Stripes Completed By First Timer

[davekro]

Robb,
As Ivan mentioned about a spoiler, given the time and two weeks to regroup again, would you have any thoughts on how you'd of dealt with the small flat spoiler? I like that you tackled the job. I think I am like you and love doing things yourself to your car and don't mind the time. Your story gives me hope! Measure 5 times glue/ stick only once (or twice or so ;) )
Great job! :cheers:

Sponsored

 

[RobD]

Nice job!! Color combo looks great too!!

 

[Rhys]

Nup. If I could learn how to do it professionally, then I'd man up and do it!

 

[Blackdog]

Nice job. The $800 he paid included the purchase price of the stripes.

Rich

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

its too much of a hassle for you to take off 4 tires and put 4 back? :eyebulge:

Obviously I did it the first time and so I can if I have to, but it took me over an hour, got my clothes dirty, and left me sore for a couple of days (I was surprised how much shoulder effort goes into loosening and tightening twenty lug nuts). I'm 34 years old, not a teenager any more, and that much work with my hands isn't something I'm accustomed to. Easier to pay somebody to do it for me.

 

[davekro]

$800 is ridiculous. a good local tint/wrap person should be able to do it for $400 or so

Some of you misread Robb's comment on pricing. He said:
"Dealer wanted about $800 to do the job including kit, but I saw one a dealer did and the roof stripe was crooked. I know my next attempt will be damn near perfect. This one is not horrible."
So that would make the 'dealer' installation labor cost +/- $400. I'm sure Robb knows he could have had the job done a little cheaper somewhere else. I bet he was thinking along the lines I would. "I have the time, I enjoy doing things to and for my car myself and for me personally I really enjoy not paying for something I can do myself." ;) Obviously everyone's preferences and time availability differ. If I worked 50 - 60 hour weeks and only had weekends for free time, my decision would likely differ. One other piece (for me) is that I will take the time to do a job right and not cut corners. Sometimes getting something done by a shop means faster and right. Sometimes it means less care and something actually get screwed up or done shoddily. YMMV

 

[robb]

Looks good, but if it took ten hours of work, wouldn't it make more sense just to pay the dealer the $800 for parts and labor?

I wanted to do it myself to learn the process and possibly do this as side work when I retire. I paid $200 for the stripes but you can get them cheaper if you look around, just make sure the stripes have water channels to make it easier. I plan on trying different colors when I get tired of it, so just another reason I wanted to learn the process.

 

[robb]

10 hours is one very long day or most of your waking hours in a weekend. I dunno, that's a lot of time to give up. On a smaller scale, I put my own winter tires on in December, but paid a tire shop $60 to take them off this weekend because that was easier than going through the whole process my self again.

I think I can cut that time in half now that I know how to do it.

 

[robb]

$800 is ridiculous. a good local tint/wrap person should be able to do it for $400 or so

Agree the $800 dealer price was crazy, but they were the only ones to guarantee a perfect result. All the other shops said they never guarantee perfection.

 

[robb]

Robb,
As Ivan mentioned about a spoiler, given the time and two weeks to regroup again, would you have any thoughts on how you'd of dealt with the small flat spoiler? I like that you tackled the job. I think I am like you and love doing things yourself to your car and don't mind the time. Your story gives me hope! Measure 5 times glue/ stick only once (or twice or so ;) )
Great job! :cheers:

I don't see a spoiler being hard to do. May have to take extra time with it but should be fairly easy. The multiple angles of the bumper are the only real problem, but once you get the feel of laying down vinyl even those would probably be ok. I think the hair dryer may be the key there.

 

[robb]

Nice job. The $800 he paid included the purchase price of the stripes.

Rich

I paid $200 for the kit and did the labor myself. You can shop around for cheaper kits.

 

[davekro]

I paid $200 for the kit and did the labor myself. You can shop around for cheaper kits.

Was your vinyl kit 3M? Is 3M the gold standard? Where did you buy your kit?
Tks.

 

[robb]

Was your vinyl kit 3M? Is 3M the gold standard? Where did you buy your kit?
Tks.

Yes they were 3M and they were from MoProAuto. Their customer service is horrible in my opinion. BigWorm seems to have a better product than the 3M because you can get the backing paper wet without a problem. This is a big deal believe me because just one drop of water on the 3M and it's near impossible to get the paper off (happened to me and was lucky to save that stripe). BigWorm is also on this forum and very interactive. I would have bought BigWorm if I hadn't already ordered from MoProAuto.

 

[MELLOWYELLOW06]

Looks great.

Never would think it was a first attempt at this.

Looks professionally done.

 

[davekro]

Yes they were 3M and they were from MoProAuto. Their customer service is horrible in my opinion. BigWorm seems to have a better product than the 3M because you can get the backing paper wet without a problem. This is a big deal believe me because just one drop of water on the 3M and it's near impossible to get the paper off (happened to me and was lucky to save that stripe). BigWorm is also on this forum and very interactive. I would have bought BigWorm if I hadn't already ordered from MoProAuto.

Very good to know the trickiness of 'non water paper'! Any idea what the aproximate price difference might have been for your type of stripe w/ water friendly paper from BigWorm (ball park)?

Sponsored