Bbarfoot14
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Started my project today with the satin pearlescent white wrap for the entire car, still deciding what I want to do with the roof (gloss blk/satin blk/Stn white). This is my daily driver so I will have to try to stick to my plan of "one panel a day" after work and hopefully get it done in a few weeks. Don't really care that I will be driving with it because the color is similar and it's winter time so who really cares. I'll try to post my pics and overall review for those trying to attempt. I am not a professional, I have a few years wrapping experience but never a full car.
The truck and very straight forward, very little hear needed at all as the curves are simple. Color is phenomenal in the sun can't wait for the finished product but in the end, it's all about taking your time and getting the best results.
UPDATE 1/23/17!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How she currently sits. Basically just waiting for the last bit of material to come in for the front bumper. Love the color, came out really well overall and was a tremendous learning experience. Excited to wrap again next winter.
12/12/16 UPDATE !!!
Ok quick update, got the door done this evening after work. There's not beating around the bush on this one, it's labor intensive. The door handle is a bitch to get off, strangest system I have ever seen. Other then that, you'll need some extensions and tiny bits to get the mirror nuts for removal. Advise I can give is remove the speakers immediately after getting the door panel off as you'll need them for bolt acces and the mirror cord that needs to be removed. And remove the rubber corner object first so you can see the mirror bolts easier, also keep your window panel around as you'll need to put the window up and down to access some of then bolts(plug into the cord you disconnected). Obviously it took me some time as I was doing a this the first time, I bet the second door will be much easier as I know the process. Other then getting all that stuff removed, the door is a straight forward wrap with little heat stretching required. The handle is tough but take your time and prestretch a bit to get it fitted properly, then get a thin blade and you can follow the black trim easily.
12/13/16 UPDATE !!!!!!
So I just tackled both mirrors, these are tough. The fact of the matter is that even with pre stretching your material the angles of this mirror are problematic. I am going to attempt a few different methods over the course of this wrap since I will have a bunch of scrap that I can use for nothing else. This time around I went conservative, layed cut less tape around the inside corner. I then ripped there as the material was quiet wrinkled at those edges and then wrapped it with satin black and cover the open seam with clear edge sealer to avoid peeling, I saw this method performed by the last shop I took my BMW to and they did it a bit cleaner then I did, but we learn and get better. I will definetly be re-wrapping these a few times with the hope to get a one perfect placement and get it in 1 piece but till next time, a panel a day keeps the doctor away.
12/14/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Tackled the side panel today. For me personally, it was a bit annoying to start as I had to remove the 5.0 badge and remaining adhesive as well as remove my mudflaps which has a large amount of adhesive on them as well. But after all the scrubbing it's a straigh forward wrap. Key tip for this one is to take your time on your edging, many you can not access well so bend the rubber end of your squeegee in there along with heat to seal them on the backside. Till next time...
12/18/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Got the bottom portion of the side done and the largest panel on the car this weekend. Overall took me 6 hours of actual wrapping after the cleaning. The lower side panel is very straight forward, just make sure your drying in between your panels so the vinyl can stick in there.
The large panel is a bear, it's a large piece of vinyl and working alone makes this park difficult. Pre cut to save maximum material and it's for the most part a straight forward wrap. Those wide curvy hips make it a bit of extra work but nothing too bad. At the end, take your time on your edging as there are 7 or 8 separate cutting edges. Lots of sweat and effort so car but it's nice to see her starting to take shape. I think I'll go for the hood this week which shouldn't but too bad at all. Till next time.
12/20/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Did the hood and heat extractors over the past 2 days. Let's start th the HE's, I chose to wrap them as they were removed from the car because I wanted the ability to pull and tuck the wrap under there out of sight completely. You can struggle with leverage at time but it's an easy wrap so just use your fingers with gloves on.
On to the hood, as far as wrapping goes it is easy as can be. It's flat with a few curves but nothing bad at all. The large problem I realized immediately is that the standard wrap width (5ft) wAs not enough to cover it , short about 2 inches with only 2 inches up top past the edge. I'm not sure if the engine bay/hood is larger on the gt but I can personally say I have never run into this issue before.... Meaning our cars have massive hoods lol. The key here is to put down most of the upper portion, get a nice base for leverage. Then you are going to evenly And thoroughly heat section by section as you put down the material and stretch it ever so slightly. You don't want to overstretch one area so you srtart early and at the end up with just about an inch of clearance. It's kinda a bitch to be honest but I'm not paying for special made long width vinyl. Overall it came out fantastic, possibly my best panel. She is taking shape now and next stop will be the back bumper, till then we take our time and trust the process.
12/26/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Got the bumper done before heading back 300 miles to NJ for the holiday(sorry for the dirty pics). Preparation was key here as you will need to remove the taillights, speaker, un-clip the corner of bumper and really thoroughly clean that sucker. I used several scrap pieces to get a feel for what would work around that license plate recess, I decided eventually to tackle it with knife-less tape and in 2 piece for better longevity. The wrap is fairly tough but just requires a lot of patience, i have a roush rear valence so it kinda made it easier in my opinion. Watch a Youtube video on bumpers to understand the preheating and stretch technique... This is a great method and is needed for a wrinkle free application. Same with the edging and seams... just take your time and get them sealed properly for long-term hold. With taking it apart, washing, install and putting it back together, this may have taken me 6-7 hours. In my mind this should be the 2nd hardest panel on our car... behind the front bumper. Till next time, I continue to drive in the left lane as it nearly looks complete... from the right side lol.
The truck and very straight forward, very little hear needed at all as the curves are simple. Color is phenomenal in the sun can't wait for the finished product but in the end, it's all about taking your time and getting the best results.
UPDATE 1/23/17!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How she currently sits. Basically just waiting for the last bit of material to come in for the front bumper. Love the color, came out really well overall and was a tremendous learning experience. Excited to wrap again next winter.
12/12/16 UPDATE !!!
Ok quick update, got the door done this evening after work. There's not beating around the bush on this one, it's labor intensive. The door handle is a bitch to get off, strangest system I have ever seen. Other then that, you'll need some extensions and tiny bits to get the mirror nuts for removal. Advise I can give is remove the speakers immediately after getting the door panel off as you'll need them for bolt acces and the mirror cord that needs to be removed. And remove the rubber corner object first so you can see the mirror bolts easier, also keep your window panel around as you'll need to put the window up and down to access some of then bolts(plug into the cord you disconnected). Obviously it took me some time as I was doing a this the first time, I bet the second door will be much easier as I know the process. Other then getting all that stuff removed, the door is a straight forward wrap with little heat stretching required. The handle is tough but take your time and prestretch a bit to get it fitted properly, then get a thin blade and you can follow the black trim easily.
12/13/16 UPDATE !!!!!!
So I just tackled both mirrors, these are tough. The fact of the matter is that even with pre stretching your material the angles of this mirror are problematic. I am going to attempt a few different methods over the course of this wrap since I will have a bunch of scrap that I can use for nothing else. This time around I went conservative, layed cut less tape around the inside corner. I then ripped there as the material was quiet wrinkled at those edges and then wrapped it with satin black and cover the open seam with clear edge sealer to avoid peeling, I saw this method performed by the last shop I took my BMW to and they did it a bit cleaner then I did, but we learn and get better. I will definetly be re-wrapping these a few times with the hope to get a one perfect placement and get it in 1 piece but till next time, a panel a day keeps the doctor away.
12/14/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Tackled the side panel today. For me personally, it was a bit annoying to start as I had to remove the 5.0 badge and remaining adhesive as well as remove my mudflaps which has a large amount of adhesive on them as well. But after all the scrubbing it's a straigh forward wrap. Key tip for this one is to take your time on your edging, many you can not access well so bend the rubber end of your squeegee in there along with heat to seal them on the backside. Till next time...
12/18/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Got the bottom portion of the side done and the largest panel on the car this weekend. Overall took me 6 hours of actual wrapping after the cleaning. The lower side panel is very straight forward, just make sure your drying in between your panels so the vinyl can stick in there.
The large panel is a bear, it's a large piece of vinyl and working alone makes this park difficult. Pre cut to save maximum material and it's for the most part a straight forward wrap. Those wide curvy hips make it a bit of extra work but nothing too bad. At the end, take your time on your edging as there are 7 or 8 separate cutting edges. Lots of sweat and effort so car but it's nice to see her starting to take shape. I think I'll go for the hood this week which shouldn't but too bad at all. Till next time.
12/20/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Did the hood and heat extractors over the past 2 days. Let's start th the HE's, I chose to wrap them as they were removed from the car because I wanted the ability to pull and tuck the wrap under there out of sight completely. You can struggle with leverage at time but it's an easy wrap so just use your fingers with gloves on.
On to the hood, as far as wrapping goes it is easy as can be. It's flat with a few curves but nothing bad at all. The large problem I realized immediately is that the standard wrap width (5ft) wAs not enough to cover it , short about 2 inches with only 2 inches up top past the edge. I'm not sure if the engine bay/hood is larger on the gt but I can personally say I have never run into this issue before.... Meaning our cars have massive hoods lol. The key here is to put down most of the upper portion, get a nice base for leverage. Then you are going to evenly And thoroughly heat section by section as you put down the material and stretch it ever so slightly. You don't want to overstretch one area so you srtart early and at the end up with just about an inch of clearance. It's kinda a bitch to be honest but I'm not paying for special made long width vinyl. Overall it came out fantastic, possibly my best panel. She is taking shape now and next stop will be the back bumper, till then we take our time and trust the process.
12/26/16 UPDATE !!!!!!!
Got the bumper done before heading back 300 miles to NJ for the holiday(sorry for the dirty pics). Preparation was key here as you will need to remove the taillights, speaker, un-clip the corner of bumper and really thoroughly clean that sucker. I used several scrap pieces to get a feel for what would work around that license plate recess, I decided eventually to tackle it with knife-less tape and in 2 piece for better longevity. The wrap is fairly tough but just requires a lot of patience, i have a roush rear valence so it kinda made it easier in my opinion. Watch a Youtube video on bumpers to understand the preheating and stretch technique... This is a great method and is needed for a wrinkle free application. Same with the edging and seams... just take your time and get them sealed properly for long-term hold. With taking it apart, washing, install and putting it back together, this may have taken me 6-7 hours. In my mind this should be the 2nd hardest panel on our car... behind the front bumper. Till next time, I continue to drive in the left lane as it nearly looks complete... from the right side lol.
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