MBrasser22
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I have recently purchased the Narrow Dual Full Length Stripes from Big Worm Graphix. Gloss black stripe with red pinstripe on the outside. The stripes were well priced, cost $230 or so after taxes.
I had originally planned on getting them installed professionally, but everywhere I went for a quote, multiple shops wanted $350+ or were too scared to try and install themselves since it wasn't their vinyl in case they messed a piece up. I couldn't get myself to pay well over 100% of the material cost in terms of labor to install them. So with the weather being unseasonably nice in Columbus, Ohio at 55-60 degrees outside; I decided to grow some balls and install them myself.
The instructions recommend 60-85 degrees for installation and I was doing it just below the bottom end of that range. It is doable; but not as easy. Using a heat gun/hair dryer works wonders on the curves to get the vinyl warm and easier to wrap around curves and edges. This was also the first time I have ever installed vinyl graphics myself with the exception of the small stripes on my fenders that I did so this was very nerve wracking. However it is doable!
Total time it took me was around 8, to 8.5 hours across Saturday/Sunday. Wet installs using water on the hood/roof/trunk piece make life much easier. Dry installing the smaller pieces is much easier than wet (especially when wrapping the pieces at the ends) to get them to stick faster. The pinstripe was a huge pain to line up on the hood as I had to do it while standing on the side of the car--very hard to line up directly next to the edge of the main stripes.
By installing yourself; you are going to know the mistakes the made and where they are. Other people likely won't notice them but you certainly know where they are. During my installation, I have 2 slight imperfections. A slight wrinkle towards the nose of my hood stripe, not very noticeable..but it's there. And the second one is the nose itself. I wasn't paying close enough attention to the labelled driver/passenger side pieces and installed the driver side on the left side (which from the front of the car is actually the passenger side) so that was a dumb transposition error. As a result, my 1 inch gap on the nose slightly bows outward which is obnoxious.
I had originally planned on getting them installed professionally, but everywhere I went for a quote, multiple shops wanted $350+ or were too scared to try and install themselves since it wasn't their vinyl in case they messed a piece up. I couldn't get myself to pay well over 100% of the material cost in terms of labor to install them. So with the weather being unseasonably nice in Columbus, Ohio at 55-60 degrees outside; I decided to grow some balls and install them myself.
The instructions recommend 60-85 degrees for installation and I was doing it just below the bottom end of that range. It is doable; but not as easy. Using a heat gun/hair dryer works wonders on the curves to get the vinyl warm and easier to wrap around curves and edges. This was also the first time I have ever installed vinyl graphics myself with the exception of the small stripes on my fenders that I did so this was very nerve wracking. However it is doable!
Total time it took me was around 8, to 8.5 hours across Saturday/Sunday. Wet installs using water on the hood/roof/trunk piece make life much easier. Dry installing the smaller pieces is much easier than wet (especially when wrapping the pieces at the ends) to get them to stick faster. The pinstripe was a huge pain to line up on the hood as I had to do it while standing on the side of the car--very hard to line up directly next to the edge of the main stripes.
By installing yourself; you are going to know the mistakes the made and where they are. Other people likely won't notice them but you certainly know where they are. During my installation, I have 2 slight imperfections. A slight wrinkle towards the nose of my hood stripe, not very noticeable..but it's there. And the second one is the nose itself. I wasn't paying close enough attention to the labelled driver/passenger side pieces and installed the driver side on the left side (which from the front of the car is actually the passenger side) so that was a dumb transposition error. As a result, my 1 inch gap on the nose slightly bows outward which is obnoxious.
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