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Subject DIY: Vinyl wrapping for beginners VTF?
     
Posted by BOOZTD 3 on November 02, 2006 at 11:45 PM
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I purchased my importsextreme interior kit along with the group buy a few months ago. I have been slowly learning the trade of wrapping interior pieces with vinyl.

I will pre-cursor this with the warning that it is NOT for those with little patience. Each step invovles lots of waiting (for adhesive to tack up for example)

I'm not going to go over the entire process of wrapping every single piece, but what I will do is outline some of the tools you'll need, and basic pointers and instructions that will help you get through this tough task (should you choose to not have someone else do it for you)

The piece we will be working with is the rear-most "T" piece that sits behind the seats. It is a cover piece for the two pieces that are on the back firewall.

I'll start with the basic tools materials

I have pictured here Goof Off2, and Super90 Adhesive. Both products can be purchased at Lowes. Lowes also sells Super77, I would not recommend it, as it may weaken under extreme heat (for those of you on the coastal areas.) You'll also notice a pick tool, and a few small other pliars. These typically wont be used on this piece.

In the next few pictures are other tools/materials I used throughout the entire vinyl'ing process. You'll notice I have a rivet gun, rivets, more Super90, scissors, a razor, or two, vice-grips, scotch brite pad, sand paper, a drill, drill bits, etc.

As seen below, I started by cutting small triangles out of the material. This will be used for the top of the piece. Cutting these triangles out of the material allow it to flex alot easier, and also there is no overlap of the material when folding it over.

Next I will be applying the adhesive to the material as well as our interior piece. I usually go in 4-5" sections to be able to rework areas if needed.

Make sure and give the backside a good coat of adhesive too. I typically set the adjuster on the Super90 to "H" and whatever spray pattern that works with my positioning.


I would seriously allow 2-4 minutes of set time for the adhesive. Dont even think about putting the materials together when the adhesive feels 'wet'. You'll want to touch it and have your fingertip stick, before you're ready to apply the vinyl to the piece. Begin by laying the piece on and smoothing it out.

Now move to the backside and fold your triangles over. It should fit nicely like shown below

Give the piece/vinyl a little time to dry so you can begin working on your next 4-5" section.

Apply the adhesive and once again, ALLOW proper tack time.

Gently roll the vinyl onto the piece and smooth it out like shown below

I now have flipped the piece over so that I can begin determining which angles I need to have and where to start trimming the piece so its easier to flex.

I skipped a little bit forward in this step, but I will begin working on the 90 degree angle that has a downward slop. The best trick here is to get the triangles cut out, and test fit a couple times. You will then apply your adhesive and allow proper tack time. Once youve done that, take a blow-dryer and heat the area up really well, that you'll be working with. This will alow the vinyl to flex. Gently massage the material into place and keep rubbing your hand over it until you're positive the adhesive has set-up. YOu'll notice I have a little area I cut to far on the bottom, but no worries, this is on the very edge, faces down, and buts up against another interior piece, so it will not be seen.

Here you can see I have cut the triangles out on the backside. When applying adhesive do not forget to coat the backside

At this point I have finished up the 90 degree angle on the right hand side.

I chose to move to the top of the piece to finish those angles up. THese are pretty easy. I just cut squares and test fit them so the corners did not show. THis is something thats hard to teach/explain so you'll have to get creative here. You can see what kind of shapes I made to get the angles correct.

Here is a picture of our completed top portion of the piece

Now we will move on to the bottom section. You will want to heat the area up while test fitting it, because its going to require some flex, and precision when cutting your triangles out. Make sure and give the backside of the interior piece a good coat and allow proper tack time

This next picture is somewhat blurry but I am trying to show the shapes off that are needed to make the corners look somewhat clean. Remember these angles are facing downwards, so we are not looking for perfection.

That wraps up the installation of the vinyl piece. I'm sure during the proces you accumulated some overspray on the piece, so nows the time to get out the Goof Off. I seriously recommend this stuff, it gets ANYTHING off. The adhesive peels right off if you let this stuff soak in for a few minutes

Here's my collection of pieces I have covered so far.

Heres a semi-close up of our finished piece

Please feel free to VTF, and do not hesitate to email me with any questions you may have if you decide to tackle this.

I'd like to say thanks to kenny west (midlifeZ) and james D (@importsextreme) for coaching me through some of the process. I figured I'd pay the community back by showing how its done.












     
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