Vinyl Wrapping your 986
 

Im planning to get my car vinyl wrapped. I found 2 that seems like a good wrap.

Matte black vinyl car wrap kit with complete toolset 30ft x 5ft VVIVID8 decal
Matte Black Vinyl Car Wrap Kit with Complete Toolset 30ft x 5ft VVIVID8 Decal | eBay

60in x 240in 3M 1080 MATTE BLACK Vinyl Scotchprint Car Wrap Film Sheet
60in x 240in 3M 1080 Matte Black Vinyl Scotchprint Car Wrap Film Sheet | eBay

Both are Matte Black. Only difference is that one is 3M and one is some brand that I've never heard about. MY questions are:

1.Has anyone ever tried vinyl wrapping their car themselves? If so, how was it?
2.Is the 20ftx5ft 3M enough to wrap the whole car? or should i go with the 30ftx5ft VVIVID8 cheaper one?

I am a signmaker with over 20 years experience.

Wrapping a car is not an easy thing to do if you want it to look good and last which is why a pro will take 3 days to do it and charge £1500+.

John

What John says...
A good wrap takes a lot of practice

Based on general experience since I have not done a wrap before, I would get the longer role so you have extra to replace sections you F'd up.

Also since your new to it, I would go with the better quality product as cheaper ones usually have less tolerance of mistakes. I assume 3M is a better product.

Granted you don't know the tricks of the trade but if you do enough online research and practice on a couple pieces first, a person with determination and plenty of time should be able to pull off a good wrap if they take it slow and careful.

I think it would be worth your while to buy some scraps of the brand you want to try and practice first to see how it might look and how it will go around the Boxsters compound curves on the fenders. Harbor Freight has adjustable heat blowers to help with the stretching and wrinkle removing process.

Dip the car!!!

https://www.dipyourcar.com/home.php

I've decided to go with the longer cheaper one. that way i have room for error.
I have a general sense on how to do it, and have all the time in the world, literally. I'll let you guys know how it goes lol

I've seen a matte black boxster and was not impressed. But to each his own I guess.

I also put an invisible bra on the wife's new Lexus with a precut kit and woah, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be and the results were not all that great, and I'm a perfectionist and went slow and steady. I decided to do this myself to save $350 in labor. Now I see every bubble and crappy cut on it and I will throw good money after bad to have it all redone by a professional. Ugh!

In my opinion, wrapping a car should be left to a professional.

x2 for this idea!

from what i heard, plastidip is terrible.

Why would you want to Plastidip or vinyl wrap your car anyway? Is there something wrong with the paint job? Bad color :confused:?

People hate it when someone shares a product or method of doing something that is every bit as good, but 10-100x cheaper than what they did.

Example:

Joe - "I paid $3k for my paint job"
Paul - "Really? I just Plasti-dipped my car for $300 and it looks amazing!"
Joe - "No, it doesn't. It only cost $300, so it's ghetto and fugly. I must protect my ego at all costs!"

Shut up, Joe... :rolleyes:


That said, a Plasti-dip job isn't going to look nearly as good as a $3k+ paint job, but I think I made my point. People will defend to the death the choices that they have made. I'm as guilty of this as anyone else :D

If vinyl wrap is more economically feasible for you, go for it! Vinyl has a learning curve, but you'll probably get the hang of it after a panel or 2.
Mistakes are easy to remedy and the entire thing is reversible.

So what that long-winded reply is trying to say is that it's cheaper than a new paint job? Kind of a roundabout way of making your point (which was what exactly?). You could have just said it's cheaper :rolleyes:! Who said anything about anyone hating anything? I just asked why do it.
"Shut up Particle :p!"

I really wasn't talking to you. The name was just a coincidence.

The point of my post was that one's ego goes out of the way to protect oneself, even when it's abundantly clear that the choice was a bad one.
The secondary point of my post was that I'm sick and tired of these so-called "purists" bashing on anyone that wants to do something nontraditional with their Porshe or, God forbid, buy a non-Porsche part or DIY something.

Do-it-yourself! Everything!
That's just how I roll. Are you just now figuring this out? :D

It's called cognitive dissonance. And you forgot, in your secondary point, "or an automatic". ;)

because my rear bumper's paint is really messed up and i really dont have the extra $1000 to get it repainted. All my money is set aside for upgrades:rolleyes:
plus, i always wanted a matte black car, seems more stealth lol

Be careful when trimming? Knife or blades will scar the paint. Saw a Cayman wrapped, the owner had it professionaly done. He says the use fishing line to trim no scars.
Good luck

A civil and straightforward answer. Sounds like a good reason. Thank you :)! I have no idea what particlewave is ranting about. I didn't see anyone "bashing" anything on this thread :rolleyes:! I guess to him asking someone to explain why they might do something to their car is called "bashing" it. That's not "how I roll!" :D

Man! Don't do it! My Boxster was parked next to a Lambo Diablo owned by an amature vinyl wrapper who does window tinting for a living. It looked so gettho and inappropriate. If that's what you are looking for go for it. A Boxster is way too classy to abuse with wrap. IMHO. :)

Passive aggressive bashing is still bashing. And the less disguised passive aggressive bashing was coming, as I knew and as you can see. I read these and other forums enough to know...let's not play stupid, eh? ;)
It wasn't a rant. It was meant to be taken somewhat lightly until you decided to call me out twice and make a show of it.
:troll:

I stick by my guns, OP.
Go for it. If you take your time and don't accept imperfections, it can turn out nice. ;)
I don't have any more troll food, so I'm out! :D
Good luck!

Its your car
 

Do what you like, but I recommend getting someone to do it for you...not an easy task by any means. Wrapping a car is like polishing a Japanese Sword........something any 10 year old can do with 20 years experience

A blade should never be used on a car/van directly........it is not fishing line...but a product called Wrap-Cut or Knifeless Tape ( the difference is where the cutting line is placed in the tape)

The car MUST be cleaned to the vinyl manufacturers specification ( usually their cleaning product).....if not and the vinyl fails they will not honour any warranty claim.

All handles/badges should be removed..........all recessed should be post heated with a heatgun to the manufacturers specs and checked with an infra red temp gauge.

I have been a signmaker for 20 years,completed 2 vehicle wrap courses but would not take on a wrap job.....

Best of luck, I hope it goes well.

I thought the matte black thing was dead....or I'm I just getting old? Good luck, I imaging the boxster is a relatively easy car to wrap since it has no trim and no real grill or roof.

I wrap cars for a living (signshop)
 

and it is not something I would recommend to the first time user. I have probably wrapped well over 100 cars over the years and it still can be a challenge from time to time. I have been trying to get my employers to try out the vvivid brand vinyl as it appears to be decent quality. That being said, you know what you are getting when you purchase avery, 3m, or oracal materials. You are probably going to get some adhesion promoter (3M primer 94), a heatgun (we use propane torches), and have the car washed with an aggressive soap to get any wax and oil's off the paint before wrapping. The knifeless tape is expensive and kind of hard to use but is what you want if you are not going to put knife to paint. Frequently we would use masking tape under the edge and cut on that before peeling the vinyl back to remove the tape. There really should not be too many areas you have to cut on the body. To do things right, remove the headlights, sidemarkers, tailights, air vents, etc. The material stretches easily with heat so working in a cool location is always a plus.

Good luck....been thinking about wrapping my boxster in a green similar to signal green or a lime green color.

Absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I think you need to take another Prozac :D!

I don't have the time or energy to explain it to you, just like I won't waste my time explaining to you what a "rim" is. Play "senile" all you want ;)
I honestly don't have anymore troll food, so please stop begging.

Let's stick to the topic.

Good luck with your project OP and post some pics of the finished product!

i'm just gonna leave this here.

Porsche S - Monsterwraps Southampton - Wrapping, Tinting, Graphics, Styling and remaps

Wow, impressive. And probably no more rock chips! I wonder how much they charge. No price list on their website.

I really hope mine turn out like this:eek:

well for starters, you would have to ship your car to England

shipping it to england, getting it wrapped and shipping it back would cost more than a new paint job LOL

A question
 

If anyone knows, did they wrap the wheels ? and what about the Calipers ??

Or were these items just repainted ??

I am so so with the flat car wrap but I really like the wheels.

Dwight

This is the wrap that I was wanting to emulate
 

http://www.stickercity.com/images/forums/porsche/porsche-wrap-2.jpg

They also make a green that is more of a lime color as well as several matte mettalic greens that look pretty cool. I already have the black rims and rocker decals on the car...just can't decide whether to pull the trigger and do it or not. I figured I can probably do it for about ~$300 myself.

The wheels and calipers were painted...
 

wrapping the wheels would be just short of impossible as the film just does not stretch that much not to mention the heat generated in that area and the road grime, water, etc. would likely cause it to peel pretty quickly.

Impossible ?
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5QWelglMKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MrWvHNLuj8

Here is some kids doing it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aV2H57bES4

I'm going to get it for this, but I really like the metallic wraps. Specifically, green :D

My car really, really wants to be this color (or at least signal green) :D

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...4248748F16.jpg

Flat surfaces can be wrapped...
 

I still would not advise it and the wrap that the kids did on the honda rim would not last. You could almost wrap a ball with a sheet of vinyl and enough heat. It is easy to heat the vinyl and have it stretch to fit the rim but this stretches out the adhesive which weakens the adhesive. If they used a bunch of primer they might be okay for a while but usually within a few hours to days the memory effect of the vinyl will cause it to try and shrink back to it's original size and cause it to peel and lift in the concave areas especially. Wrapping something like those boxster rims in one piece would be more trouble than it is worth especially with plastidip being so easy...the lug areas would probably never hold well either as the recess is too deep.

You might want to check the pricing on the chrome wraps...typically you are looking at about $4k plus to have it done right...the chrome (3m or avery) is about 3 times the cost of the solid colors and is harder to install as the material is usually thicker, does not stretch as easily, and is easy to mar the finish when installing.

I like it, but I think that for the money, I'd rather have traditional paint in Signal Green. Lasts longer and basically the same price.

I just love the look. It would probably be too over the top in reality, though.

$4k :eek: that is not cheap brother!

They made it illegal here to have cars wrapped. Its not enforced but could be problematic as the officer could impound the car if let's say "that officer had a bad day". Still plenty on the roads here today. I am also one of those who dream of the chrome wrap in red... if not only just for a car show event.