VEHICLE"WRAPS".... Im in the dark on these and thought somebody here probably deals with these all the time and may be able to answer some questions. Now,I am not suggesting we all use em,I just was thinking out of the box here.... what if you had a 40 Ford panel truck and wanted to use it in your business,say as a company use like catering or parts business. what do they cost and how is the durability? How easy to remove? would your car have to be slick and shiny or can it be"in primer" to use one???? It stands to reason,though they could be used in a different way as well...[depending on cost]. They look really nice, the ones I've seen on vans around here,the gloss is natural looking and I never saw any tell tale looking results that would differentiate em from an actual paint finish. If they are not-national debt hi- would it not be a viable way to... err uhh-"paint" your ride??????? Add flames? do a seasonal refinish and change up your style? I mean,they can't be as expensive as a paint job,can they???? see.I said it was a stupid question.... Idle time is the Devil's workshop.
If you are doing a simple two tone accent area on a simple panel, it is probaly cheaper than painting, but definatly not a show car finish. (or even close) Getting the wrap off in another thing. It would probaly cost 2 or 3 times the instalation price.
Several years ago I went to a sign shop and asked the guy to make me some flames just for fun. It cost me around $50, as I recall, to flame my hood with vinyl film. I outlined them by hand. They lasted about five years although they were fading a bit toward the end. I don't know how much different today's "wrap" films would be, but vinyl's better than nothing!
They cost $10-$15 per sq ft plus install They are a hassle to do ( own a sign shop ) Car should be white Paint should not be new Climate affects longevity Best bet pay similar for period hand lettering in the panel Race cars do it to save weight Hamb rides deserve paint - the car will catch the eye
I agree completely-except I am not sure you save weight using vinyl over paint. I think they do it for speed and convenience-great graphics form a distance, not waiting for drying times. I suggest you find a local sign shop that does vinyl and discuss your needs with them.
I personally am not a fan of flames or graphics, but was curious about cost etc.....I would not use em myself as I never have a car that is smooth enough or rust hole free to lay one on it!
You could have your daily driver wrapped with a lookalike of your current project so you could gauge crowd appeal. Bob
I have the answer I needed on these, this can be locked or deleted if the mods want to.dont want it gettin silly and takin up bandwidth needlessly.... Thanks for the help ....
they seem like a bitch to get off.... i was at our city shop a couple days ago and they were taking a wrap off a police car using a heat gun. two guys struggled with it all day and there was lot's of sticky stuff and bits still on it.
Hot Rod Magazine did that with a vehicle a year or so ago. They wraped a drop top chevy white with flames. But in the article they explained the car had to be somewhat smooth and very clean. I think since they did an article on removing and repainting.
To remove the wrap, use a heat gun and peel the wrap off with your fingers. This will take a long time as it tears in all the wrong places. Now that you have the decals off, you will have GLUE! To get the glue off it takes about three times the time you already spent. Use a slow drying solvent that will not sofen the paint. Keep large areas wet while you use a razor blade with the blade at a 70 degree angle to the paint with full contact of the blade on the surface and drag sideways (the oposite way you would use it to cut) Wipe the snots off of the blade with a paper towel and use a terry cloth rag wet with solvent to clean the paint. If you are good at it, you will end up with very small dulling of the paint that will quickly buff out. If this is your first time trying this, you will probaly have to replace sone of the bondo! If you are in Kalaforina, move to NJ. before proceding!
i've used vinyl decals on service vans for years. easy to install and remove .never done a whole wrap though. leave it to pro's. main thing is air pockets . use pvc pipe glue cleaner to take off. doesn't seem to hurt the paint. i could see a company logo on older vehicle but not a whole wrap for paint job.
I have used wraps for several years at our dealership. We wrap our home delivery trailer, our mobile service vehicle, and our parts trucks. We change the wraps about once a year, depending on how the manufactures changes the looks of the cars. For American Cancer Breast Awareness month we wrapped an entire Fiat (which was white) in a solid Pink wrap. Kept it on about three months-came off with no problem and no major work. We have also wrapped new vehicles in Flat Black Vinyl. The full wrap on the Fiat was about a grand. Check with your sign guy as there are different types of adhesive strengths depending on how long you want to keep the wrap on the vehicle.
At NSRA Nats last year, there was a vendor that had an OT Mustang with a patina wrap on it, made a new car look rusted out - faded paint. It'd fake you out from a distance. Neat to see, but nothing I would ever consider for a vintage car. Plus the Patina look is just not to my liking... Here is a link to the wrapping of Ron Capps funny car for NAPA, with a logo I made. http://www.carlyletools.com/ron-capps-funny-car-wrap I wasn't there for the wrapping, however, I had a neighbor who is the graphic designer at John Force Racing. Part of his job was to assist in the installing of the wraps he designs. As a graphic designer myself, we discussed how he/they do the wraps. Placed over the gel-coat fiberglass, said it wasn't a problem to rewrap them, part of his job. Maybe they use a different type of material? Or the fact that they are not on the car very long?
you could paint your car with plasti-dip and peel it off after a few months. that way you could have a flat black car and everyone will think you have a cool RR
I also ran a family business doing graphic design which included signage (t-shirts, web design, embroidery, business cards. etc.) and though wraps weren't as widely used 5 years ago when we shut the business down, I have installed vinyl and attempted installing wraps...major pain getting on and even worse getting them off. Also, you have no idea what cost is involved with artwork, which is typically quoted separate from the artwork. I was the guy sitting at the computer generating the artwork and wraps can take up to 10hrs (or more) just to create a design that fits the car correctly. Try that at $40 hr, $60 hr, even $80 hr depending on the area you live in. I've seen total body wraps that cost upwards of $2k when all was said and done.
I only had experience with the old woodgrain applique used on 70-s wagons....It was no fun so just wondered about this...I do remember a product to actually dissolve the decal and remove the adhesive working fairly well.......
NASCAR race teams do it every week and also patch wall scrapes during practice sessions , Put your car as a business asset ,all tax deductible,, ? Less hassle than a tattoo
I put a wrap on a baja 1000 Jeep cherokee. what a bitch, it came out crappy with bubbles, but the fiberglass body parts never seemed to stay with the truck for very long, so the owner didn't care. many times it would return from a race with only the roof and the hood still attached to the truck. everything else was left out in the race course.
At one time I remember UAL trying a wrap on a 727. It didn't last to well. But conditions were some what rougher that most shop trucks will see.
The Jalopy Journal
