brandonsmash
SMASH!
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2015
- Threads
- 58
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- 1,304
- Reaction score
- 341
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2015 GT - PP
- Thread starter
- #1
It had been annoying me for a little bit, but finally the bright finish on the steering wheel bezels drove me nuts on a 7-hour drive last weekend. No more! I thought. I will solve this with vinyl!
I solved the problem with vinyl, and so can you.
One thing to note: I've never vinyl-wrapped anything before other than a cell-phone back (just because). It was relatively intuitive to do this, though, and was not difficult.
Materials used:
-Pick with blunted end
-10mm socket (to remove the negative battery terminal)
-T20 Torx bit (and ratchet)
-Scissors
-X-acto knife (or razor blade)
-Needle-nose pliers (for tugging some vinyl pieces, if necessary)
-Denatured alcohol and rag
-Heat gun
-Vinyl (I bought 5 sq. ft. for this and other projects and used about 1.5 sq. ft.) (I used 3M BR201 "brushed steel") (Source: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=381649081672)
Start by watching the first minute or so of this video (forwarded to 1:08):
That will give you an idea of how to remove the airbag.
Disconnect the negative battery terminal. Seriously, you don't want the airbag going off. That would make you sad.
Using your pick, depress the airbag detents on either side of the steering wheel and pull the airbag out. It is not necessary to remove it entirely; there's enough wire that you can simply rest it on top of the steering column.
With your T20 Torx bits, remove the 6 Torx screws holding the bezels to the wheel.
The bezels pull pretty much straight out. On the left and right bezels you will have to disconnect each wiring harness for the wheel buttons; press the detent and remove the connector and you're done.
Up until this point I hadn't thought to take photos.
Once the bezels are off, remove the 6 additional Torx screws holding each of the button packages in and set those all aside.
Clean the bezels with denatured alcohol.
I started with the left and right bezels, and I feel that this was the appropriate choice.
Cut your vinyl. You want a chunk of vinyl that will comfortably wrap over the entirety of the surface. If you're using a textured vinyl and you care about texture orientation, make sure to make your cuts appropriate so the texture runs correctly.
Remove the adhesive backing, set the vinyl patch down face-up, and plonk your bezel on it (making sure you have enough vinyl around the edges and that your texture orientation is correct).
Start wrapping the vinyl over the bezel from the inside out, and trim the vinyl to fit about a 1/4" large around the edges.
Wrap the edges, smoothing out any bubbles as you go. I found that stretching the vinyl helped with application.
Flip the bezel over and work the wrap over the surfaces.
Using your razor, cut a bit of the center out and wrap the interior edges.
Using the heat gun, heat up the vinyl a bit (not too hot!) and smooth out any remaining bubbles and stretch any fidgety edges. Note that you don't have to wrap the whole piece, just the exposed elements.The protuberance doesn't need wrap, and you don't need to wrap far down towards the bolt holes either.
Et voilĂ !
Reinstall your buttons. Looking good!
The first two pieces were easy. The bottom piece -- the most annoying piece with regards to reflections and such -- was by far the hardest to cure with the wrap. I ended up doing it three times before I found a trick that worked for me.
I also didn't take as many photos, this time because I was fighting it a bit (and getting hangry).
Cut your vinyl for this one a wee bit larger than you think you'll need, just to wrap the "wings."
Start the wrap as normal. Once you have the wrap in place and completed around the exterior of the bezel, cut a slit in the center and wrap the spokes inwards. Near the top you will experience some problems. Make a relief cut on either side of the center to fold the vinyl flat. Note that you will have a major exposed area on the inside now, and this may take some fiddling.
You'll have to cut four smaller shapes of vinyl to adhere to the center of the piece. Be patient, take your time and experiment with what works best, and line up your textures.
For the top I ended up with a tee shape.
I was able to line this up with the relief cuts and the shape of the bezel and press it into place, pulling a bit with the pliers to stretch it correctly.
For each side I cut out a trapezoid corresponding to the interior angles of the spokes. This just took some patience and trimming.
The big thing was lining up the texture break; I applied the new cuts to be even with the angle of the spoke and have about 1/8" of overlap, and it ended up blending fine.
For the bottom I cut a simple 3/8" rectangle and applied it.
Here's the piece before I hit it with the heat gun and smoothed it out. It's not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than before.
The airbag just slides right back in to its mounting brackets. Don't forget to reconnect your battery, and you're done!
All said it took me about an hour (maybe 90 minutes?) to wrap the bezels (not including removal and reassembly. Keep in mind that this was the first time I'd ever done anything like this.
Ultimately I'm quite pleased with the effect. It makes the interior look nicer (I don't like fake chrome) and more livable (no more sun in the eyes off the wheel).
Next if I get really plucky I'll work on the door pulls, but I don't know how ambitious I'm feeling right now in the heat.
Good luck!
I solved the problem with vinyl, and so can you.
One thing to note: I've never vinyl-wrapped anything before other than a cell-phone back (just because). It was relatively intuitive to do this, though, and was not difficult.
Materials used:
-Pick with blunted end
-10mm socket (to remove the negative battery terminal)
-T20 Torx bit (and ratchet)
-Scissors
-X-acto knife (or razor blade)
-Needle-nose pliers (for tugging some vinyl pieces, if necessary)
-Denatured alcohol and rag
-Heat gun
-Vinyl (I bought 5 sq. ft. for this and other projects and used about 1.5 sq. ft.) (I used 3M BR201 "brushed steel") (Source: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=381649081672)
Start by watching the first minute or so of this video (forwarded to 1:08):
That will give you an idea of how to remove the airbag.
Disconnect the negative battery terminal. Seriously, you don't want the airbag going off. That would make you sad.
Using your pick, depress the airbag detents on either side of the steering wheel and pull the airbag out. It is not necessary to remove it entirely; there's enough wire that you can simply rest it on top of the steering column.
With your T20 Torx bits, remove the 6 Torx screws holding the bezels to the wheel.
The bezels pull pretty much straight out. On the left and right bezels you will have to disconnect each wiring harness for the wheel buttons; press the detent and remove the connector and you're done.
Up until this point I hadn't thought to take photos.
Once the bezels are off, remove the 6 additional Torx screws holding each of the button packages in and set those all aside.
Clean the bezels with denatured alcohol.
I started with the left and right bezels, and I feel that this was the appropriate choice.
Cut your vinyl. You want a chunk of vinyl that will comfortably wrap over the entirety of the surface. If you're using a textured vinyl and you care about texture orientation, make sure to make your cuts appropriate so the texture runs correctly.
Remove the adhesive backing, set the vinyl patch down face-up, and plonk your bezel on it (making sure you have enough vinyl around the edges and that your texture orientation is correct).
Start wrapping the vinyl over the bezel from the inside out, and trim the vinyl to fit about a 1/4" large around the edges.
Wrap the edges, smoothing out any bubbles as you go. I found that stretching the vinyl helped with application.
Flip the bezel over and work the wrap over the surfaces.
Using your razor, cut a bit of the center out and wrap the interior edges.
Using the heat gun, heat up the vinyl a bit (not too hot!) and smooth out any remaining bubbles and stretch any fidgety edges. Note that you don't have to wrap the whole piece, just the exposed elements.The protuberance doesn't need wrap, and you don't need to wrap far down towards the bolt holes either.
Et voilĂ !
Reinstall your buttons. Looking good!
The first two pieces were easy. The bottom piece -- the most annoying piece with regards to reflections and such -- was by far the hardest to cure with the wrap. I ended up doing it three times before I found a trick that worked for me.
I also didn't take as many photos, this time because I was fighting it a bit (and getting hangry).
Cut your vinyl for this one a wee bit larger than you think you'll need, just to wrap the "wings."
Start the wrap as normal. Once you have the wrap in place and completed around the exterior of the bezel, cut a slit in the center and wrap the spokes inwards. Near the top you will experience some problems. Make a relief cut on either side of the center to fold the vinyl flat. Note that you will have a major exposed area on the inside now, and this may take some fiddling.
You'll have to cut four smaller shapes of vinyl to adhere to the center of the piece. Be patient, take your time and experiment with what works best, and line up your textures.
For the top I ended up with a tee shape.
I was able to line this up with the relief cuts and the shape of the bezel and press it into place, pulling a bit with the pliers to stretch it correctly.
For each side I cut out a trapezoid corresponding to the interior angles of the spokes. This just took some patience and trimming.
The big thing was lining up the texture break; I applied the new cuts to be even with the angle of the spoke and have about 1/8" of overlap, and it ended up blending fine.
For the bottom I cut a simple 3/8" rectangle and applied it.
Here's the piece before I hit it with the heat gun and smoothed it out. It's not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than before.
The airbag just slides right back in to its mounting brackets. Don't forget to reconnect your battery, and you're done!
All said it took me about an hour (maybe 90 minutes?) to wrap the bezels (not including removal and reassembly. Keep in mind that this was the first time I'd ever done anything like this.
Ultimately I'm quite pleased with the effect. It makes the interior look nicer (I don't like fake chrome) and more livable (no more sun in the eyes off the wheel).
Next if I get really plucky I'll work on the door pulls, but I don't know how ambitious I'm feeling right now in the heat.
Good luck!
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