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I vinyl wrapped my car flat black. This was just a random project i decided to pull the trigger on.... I had no experience whatsoever on vinyling anything. I just watched a few vids on youtube and got some advice from friends who do vinyl stickers. Here's a few pics of the process and outcome...

Hate it, Love it...It was my first time... it took me 1 week and a day to complete....did a panel a day after work =)

oh, and for the record... I didn't pay over $3000 bucks that most people pay to vinyl their car....

I paid about $120 for all materials... and i did all the work myself, with some help from my fiance from time to time

=) enjoy



DIY!!!!

so this will be my little DIY since there's not really much to mention =)


THINGS YOU NEED:
Vinyl (about 25 yards give it take..also depending how much you mess up)... measurements for the vinyl i got were 25 yrds and 48 inches wide....

2 qts of application fluid for the vinyl

I used a felt squeegee so it wont scratch the surface of the vinyl.

I also used a heat gun from Harbor Freight... $10 FTW!!!!

1 XActo knife and scissors

AND LOTS OF PATIENCE!!!!!


I fully detailed the car prior to vinyling including:
- Full car wash, Clay bar'ed the car, and waxed just to be sure the car was flawless.

It is important to make sure there are no specs of dust, bugs, dirt, or anything that would affect the vinyl application onto the car...


Applying:

1. Start with the easiest parts first (for me, it was the roof, trunk, and hood)

2. Cut the vinyl to the size of the section you are going to start on and make sure you cut an oversized piece just in case for stretching the vinyl.

3. Spray the application fluid all over the area you are about to vinyl, and peel off the backing of the vinyl and apply it to the section.

4. Be sure you squeegee the vinyl slowly because if you're too rapid, that may cause creases and lots of air bubbles; this is where the heat gun comes into play. With creases, just lift the vinyl back up and heat the area which you creased, stretch the vinyl until there is no more crease and reapply the vinyl. ALWAYS SQUEEGEE FROM MIDDLE OUTWARD...

5. The vinyl may keep coming up at the edges, this is due to the application fluid. Let it dry and you may continue to squeegee the vinyl down.



Now for the curvy areas!!!!

This is where you may need some help from a person or two...

FOR THE BUMPERS:

1. do not use application fluid when vinyling the bumpers or the most curvy areas of the car. If you do, it will be a Bi*ch to apply it.

2. Use A LOT of stretch and heat for this application

3. Start middle outward; squeegee the middle area of the bumper on, and have someone pull on the vinyl away as you heat the vinyl and squeegee it down. Do NOT over heat or overstretch the vinyl as it may lose its flat black appearance.

FYI: There will be a lot of bubbles on the sections where you do not spray the application fluid. NO WORRIES! try to get the bubbles as small as possible, and when you're done, let the car sit out in the sun and the bubbles will magically disappear!! (with the help of a needle from time to time) =)



when starting this project, you'll learn more and more as you keep vinyling sections of your car.

I learned as i went, and you all will too! (if you decide to tackle this)


Try vinyling a piece a time. I vinyl'd a section a day because that took all my patience in a day..

In the end, you'll be satisfied. This is a pretty straightforward DIY, so if there's any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Thanks again everyone!!!!!

WOW! so many comments from just a day!... Thanks for all the great comments. I really appreciate it!...

As for the material, my friend makes stickers on the side, so he orders loads and loads of vinyl and i just bought 25 yards of Oracal brand flat black vinyl from him.


so this will be my little DIY since there's not really much to mention =)


THINGS YOU NEED:
Vinyl (about 25 yards give it take..also depending how much you mess up)... measurements for the vinyl i got were 25 yrds and 48 inches wide....

2 qts of application fluid for the vinyl

I used a felt squeegee so it wont scratch the surface of the vinyl.

I also used a heat gun from Harbor Freight... $10 FTW!!!!

1 XActo knife and scissors

AND LOTS OF PATIENCE!!!!!


I fully detailed the car prior to vinyling including:
- Full car wash, Clay bar'ed the car, and waxed just to be sure the car was flawless.

It is important to make sure there are no specs of dust, bugs, dirt, or anything that would affect the vinyl application onto the car...


Applying:

1. Start with the easiest parts first (for me, it was the roof, trunk, and hood)

2. Cut the vinyl to the size of the section you are going to start on and make sure you cut an oversized piece just in case for stretching the vinyl.

3. Spray the application fluid all over the area you are about to vinyl, and peel off the backing of the vinyl and apply it to the section.

4. Be sure you squeegee the vinyl slowly because if you're too rapid, that may cause creases and lots of air bubbles; this is where the heat gun comes into play. With creases, just lift the vinyl back up and heat the area which you creased, stretch the vinyl until there is no more crease and reapply the vinyl. ALWAYS SQUEEGEE FROM MIDDLE OUTWARD...

5. The vinyl may keep coming up at the edges, this is due to the application fluid. Let it dry and you may continue to squeegee the vinyl down.

Now for the curvy areas!!!!

This is where you may need some help from a person or two...

FOR THE BUMPERS:

1. do not use application fluid when vinyling the bumpers or the most curvy areas of the car. If you do, it will be a Bi*ch to apply it.

2. Use A LOT of stretch and heat for this application

3. Start middle outward; squeegee the middle area of the bumper on, and have someone pull on the vinyl away as you heat the vinyl and squeegee it down. Do NOT over heat or overstretch the vinyl as it may lose its flat black appearance.

FYI: There will be a lot of bubbles on the sections where you do not spray the application fluid. NO WORRIES! try to get the bubbles as small as possible, and when you're done, let the car sit out in the sun and the bubbles will magically disappear!! (with the help of a needle from time to time) =)

when starting this project, you'll learn more and more as you keep vinyling sections of your car.

I learned as i went, and you all will too! (if you decide to tackle this)

Try vinyling a piece a time. I vinyl'd a section a day because that took all my patience in a day..

In the end, you'll be satisfied. This is a pretty straightforward DIY, so if there's any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Thanks again everyone!!!!!