Mostly-calypso: A $600 learning experience [Now S52 swapped]

[Jurt]

That wrap looks awesome, how much did you end up using?

[NJBiddle]

Have a pretty cool update in the works! A few months ago a friend of a friend on Facebook asked if she knew anyone with an older vintage car from the 80's or 90's for a feature in Popular Mechanics magazine. We replied and let her know we had a pair of daily-driver E30s in halfway decent shape, but didn't really expect a reply to be honest. Turns out they were super interested in our story, and decided to do the feature on us.

Here's a couple teaser pictures from the photoshoot they did last weekend. Will be seeing the results from the shoot over the next few months - pretty sure the article will come out in the March issue





Oh and I got a front lip finally :D

[Corsair89]

Unless I am wrong slightlystancedbmw was/is selling splitters and lips for a very attractive price. I'd fire him off a message or check his ad here. Also nice referb on those bumpers.


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[NJBiddle]

Not much new here, but figured I'd update anyhow. Keep myself accountable n'at.

Replaced the steering guibo on the vert. Forgot how tedious that job is.



Also was digging around in some old pictures, and found some from the original listing to my car. Probably should have passed on it at the time, but I'm so glad I didn't.





Anyways, I installed some new fog lights, and got them working for the first time in 2+ years! They're a Chinese knockoff set I found on Amazon, so we'll see how long they last.





Now if I can just track down a new front lip...

[jeenyus]

great progress!

[NJBiddle]

idk about that much down time again

FWIW it definitely could have been done quicker than 3 weeks. I took a bunch of extra time painting trim, filling some dings, sanding, priming, etc. Probably could have been done over 3-4 solid days if we hustled and didn't do this in the middle of July.

[Corsair89]

Thats awesome man. Makes me want to wrap my bronze beige but idk about that much down time again; going on a month and a half on my 2.7i build.

[Jaker]

Thanks. That helps. I've watched a few YouTube videos where they use a small propane torch for heating. I guess they have the knack for it and it probably makes the heating process a lot faster!

[NJBiddle]

What was the process for getting that corner done? Was it just lots of careful heatgun work or did you go baller with the propane torch?

It's a little hard to describe - basically you heat the entire corner with your heatgun and just lightly pull/stretch it around the corner. The vinyl just molds to the curve with enough heat. Definitely don't use a torch though - would melt it in about .3 seconds. The heat gun we used was even a little too hot at times. Just have to be careful and learn the limits of how far the vinyl will stretch.

Here's a halfway decent explanation showing a complex curve: https://youtu.be/UADU7wLc_sE?t=61

[JeLani]

+1 they did something right with 3.0 m54s. nice wrapping job :)

And the 3.0 X5 is uber reliable![/QUOTE]

[JeLani]

+1 they did something right with 3.0 m54s. nice builds.

And the 3.0 X5 is uber reliable![/QUOTE]

[Jaker]

Back corner was kinda tricky

What was the process for getting that corner done? Was it just lots of careful heatgun work or did you go baller with the propane torch?

I'm about to start doing the white roof on my wife's blue Toyota FJ Cruiser and I have 4 corners like this that I need to do, and they all have to have a nice clean edge to match up to the factory blue paint just below the top of the doors/sides.

[NJBiddle]

Thanks everybody. Was a ton of work, but I'm really happy with the results. Next up I'll be finishing some trim bits and hopefully finding a front lip and some IS sideskirts. Oh and fixing my AC again... Tennessee is hot.

[brainfood]

Looks good man, never would expect a wrap to appear that close to paint!

[Dj Buttchug]

Turned out way better than I expected. Nice job on the seams too.