Wheel Project Idea.

[papasmurf]

I don't think I would consider a DIY job unless you had some downtime with the car to practice. There are lots of cuts you have to make (door handles, weatherstripping etc.) and if you do not have a steady hand you can have exposed areas (paint) underneath the wrap....just depends on how particular you are I guess. Most of the car would be pretty simple to wrap. The radiator intake areas on the front bumper can be a challenge but the boxster is probably easire than alot of other cars. The material is 3m scotchprint 1080....I am not sure what other colors it comes in but I have had samples of the matte black, matte silver, matte white, matte green (army), and black and anthracite carbon fiber. The silver was probably my favorite and is kind of a gun metal color....not really a metal flake though. I have not worked with the clear bra material myself other than removing it from my car. The wrap material is probably more forgiving in the long run. I am not sure about the durability as it is a fairly new product but the manufacturer suggests about 3 years outdoor durability. You might get a bit more out of it on a car as the sun is the enemy of all of these kind of products.

[Perfectlap]

well in theory, I was thinking about doing the easy sections on my own: hood, rear trunk, fenders, rear 1/4 panels...to save on labor time. And then having someone more in the expert category do the doors and front bumper.

I hear labor prices in the $2K to $3K neibohrhood on what appears to be less than $400-$600 in materials? That makes me think of car detailing rates. It's time consuming but the level of skill required doesn't seem to out of reach for a DIY'er. As far as the steady hand required, a lot of the cuts seem to be straight lines. Is there some sort of flexible plastic straight edge device that can used? I guess long curves like the wheel arch would be a trick.
But granted I'm not really familiar with the pricing of materials other than what I've seen on Ebay for the 3M Di-Noc. Looks like $50-$80 per panel, less if you buy in a bulk roll. I mean if you screw up, just cut another section. Point being the cost doesn't seem that huge since the work is being done section by section vs one long stretched piece where one little error would require tossing the whole section.

I can't believe I haven't found a sinlge matte black or satin black wrap Boxster on Google. Just this one guy who painted it matte black and the video quality is terrible.

[papasmurf]

Olfa stainless is the brand of choice...keep a fresh blade handy. The knives are now sold at lowes. Most of the cuts you just run it along the body edge just being careful not to cut into the paint. We usually charge about 2-2.5k for a full wrap on a large truck or SUV and that is with us printing and laminating the material so it should be considerably less to have it wrapped in flat black wrapping vinyl as this film has no laminate applied to it (*supposedly built into it during manufacturing). The 3M 1080 stuff I was referring to runs $265 for a 10 yd 60" wide roll....pretty cheap. The dinoc you see people selling on ebay is probably way overpriced. There are a few other brands (oracal and avery) that offer similar products that may be just a bit less. Someone experienced with the material could probably wrap a boxster in a day pretty easily.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by papasmurf

Olfa stainless is the brand of choice...keep a fresh blade handy. The knives are now sold at lowes. Most of the cuts you just run it along the body edge just being careful not to cut into the paint. We usually charge about 2-2.5k for a full wrap on a large truck or SUV and that is with us printing and laminating the material so it should be considerably less to have it wrapped in flat black wrapping vinyl as this film has no laminate applied to it (*supposedly built into it during manufacturing). The 3M 1080 stuff I was referring to runs $265 for a 10 yd 60" wide roll....pretty cheap. The dinoc you see people selling on ebay is probably way overpriced. There are a few other brands (oracal and avery) that offer similar products that may be just a bit less. Someone experienced with the material could probably wrap a boxster in a day pretty easily.

I'm heavily leaning towards doing this. Some dude in a Toyota truck decided to reverse into my bumper at the gas station. A trip to the body shop is imminent.
Once it's out I'm thinking a Reventon-esque color wrap would be good winter protection and would contrast nicely with the 997 Turbo wheels. I'm looking over the panels on the car and I don't think any are too complicated. Even the GT3 front bumper doesn't seem that complicated. The "PORSCHE" decal along the door in silver would be nice. Voila new car for $300. I have my buddy signed up to help if I help him wrap his VW

What brand of heat guns do you use?