Looking for Advice; Paint vs Wrap for New Hood

[Ballistica]

Hi all. Looking for a bit of advice. Recently bought a used 2021 GT Premium and working to budget for some modifications for next year.

I'm liking the look of the Cervini Ram Air Hood but it comes unpainted. That's fine, but looking to see if painting it or doing a wrap would be best. I've done a bit of searching through the forums here and it looks like wraps have come a long way in the durability department and if it ever gets majorly damaged or scratched, then it would be a simple matter of peeling the wrap off and re-applying. However, paint is definitely durable and I won't have to worry about the little dings and scratches as much.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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[Egparson202]

I have a similar question since I’m considering acquiring a replacement hood for the Shelby so I can add Race Louvers without cutting up the original. Whether I get an OE or aftermarket aluminum, aftermarket fiberglass or even carbon fiber hood, I this expect to pursue the wrap vs paint question.

 

[MCS]

My.02

I had mine painted. It required a lot of repairs (aluminum hood) but then I had it primed and painted and it just seems to blend better to the car than a WRAP would. If you wrapped the whole car sure it'll all be matchy poo poo but without that I would go with paint.

 

[tosha]

I have a similar question since I’m considering acquiring a replacement hood for the Shelby so I can add Race Louvers without cutting up the original. Whether I get an OE or aftermarket aluminum, aftermarket fiberglass or even carbon fiber hood, I this expect to pursue the wrap vs paint question.

that is exactly what I did (cut replacement hood for racelouvers and keep original in a box). Since it's function over form anyways, I went with wrap approach. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out and I get tons of positive feedback from random people. it also cost me around $50 in material from Amazon and few hours in garage with a heat gun, and I don't care if it gets damaged as I can always re-wrap it.

 

[MAGS1]

I would say a lot depends on the color you’re trying to match. If it’s one of the basics (white, black, race red, silver) a wrap should blend pretty well. Some of the more complex colors will be difficult to match with a wrap, though. I always prefer paint so that would be my recommendation, but that’s just a personal preference.

 

[Glenn]

The cost of having a hood painted is crazy ($1k), that's why I always go CF or a wrap!
My trunk is a wrap and hood is a real CF
And the rear deck lid panel is hydro dip

 

[Ballistica]

that is exactly what I did (cut replacement hood for racelouvers and keep original in a box). Since it's function over form anyways, I went with wrap approach. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out and I get tons of positive feedback from random people. it also cost me around $50 in material from Amazon and few hours in garage with a heat gun, and I don't care if it gets damaged as I can always re-wrap it.

So you did the wrap yourself? That looks amazing in your pictures. If it's that simple, would be worth giving it a try myself. The Cervini hood is relatively design wise, not too many crazy angles to have to work with.

 

[Ballistica]

I would say a lot depends on the color you’re trying to match. If it’s one of the basics (white, black, race red, silver) a wrap should blend pretty well. Some of the more complex colors will be difficult to match with a wrap, though. I always prefer paint so that would be my recommendation, but that’s just a personal preference.

The mustang is Absolute Black, so thinking that it should be fairly easy to match. I may not be able to find the right color match through amazon (that would drive me crazy if it was slightly off) but there are a number of shops in the area here that do wraps and it should be easy to match for them.

 

[Ballistica]

The cost of having a hood painted is crazy ($1k), that's why I always go CF or a wrap!
My trunk is a wrap and hood is a real CF
And the rear deck lid panel is hydro dip

Those pics look great! If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of your wrap? Just trying to ball park the savings if it was costing 1k to paint a hood.

 

[MAGS1]

The mustang is Absolute Black, so thinking that it should be fairly easy to match. I may not be able to find the right color match through amazon (that would drive me crazy if it was slightly off) but there are a number of shops in the area here that do wraps and it should be easy to match for them.

Yeah that should be one of the easier colors to match or get really close to. I’m always a fan of paint for longevity but wrapping is considerably less expensive (and there’s some really cool wrap colors out there now if you decide you want to wrap your whole car).

 

[Glenn]

Those pics look great! If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of your wrap? Just trying to ball park the savings if it was costing 1k to paint a hood.

I got two rolls 6x10FT at $70 a roll for mistakes LOL
one is dry and the other is wet or smooth.
The dry is so much easy to work with.
when doing it using a hair dryer you will get small air bubbles, don,t freak out like me they will go away the next day

 

[tosha]

So you did the wrap yourself? That looks amazing in your pictures. If it's that simple, would be worth giving it a try myself. The Cervini hood is relatively design wise, not too many crazy angles to have to work with.

Yep. Wouldn't say it's easy or hard, it really depends. I watched quite a few how-to videos, including one specifically for mustang s550 hood. It's totally doable, just time consuming and takes patience. Also, having the hood on a table instead of on the car helped a lot.
Mite turned out well from the first try, I never done any wraps before.

 

[Ballistica]

Called a local vinyl wrap shop and he stated that since the hood is fiberglass, it would be best to have it painted. He said that the wrap just doesn't hold as well to fiberglass as it does with metal. Plus he said that it'd be hard to exactly match the Absolute Black. It'd be close but would have a brownish tint to it when viewed in direct sunlight.

 

[chowman90]

I installed the Cervini's hood and had it painted as well as the roof and truck. I think it turned out well

 

[Arknsawchuck]

If you go wrap look at the web site metrorestyling.com. you can get index card sized samples for $1 ea so you can get samples of all the types of blacks they have. There are some true blacks out there, just can't remember who makes it. As far as install goes, it's not hard at all, make sure the hood is beyond clean and whip it down with 70% iso alcohol, don't forget under the edges of the hood. Get a friend to help spread the vinyl over the hood and take your time laying it down. CKwraps has some great how to videos on you tube.

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