Vinyl Guys? DIY vinyl wrapping.

[TwoJ's]

So my friend has a nice '09 FJ that is silver and he's gone for the black and silver look (black wheels, trim, grille, windows etc.). Here's a pic:






The last thing that needs to change to complete the look is the white roof needs to go. He wants to do it in satin and I have painted my car before, so I am willing and able to prep and spray it no problem. But I recommended to him that he should get it wrapped so he can return it to stock if he wants to. Also, he actually does take it off road, and the rack does get loaded up fairly often, so it would be nice not to mess up the paint and have to re-do it. He got a quote to have it done and they told him it would be $600.

From what I gather that is a pretty fair price to have a professional do the work. I tried to do some looking around and found THIS thread of a DIY vinyl wrap. The guy got all of the materials for $120 to do the whole car. He had a friend who got him the vinyl at wholesale price, so I know we wouldn't be be getting it that cheap.

I'm wondering if any of you know a good source to buy the vinyl? We don't need a ton of it. When I painted my car, I took the rubber shit off of my front valence and it ended up getting rock chipped pretty quickly. So I'm going to re-spray it, and I like the smooth look much better. So if this application goes well, I would like to do the clear shit on there. Also, What kind of local store would carry this stuff? Would a shop that does the applications sell materials?

Any input would be appreciated.

[Kershaw]

buy your vinyl from fellers. make sure you use a squeegee covered with moleskin or the fuzzy side of velcro. use lots of rapidtac. oracal is cheap, 3m is expensive.

$600 is a pretty fair price.

<---- graphic designer for a sign company. i do this stuff all the time.

[Danny]

I helped a friend do his e46's roof black and it was fairly easy. I think it cost him MAYBE 40 bucks for all the stuff needed for the job. Was pretty quick and painless, took us about an hour to do the whole thing. Just take your time and you'll be fine!

[AndrewBird]

I prefer Avery brand vinyl over everything else I've used. I get it from here:

http://www.signwarehouse.com/

[iidesu]

a lovable vehicle, that's all.

[BrewCity11]

Don't order it from anywhere. All you need for a roof is like 4-7 feet. Google some local vehicle-wrapping sign makers and pop in and ask them for however much you need for the roof.

Should be less than $50, unless they markup like crazy. No special supplies needed really. Just clean well. A felt squeegy or roller would help but since its a flat roof you should have no problems if you get some help laying it down.

I work for Arlon but sadly can't really help you as typically only sell to distributors in the US (like fellers)

[Julien]

the diy mentions using 48" but it seems that the avery stuff is only available in 24"... how would you go about doing a hood using 24" or is 48" a must? do metallic colors come out nicely in vinyl?

[TwoJ's]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to take BrewCity's advice and find a local shop this weekend and see if they are willing to just sell us a piece of vinyl.

Don't order it from anywhere. All you need for a roof is like 4-7 feet. Google some local vehicle-wrapping sign makers and pop in and ask them for however much you need for the roof.

Should be less than $50, unless they markup like crazy. No special supplies needed really. Just clean well. A felt squeegy or roller would help but since its a flat roof you should have no problems if you get some help laying it down.

I work for Arlon but sadly can't really help you as typically only sell to distributors in the US (like fellers)

So if we do find a place to sell us some vinyl, what do you recommend to use to lay it down (the guy in that DIY just calls it 'application fluid')? Should I be asking the guys at the sign shop for this stuff too, or is it something I can buy at a place like Home Depot?

the diy mentions using 48" but it seems that the avery stuff is only available in 24"... how would you go about doing a hood using 24" or is 48" a must? do metallic colors come out nicely in vinyl?

I was wondering about that too. I definitely want something that will enable us to do it all in one piece. You might be able to pull it off on the roof of a large vehicle like an FJ, but for the hood on any vehicle, I really don't think you're going to want any kind of seam.

[Julien]

i found this:

http://www.cutterpros.com/Avery-48-inch.htm

[TwoJ's]

Nice. $76 for 48"x10 yds is a good price... but it appears that they don't have a matte/satin black option in their "A4 Opaque" and that is the only one they list available at that size. I guess I should try to contact them to see if they will sell the A6 stuff in a 10 yd. piece.

[Julien]

Don't order it from anywhere. All you need for a roof is like 4-7 feet. Google some local vehicle-wrapping sign makers and pop in and ask them for however much you need for the roof.

Should be less than $50, unless they markup like crazy. No special supplies needed really. Just clean well. A felt squeegy or roller would help but since its a flat roof you should have no problems if you get some help laying it down.

I work for Arlon but sadly can't really help you as typically only sell to distributors in the US (like fellers)

I did just that and they mention having to laminate it first. He also said some stuff out there didn't need to be laminated.
These guys are local-ish (1 hour drive) to me and I was thinking of picking up some white vinyl to do my the hood of my buddies truck (dodge, clearcoat is pealing off.. was going to sand and apply vinyl). Any idea if this could work out of the box? also what kind of liquid do I need to apply this stuff?

Thanks!