recover my front bumper every season and keep it from the same fate as my rock chipped Camry.

[mashal]

Hell yeah, you gotta wait another week till I get mine and we will rip the streets , there isn't a whole lot but there is one road just on the north side , dunno if there construction going on still, I will go check it out this weekend

[ahausheer]

Nice job. I usually don't like flat black but that flat gray looks great. I think the door handle being black really adds a nice accent and breaks things up just enough. Looks really really nice.

[Erroneous]

Originally Posted by Lawnik

50/50 split for protection and visual appeal

I like that I could recover my front bumper every season and keep it from the same fate as my rock chipped Camry.

Thanks. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to just opti-coat - at least for someone that is content with the color of his or her car already. Seems like this would be more expensive/time-consuming...

It does look good, though.

[Sportsguy83]

I can honestly tell you that I don't like wraps at all and even less matte ones.... BUT, your car looks amazing, that is a really good color and you did an amazing job. I can't believe it but I like it!