vinyl wrapping?

[glenandem]

anyone ever done this to the exterior of theyre car like bonnet etc, just a thought of wrapping mine in a nice gloss white or matt black afte ive seen a few pics of avants looking sweet in these colours!
does anyone know if its easy,from what ive seen it looks like if you take your time you can play about with it to try and get it good etc and you can pull it off and reshape it with a hairdryer and if you get bubble free maybe that will help make it easier?

 

[Dan TheMan Welburn]

Ive done my B pillars and plan to do my roof and mirrors once the long awaited respray is done i think its good fun, still got a roll to play with, need to redo my dash trim and do my door trims,

 

[glenandem]

thats the thing, im thinking if it goes on crap i can try to redo it and if not ripit off and start again for the price of new vinyl piece!
i think the square shape of the a4 could help make the job easier too maybe?
i remember seeing a white a4 avant on this forum or anouther from a guy in scotland and he'd had it wrapped in white an on an avant it looked amazing!
cant find the link though!

 

[glenandem]

just seen this guy plasti dipping his full car bodywork on youtube,heres the linkPlastiDip a WHOLE CAR - How-to by DipYourCar.com - YouTube
is this stuff strong enough to last on a car bodywork? i know a lot of people on here use it on theyre grills etc but bodywork?

 

[dpbayly]

I did my door blades and front grill a few days ago and it was dead easy:

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a4-a4-...urchases-modification-them**now-fitted**.html

 

[VagCabby]

I did it professionally for 3 years. I have also fully wrapped my partner's Audi A3. It's a skill that need patients and a lot of practice to perfect. Buy a little bit of vinyl and try ion a panel and see how you get along with it. Wouldn't recommend doing it untill the summer as its a little focold to be applying vinyl at the moment haha

 

[crazy88]

Scott b5 (think that's his username) has had his roof done in plastic dip for a good few months now. It's not a full car but I imagine the roof takes a lot of stick, especially from the sun.

And a lad called damo from the a3 section has a wrapped baby blue s3, it looks sweet.

 

[Chaz_k]

I got mine done by wrap kings in Birmingham, pics are on the there website, battleship Grey is the colour

 

[Greeny233]

Someone on here wrapped their B6 Avant in white, looked really good. Can't remember who it was.

Just search for white wrap in the B6 forum and a couple come up, Neilldh was the one I was thinking of and there is also a nice S4 wrapped in white too.

 

[deano1978]

U just got to very careful where your wrapping!
Any weak spots or even the slightest scratch..... because when removing, your proberly bring the paint work off

 

[Neilldh]

yep i have wrapped mine gloss white with a black roof, i have worked for a sign company fitting vinyl for 15 years approx & my car was the first i have wrapped fully. It is a rewarding feeling once it is all done but definitely not a job for a novice. If you do want to do it i would highly recommend using a 'bubble free' wrap vinyl this will help you get a better finish when applying and allow for repositioning if it doesn't lay flat first time. Also an extra pair of hands is useful, they can hold the heat gun whilst you apply the vinyl. hope this helps

 

[glenandem]

hi guys, been reading up and it seems its one of those why not have a go diy jobs that if it goes wrong you rip it off and throw it away and its cost you the vinyl, ive read that the bubble free stuff is best but do you heat it up to stretch it into place or do you heat it up to return it to its original shape?
really fancy doing the wagon white, would do it in the summer and take all the trims off and bumper,headlights etc then refit when done and suppose i can take my time and drive it round for a while in different colours while i do each panel!

 

[glenandem]

yep i have wrapped mine gloss white with a black roof, i have worked for a sign company fitting vinyl for 15 years approx & my car was the first i have wrapped fully. It is a rewarding feeling once it is all done but definitely not a job for a novice. If you do want to do it i would highly recommend using a 'bubble free' wrap vinyl this will help you get a better finish when applying and allow for repositioning if it doesn't lay flat first time. Also an extra pair of hands is useful, they can hold the heat gun whilst you apply the vinyl. hope this helps

hi pal,how much vinyl did you use up and did you do inside the doors etc or just outside?, ive seen videos on youtube where some people cover the whole car with one sheet and work it from there and others where they do individual panels?

 

[Neilldh]

i made templates of the doors, rear quarter panels, wings,etc from a large roll of paper we had in the office & then cut the shapes out of the vinyl, i used about 12 metres in total of the white which was 1520mm wide. This was more cost effective than using a piece the length of the car, and easier to fit as it meant i could concentrate on one panel at a time. The other reason for doing it in panels was i had to fit it outside, mostly on my own, this minimised the risk of getting dust, bits,etc... under the vinyl.

if doing it large sheets i guess the amount of vinyl needed would be about 16 metres approx, you would also need to fit inside with help from another person, just due to the side of the vinyl. I didn't do inside the shuts as there wasn't enough vinyl left over. cheers Neill

 

[glenandem]

cheers for replying back neil, i think it would be too complicated doing the whole side in one go!, im gonna do each panel than i can take my time!
do you mind me asking where and how much you paid for your wrap and do you have any posts on here of your motor so i can take a peek!
white really is the best colour for the avant i think, i really liked the avant with the bentley rims on thats on here somewhere, hes wrapped that and his motor looks sweet too!

 

[Neilldh]

no probs mate, yep i think separate panels is definitely the easier option, i got the vinyl from a company called Hexis, google the name for the website and you should get the info you need, prices are in the PDF file on there website, i think it was about £20.00 per metre, the colour is Glacier White.

I have a thread on here with photos not sure how i link it though, but the thread was called 'It's a wrap, or will be soon'.

Yep the car with the Bentley rims was one of my reasons for doing it, along with the S4 Greeny233 mentioned, good luck with it!!

 

[glenandem]

just found your thread pal, really looks nice and if you get those rims your after will look even nicer, i just sold those sport rims like yours and fitted rs4 19's that i painted anthracite and i think if i wrapped the car in white it would just pop!
white avants are so cool, one final question though, i can see you did bit by bit outside as thats what i'll be doing in the summer but did you remove all the trims on doors, bumpers and headlights off etc or did you do it in situ?

 

[Neilldh]

cheers mate, just got to make my mind up what wheels i want,white is a spot on colour for the car though & reckon would look cool with the darker wheels.

I did take out the headlights & rear lights to make sure the vinyl went in to the gaps nicely so no original paint would be showing, but i left the door mouldings on as i didn't know how to get them off. I fitted the door then did the mouldings with offcuts that were left over. Same with the door handles, i know these do come off, but mine were proving hard to remove so i left them in place, and then again used an off cut to do each handle.

I have to sort the door mirrors which at the moment are not done properly, i really need to get them off the car to make it easier to try and get once piece of vinyl on, cheers

 

[glenandem]

what was it like doing the piece up the sides of the windcreen and all the way back along the roof sides, did you do it in one piece?
ive just checked out that site you mentioned but couldnt find prices but found this site that seems ok, prices look good too?
MDP Supplies - KPMF Gloss Wrapping Film

 

[Neilldh]

it was ok to do that bit, i cut a slightly oversized piece of vinyl roughly to shape, did the large rear quarter/wheel arch part first then worked my way up and towards the front of the car, did it in one piece so there are no joins. Get you self a couple of magnets like these, really useful tool!

i have heard of KPMF vinyl but never used it myself so don't know what it is like compared to others, the price is very good though!!

Another company to try is Willliam Smith they sell a few make of wrapping vinyl now,

 

[glenandem]

hi pal,suppose them magnets was a great help being outside too with these big sheets, i once stuck aload of lettering down the side of a minibus on my own and kept going up one end sticking it then going down the other end and then making sure it was straight, never thought to use magnets!
such a simple thing but so usefull.
by the way looking at your pics again i didnt see any with the doors open, do you have any of the insides of the doors just so i can see how far you gone in and what it looks like!

 

[Malfuss]

I used the KPMF airelease carbon fibre to wrap my bonnet on my T4. I found it very easy to use and if you do make a mistake pull it off and start again. I wouldn't fancy doing a whole car myself though.

 

[Neilldh]

No problem mate, i don't have any photos at the moment but i will try & get some at the weekend for you, cheers

 

[VagCabby]

If any of you are from surrey you may have seen this traveling on the m25......

My partners PINK A3 which i wrapped for her............ignor the bonnet not fitting she hasn't found a face lift bonnet for it yet, cars getting lowered with black wheels eventually. Sorry if this makes some of you feel sick haha

Bonnet Done

Wing done

Other wing done

Bumper done

Yes its the wrong bonnet :lolz:
Door Done

Other Door Done

Rear Q done

Other Rear Q Done

Boot and Bumper done

 

[glenandem]

haha bet you love drving that round for her!!
looks like a neat job, one question i have is when you wrap the sills how far down do you take it at the bottom and does it stick well with all the ingrained dirt you get underneath sills?

 

[robotplant]

The "Pink Panther" returns Can't miss that Audi! nice job. Can you tell me how much it has cost you in terms of vinyl. It would be good to point out how well it compares to the cost of a full respray. I know it takes a lot of your time to do well, but the cost saving must be huge...plus it's reverseable!

 

[VagCabby]

Haha I hardly ever drive it unless I have to! The whole wrap cost me about £60 but i didn't use wraping material as didn't want to pay out huge for the vinyl ifshe was going to turn round and say she didn't like it on the car once applied. I used metamark 800 series I think. which.is sign vinyl Took me the past part of 3 days to complete between rain showere

 

[Neilb1]

how has this coped with the weather we have had ie has it started to lift on the doors etc, as well now far did you wrap in the door frame its self and under the bonnet, any pics ?

 

[VagCabby]

No issues attal, still axactly the same as when I applied it about 9 months ago. Aslong as you superheated all he edges once done it shouldnt lift unless there is a gap for water to get underneath. Door shuts arnt done but I will be doing them when the weather gets better as I have loads of vinyl left over and I need to re do her rear quarter as someone smashed into it and had to have the arch repaired and re painted so at the moment its got one lava grey panel!

 

[glenandem]

what will you do on the door shuts, just overlap where the outside curls round or try to match it up like wallpaper!

 

[Neilldh]

a few photos attached Glen, so you can see where the vinyl finishes at the moment, looks fine when the doors, boot are closed. when the weather is warmer i may do the insides.

 

[glenandem]

thats look fine that mate,wouldnt bother me atall!
whats it like under the sills and did you take it all the way round the inside of the wheel arch lip or just the outer edge, did you get it to stick ok there with all the crap that gets stuck in these places!

 

[chrisash32]

Here is mine

(which is also up for sale as is or being put to standard and sold)

wheels are silver now mind!! Never did like the blue ones!

 

[crazy88]

That looks amazing mate!! Who wrapped it for you? I haven't seen you around here much lately, have we not crossed paths or have you not been on much? Loving the colour coded roof box!! I'm in the process of finding a roofbox, think i'm settling on the thule pacific 700. What box do you have? Would be good to compare to get a size idea compared to the 700 as i'll be buying from online.

What car are you after next?

And are they whispbars? I love the look of them, but saw a thread where they just failed and it scared me a little haha

 

[chrisash32]

I love the whispbar roof bars! (Also for sale) Had them in use on my roof for about 5000 miles with the 600ltr box (+1 for sale). Can't remember the brand of my box, got it online and was about £550. I know for sure I wouldn't go any bigger than 600 ltr on the A4.

Can you send me a link to the thread where the bars failed? Interested to see this as I cannot understand how it's possible.

Not been around these part much recently as the A4 became my Mrs car to keep the miles off it and I bought a T5 van which I converted into a camper van

So that's what has been keeping me busy!

The car was wrapped by a local company but I wouldn't use them again. I have re-done bits on it myself since as I wasn't happy with how some corners had been cut.

Chris

 

[crazy88]

I love that camper. One day I will make such a toy...one day. A man around the corner from me made one from some huge VW van, it's brilliant.


I'll try find the link to broken bars and post here, but it might take me a while!

Out of interest, how much would you sell the bars for? (pm me if you like) The box i want is 420L, it's a long thin one, so i can squash my bike next to it.

edit, that didn't take as long as i thought

Whispbar Epic Fail

 

[chrisash32]

Ah I see how they failed now. Not the same bars as mine as it was on a car with low line roof bars.
On the B6 Avant the bars shrink in then you pull them out inside the rails. They sit really close to the roof, probably about 1cm in the middle and when the box is on that sits really close too. Nice look as well as no noise! Will grab some better photos to show you when I go to the shed next. Will drop you a PM

Yeh, the is no way you can put a bike along side the 600l box. It's as wide as my bars!!

Looking to get a BMW next, but won't be for a while yet so will just run with one car and the van for a bit when the Audi has gone.

 

[crazy88]

Yeah, definitely do drop me a pm, i'm VERY interested in the bars...especially since you pointed out the fail was for them silly new bars rather than our proper ones haha!