I Have been thinking of wrapping parts of the car for a while. initially, i was thinking of wrapping just the two bumpers. now I am tempted to do the Bonnet and T-Bar.

although there are few questions springing to mind frequently.

 

1: will Vinyl handle engine heat, and maintain its quality? for external bonnet use ONLY.

2: how durable and consistent is it to use.

3: does anyone here have first hand experience with this material? and your take on using it.. positives and negatives.

4: does Vinyl require lacquer application to protect?

Thank you in advance. and looking forward to hearing the pro's and cons of this material :)

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by kingMo
spelling error

its good stuff .. will last about 4 years .. not the easy'st thing to put on ... top of bonnet is ok but not inside the engine bay

no lacquer is needed

Hi,

 

 

these guys might be able to answer any other questions...

 

http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?160-Wicked-Coatings

I Have been thinking of wrapping parts of the car for a while. initially, i was thinking of wrapping just the two bumpers. now I am tempted to do the Bonnet and T-Bar.

although there are few questions springing to mind frequently.

 

1: will Vinyl handle engine heat, and maintain its quality? for external bonnet use ONLY.

2: how durable and consistent is it to use.

3: does anyone here have first hand experience with this material? and your take on using it.. positives and negatives.

4: does Vinyl require lacquer application to protect?

Thank you in advance. and looking forward to hearing the pro's and cons of this material :)

i used to work as a vinyl wrapper, its pretty easy to use. to answer your questions...

1..vinyl can handle heat quite well, just not too much, infact you use heat when applying to curved surface to help it stretch and wrap around.

2..vinyl is quite durable if you buy the good 3m stuff and not the cheap crap off ebay. should last around 4 years plus as mark said.

3..when using it make sure the surface you are sticking it to is absolutely spotlessly clean because once fitted any grit or dirt underneath will show up tenfold!

4.. no laquer is needed after fitting, but when cleaning, a soft cloth will be needed as light scratches and swirlmarks can show up quite easily.

hope this helps mate, if you have any more questions then i'll be happy to help.

superb information lads.

just had another thought. WILL BIRD DROPPINGS AFFECT IT? shine-quality/penetrate-through/bleach-shade??

 

tomomontana: Thank you for the update with heat for application. as I was informed that a Hair-dryer is a handy thing during application process.. is that the type of heat you meant?

and with regards to length of material needed to wrap a whole 2+2... what quantity would I be looking for ideally?

btw, if I use a slightly different shade/pattern to the color of the car, do I need to notify DVLA!! ie, using Matt, carbon or Gloss finish!

btw, if I use a slightly different shade/pattern to the color of the car, do I need to notify DVLA!! ie, using Matt, carbon or Gloss finish!

 

No, the DVLA only holds a record of the Main base colour (and even then is often incorrect, especially on imports). You may want to notify your insurance company though.

Have you seen vinyl wrap in the flesh though? I did for the first time a couple of months ago, each to their own but can't say I was impressed with it :(

No, the DVLA only holds a record of the Main base colour (and even then is often incorrect, especially on imports). You may want to notify your insurance company though.

 

Thank you for the heads up regarding notifying insurance :)

just had another thought. WILL BIRD DROPPINGS AFFECT IT? shine-quality/penetrate-through/bleach-shade??

 

Nope, my whole car is wrapped and while it was parked outside my house it was getting covered in all sorts of crap. Because mine is matt rather than gloss/metallic, its a massive pain in the arse to clean properly but doesnt seem to have been affected

Have you seen vinyl wrap in the flesh though? I did for the first time a couple of months ago, each to their own but can't say I was impressed with it :(

it all depends on the quality of work done by the fitter. i have seen some that have looked like stevie wonder fitted it and others that look amazing. at the end of the day, you get what you pay for as with everything!

it all depends on the quality of work done by the fitter. i have seen some that have looked like stevie wonder fitted it and others that look amazing. at the end of the day, you get what you pay for as with everything!

 

I know what you mean. as saw an SLR wrapped in Gumball Vinyl. and looked top notch. even though I am not a big fan of patterns and graphics type of finish.