Nathan's Silver GT

[DarkSubRosa]

Man, more power to you, I worked on mine today. F that. the minute I touched the gloss with the felt it marred it and left swirl marks and I learned that I need to keep my day job and suck at working the vinyl. Needless to say, even if it was perfect when I was done I wasn't happy with the gloss and how swirled up it looked so I just pulled it all off.

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[SlowRed]

That's the reason I keep second guessing whether I want vinyl or just get it painted

 

[DarkSubRosa]

I think the flat or satin vinyls probably don't mar or swirl like the gloss does.

 

[SlowRed]

Yeah but I want gloss.

 

[Nathanbrummer@SCS]

That sucks. I was worried about that with the gloss vinyl. No issues with the satin finish. No scratches or swirls. I was actually surprised how realtilvy shiny the semi gloss is in the direct sun. The YouTube install videos make it look much easier than it actually is. I'm now wondering what the brushed aluminum black material would look like. Similar to what is on Brian vossen's car.

 

[Nathanbrummer@SCS]

I think the flat or satin vinyls probably don't mar or swirl like the gloss does.

I've seen some install videos where they use soap and water with the felt squeegee to help reduce scratches.

 

[DarkSubRosa]

We used a spray bottle and generous amounts of water and it still left marks. The more videos I went back and watched most of the gloss installs they were using the felt squeegee as little as possible and using lots and lots of pulling and heat to try to get it to lay down right and most of the comments I saw were basically, yeah gloss will swirl and leave marks once it's touched but looks good from a few feet away. I'm bummed about it. In photos it looked good on my buddies car we did first but close up it just wasn't up to my standards. I'd like to see a professional installed gloss car to see how well they can avoid the swirling. If I had paid $250 for an install and after one wash it swirled up I'd be way more annoyed than the money I lost in material I just trashed.

 

[GT Pony]

^^^ Can the swirls be taken out with a good plastic polish and some light hand buffing?

 

[Nathanbrummer@SCS]

I hear you. I had heard bad things about the gloss. Here is a quick driveway photo from a higher viewpoint of the semigloss. still debating on doing the little antenna bubble.

 

[DarkSubRosa]

I thought you wrapped the antenna with the roof. I would wrap the bubble but yours looks really nice in the semi-gloss

 

[Nathanbrummer@SCS]

I thought you wrapped the antenna with the roof. I would wrap the bubble but yours looks really nice in the semi-gloss

I did, but there was too much curve I guess. When I checked on it a few hours after it was pulling away so I cut around the antenna and pulled the top off. The base of the roof laid back down. I watched a few
BMW roof videos and it looks like they do a similar install. They wrap their antenna afterwards with a separate piece. Just need to decide if I like the contrast or not.

 

[DarkSubRosa]

^^^ Can the swirls be taken out with a good plastic polish and some light hand buffing?

Some plastic polish from what I read will help but not completely remove them. I tried some auto polish that I had just to see and it didn't do crap. The plastic specific stuff should help but the black just shows everything. I think Nathan had the right idea of doing the semi-gloss.

 

[Nathanbrummer@SCS]

I haven't done much with my car lately. Mainly waiting on my new wheels to come in. I did finally get a chance to give it a much needed bath yesterday and went out to snap a couple photos.




Still debating on the whole black roof thing. I can't decide if I like it or not. It does look much more aggressive.

I also found a little better source image to mock up what my new wheels should look like.

 

[jefc73]

Looks good Nathan

 

[OySmallFry@SCS]

I hear you. I had heard bad things about the gloss. Here is a quick driveway photo from a higher viewpoint of the semigloss. still debating on doing the little antenna bubble.

Love that blacked out roof my man. It's a really nice accent to your already sweet ride.

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