LS Vinyl Wrap Project

[Andrizzle]

Got the surround finished, and I repainted the bezel on the surround. To give it a glossy black contrast. It is currently drying so I will post assembled photos tomorrow.


In the mean time, I took these to show the steps of wrapping your surround (M4rk).




First cut the vinyl ROUGHLY to size, in this photo I had obviously already wrapped the surround, but it is easiest to lay the vinyl down on surface and then set the surround onto the vinyl.

Then just wrap it up and heat the inside to get around the curvature in each inside corner while making little cuts to help the vinyl lay down evenly.

Now you a pro.

I did some searching online, and there are polishes made for wraps, however they note not to expect much on matte colors. Remember you can always rewrap the specific panel that has something you don't like. I doubt I will ever rewrap my trunk tho. lol

 

[fastmark1993]

looking good!

 

[M4rk]

Thanks That's how I did mine at first. I suppose it'll work a lot better with the 970RA than the cheap chit I had. Looks great, BTW.

I had no idea you could separate the surround completely..

 

[Hernandez]

i dont know if you already said this, but whats the lenght and wide of the vinyl you bought?

 

[mlara1129]

I had no idea you could separate the surround completely..

me either! when i color matched my rear surround it took me a good hour to make sure i taped up everything i didnt want painted...and some paint still managed to get through.

 

[Andrizzle]

All done, it is cloudy and 5 o clock so it is dark, will try a sun shot whenever we have sun again.

My car has batman ears now! lol

 

[Andrizzle]

i dont know if you already said this, but whats the lenght and wide of the vinyl you bought?

60" (standard car roll width) by 60 feet. It claims that is enough for a full vehicle with some leftover, I am having my doubts though. May need more.

 

[Villalta]

That looks Awesome!! Are you going to reattach the spoiler over the vinyl or are you leaving it off?

 

[cirelle]

I tested out some pieces on the hood, and it is going to not meet my standards. So I am getting a new hood. I think I found one for a good price, just waiting on the seller to respond. Funny how I find a hood easily when I don't need one ASAP, but last year I was desperate.


Oh and I wrapped the LSE today, and threw it back on for comparison.

So if anybody wants a full fiberglass gen2 hood to experiment with, I have one... lol

this is just the opposite of mine.

never been a big fan of chrome, I thought it always looked tacky, but that's just my opinion.

I would probably do the waterfall matte as well

Unfortunately I have so many blemishes, there probably isn't enough wrap on the planet to cover them up

Drizz, didn't you have a reddish color in a photo that looked like it was in a covered foyer with an orangish glow? I thought that was cool

 

[Andrizzle]

Yea, I think you're talking about the calendar photo.



Just an update on the wrap, probably going to be doing rear bumper next.

 

[mlara1129]

Yea, I think you're talking about the calendar photo.
Just an update on the wrap, probably going to be doing rear bumper next.

sweeettt...are you going to be working non-stop on this? or this just some work in between exams? because i'd hate for progress to just halt all of sudden lol

 

[Andrizzle]

I had exams last week so I have time to do work, I am going to be doing panel at a time most likely as I am still busy with working. It is difficult to find time this time of the year, but I need to take advantage of being out of school until January 9!

Tomorrow night I will tackle the rear bumper, at least that is the plan.

 

[FrankLS]

The vinyl looks awesome man! A few months ago LVC was getting dissapointing due to the lack of members modding and being creative. Now we got vinyl wraps, custom suspension, turbos, ect. It great seeing members getting dirty and keeping LVC interesing.

 

[Bullschmidt]

This is just to awesome

Are you doing anything special to prep the paint before you put on the vinyl? It looked pretty dirty on the bumper right by the wrapped trunk

 

[marcredd]

the vinyl looks awesome man! A few months ago lvc was getting dissapointing due to the lack of members modding and being creative. Now we got vinyl wraps, custom suspension, turbos, ect. It great seeing members getting dirty and keeping lvc interesing.

+1...

 

[Andrizzle]

This is just to awesome

Are you doing anything special to prep the paint before you put on the vinyl? It looked pretty dirty on the bumper right by the wrapped trunk

Thanks bull, it is a lot of fun.

I am vinyling panel by panel so i clean just the one I am working on since I am still using the car every day. Here are the steps:

Wash
Clay
Wash
Alcohol
Vinyl

 

[john doe]

Thanks bull, it is a lot of fun.

You're making this look and sound to easy,but it's cool seeing your progress come together piece by piece.Have you thought about wrapping the wheels?

 

[G-RELL]

his wheels are way to nice to wrap....

 

[john doe]

his wheels are way to nice to wrap....

Yea they're good lookin wheels,but if the vinyl doesn't effect the wheels and it's not permanent,then he can't go wrong.Idk if he's a perfectionist and doesn't want the contrast of the gloss black to the matte black to stand out,but even the entire wheel wrapped would look good.It might not even be that noticeable either,but it's just a thought....

 

[Andrizzle]

You're making this look and sound to easy,but it's cool seeing your progress come together piece by piece.Have you thought about wrapping the wheels?

Lol. Well it isn't too hard honestly, but if you aren't good at DIY projects I would not recommend doing this. There is a reason vinyl companies want $3K+ for these jobs.

I have thought of covering the machined spoke of the wheel. It would be easy and obviously not permanant. Honestly I like the gloss black/ matte contrast. I think I'm even going to paint my badge letters in gloss black.

With vinyl anything is possible and always reversible. I don't know why it isn't more widely used.

 

[john doe]

Lol. Well it isn't too hard honestly, but if you aren't good at DIY projects I would not recommend doing this. There is a reason vinyl companies want $3K+ for these jobs.

I have thought of covering the machined spoke of the wheel. It would be easy and obviously not permanant. Honestly I like the gloss black/ matte contrast. I think I'm even going to paint my badge letters in gloss black.

With vinyl anything is possible and always reversible. I don't know why it isn't more widely used.

That's very true,some people just don't have the patients for diy stuff.With the contrast it's more personal preference,I think it'll look good,and it's different from what other people do with their wrapped cars.Yea,people forget that vinyl is not just matte,but can be glossy so,it's basically like a new paint job for 700 if done by yourself.The matte black is wicked lookin,but it'd be cool to see people doin the LS in the matte silver,white or dark gray too or any glossy color.I'm just loving the suspense of this project....

 

[Andrizzle]

I was debating a dark matte gray. But had to see a matte black LS.


Okay, just had a WTF moment... The bolts on the rear bumper that are behind the scuff guard in the trunk are retaredly long... You have to have a deep ass socket to get them off... This isn't going to be fun

 

[Andrizzle]

Whoever decided how the rear bumper attaches can die. I almost walked across the street and shot everyone at the gas station.

First off, the bolts holding the cover in the very back are way too fkn long. I had to cut every single one of them.

Secondly, the shop manual fails to mention the fact there is a random metal piece that is inaccessible holding the bumper on the passenger side below the gas tank area. I even dissassemed the gas intake to see if there was access. Nope. So I raged and started pulling the hell out of the bumper until it snapped.

Thirdly the connector plug for the backup sensors is held together with the power of 3 suns.

So i finally got it off. I am going to wrap it later tonight. Look for pics. Also taking a pic of that stupid metal star piece that is not mentioned in the manual.


Seriously whoever put that piece there needs to get AIDS.


That is all. Check for photos lata!

 

[jerbear19]

why are you even taking the bumper off?? you should be able to wrap everything with it on.

 

[214rod]

lol dont sweat it! its going to look sick when its all said & done.