Vinyl wrap

What are the durability figures for each?

I know people are saying 5-6 years for wrap, but is that garaged or outside parked?

Just wondering about sun exposure.

Brandon ordered 35', and used 28'. That's a 5' roll. I guess if you're looking for a rule of thumb, that's just over twice the length of the car - but it's a convertible, so obviously he didn't wrap the roof.

The durability depends on the vinyl and the color. Oracal 970RA (a pretty common choice) ranges from 4-6 years stated life expectancy. That's assuming full sun, I believe. Park it in the garage and it should do better. The way you wash it will have an effect as well.

chandlerGTi wrote:

wbjones wrote: Keith, is that material only ? here the best quotes I can find are in the $2k range

$2k is a printed installed price. He is talking DIY with over the counter stock colors.

yeah ... that's what I was getting to ... not sure I'm up for a DIY

Can someone point me towards a good site that could print out a pattern for a DIY install. I don't need a full vehicle wrap - just a roughly 2 to 3' tall stripe all the way around (on a van).

It's not that hard, really. And with the repositional vinyl, you get do-overs. The hard stuff is going to be tight compound curves - things like mirrors.

Ask your local sign shop if you want a cut pattern, but really you just need to buy vinyl that's cut in the right width to do a stripe. It'll take some shrinking/stretching to keep it straight, but it'll work. When I was in university, we used to stripe cars just for fun.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I'll probably try a sign shop, but what I'm looking for is not a solid stripe, but a specific colored pattern to match my mountain bike race team jersey, which is black on the bottom and fades to brown and then to white with bubbles across the brown/white edge (meant to resemble beer - I'd post a picture, but that function doesn't work on my computer here).

I just had a brilliant and/or funny thought! Printed Vinyl wraps could usher on a whole new era of custom vans! Think of the possibilities ......

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

How color correct do you want your car to be?

It seems that with car coloring it all depends on $$$$$$$

If you can live with a vinyl quality, which is nice, then I think that is the optimal way for you to go especially since you want to be able to return to stock colors.

Like Tanner says you can do it yourself if physically able and you have friends or family that can help. Maybe get your family member that sews their own clothes and knows how to handle fabrics to help. Good family bonding!

In reply to HappyAndy:

It's sort of been done. Wheeler Dealers did a VW van and did a wrap in lieu of paint.

HappyAndy wrote: I just had a brilliant and/or funny thought! Printed Vinyl wraps could usher on a whole new era of custom vans! Think of the possibilities ......

I'm already toying with that idea for the shop van.

PHeller wrote: The cool part about vinyl is that it's got a shiny aspect to it unlike plastidip which is always going to look matte. Very interested in this for my Miata (or maybe even my ZX2)

No.....

PlastiDip can be ordered with additives that provide gloss or pearl finishes.

Lifespan is projected as three years, longer if the user applies more than the recommended, minimal 4-5 coats.

Good source for vinyl? The roof of my Civic is a little sunburned...

It's a commodity. Pretty much anywhere online or at your local sign shop.

Apexcarver wrote: What are the durability figures for each? I know people are saying 5-6 years for wrap, but is that garaged or outside parked? Just wondering about sun exposure.

If the wrap is good quality material, lifespan is approx 10 years (what I was told). My trailer was wrapped in 2005 and the wrap still looks good with no fading that I can tell. There are some scratch marks and staining from the white roof runoff but overall pretty good. It has been parked outside its entire life.

Glad to see this thread is chugging along. I'm getting some good information.

I was considering doing my RX-8, which is really very curvy and probably not the best car to start with.

Now, what I am thinking is that using this stuff to add fender stripes a-la a Corvette Grand Touring or something should be a great way to experiment with applying the stuff and using a heat gun to match the contour of the body without wasting hundreds of dollars worth of material.

Will vinyl adhere to a matte surface? Like primer?

Brandon sanded down a lot of his car before putting on the vinyl, to try to smooth out the uneven surface caused by all his peeling paint. I don't think it made a difference to adhesion. You'd definitely want to make sure it wasn't dusty though.

Brett, one tip - the non-metallics are easier to stretch, as they're less likely to tear. That's the case for sticker vinyl, anyhow. If you just want enough to play with fender hash marks, stop by your local sign shop. They'll sell you a couple of feet, although the price per foot might be a bit ugly compared to buying a roll online.

We had a printed picture put on the back of our trailer in 2002. It's fading a bit now and going a bit green, but still looking good otherwise. That's with life in the harsh, strong high altitude desert sun.

This thread is relevant to my interests. Keith strikes again with more valuable info!

I figured the stripes were a good way to get a feel for working with the product and applying it without going whole-hog out of the box.

Thanks for the info. Some black hash marks are on the list for the RX-8

Speaking of stripes, has anybody else noticed that the stripe package for the Kia Soul or whatever that boxy little van thing is were never changed from the Asian market? The stripe is on the passenger side in the US.

Hmmm maybe I can try this on my Hobie Cat.

They've been doing printed digital wraps on pro bass tournament boats for several years. Should work great on the Hobie

Brett_Murphy wrote: Speaking of stripes, has anybody else noticed that the stripe package for the Kia Soul or whatever that boxy little van thing is were never changed from the Asian market? The stripe is on the passenger side in the US.

Yep. I've noticed that, but both MINI's have/had driver's side offset stripes (DIY installed by ex-SWMBO). Actually, that was one of the reason she wanted them - don't have to worry about centering a single offset stripe, so it was easier to install.