Vinyl wraps / Vehicle graphics - The Good the Bad and the Downright Ugly ?

[Bfg]

.

Anyone got experience of vinyl wraps or other applied graphics to their vehicle.?

 

I, and I'm sure others, would be interested in what's what to know, and then how well it stood up to real rather than cossetted life ?

 

And then what have you seen ? ..the Good the Bad and the Downright Ugly - preferably applied to budget Autoshite ?

 

cheers,  Bfg

[Mr A Lawrence]

Do you mean stuff like this??

[Bfg]

^ that looks like standard manufacturer's go-faster pin stripes.  Much better than flat panels imo but I was hoping to see or hear about something more 'personalised*     or or     ..and Autoshite

 

perhaps more like ..

 

what's that in the background - a Cortina ? 

[vulgalour]

Hydrodipped Renault 5.

 

 

Bumpers, side trims and wheels all done with a skull gambling motif.  Rear windows are also vinyl wrapped on this to make it a van.

 

Generally, application is key.  Hydrodipping seems particularly hard wearing but the range of patterns is limiting.  It can generally deal with very complicated shapes quite well.  Vinyl, if applied with skill and properly put around edges, can be just as durable as paint.  However, it can go very dull because you can't really polish it like you can paint.  It also has a shelf life of between 5 and 10 years before UV begins to degrade it and can fade quite badly with certain colours.

 

For a short term fix, wrapping and dipping is ideal from what I've seen on other cars that aren't cossetted.  Longer term, it's going to get pretty tatty looking and need redoing.

[spartacus]

I think Bfg means more like this...

 

 

 

 

Some are quite clever, like this one, whereas some are just the work of over paid footballers*, other stereotypical groups with more money than taste are available.

[DVee8]

How about this

 

 

 

[Mr A Lawrence]

Amusing.

[danthecapriman]

My work van is vinyl wrapped. It's a blue van with a green wrap top half and vinyl logos and lettering.

After 6 years daily use it's beginning to look a bit tired. The green colour is now fading to white/pale green and is starting to look a bit tatty. The vinyl itself is also splitting and cracking in panel corners and joins so the vans blue paint is showing through.

It's got reflective vinyl strips on the very lower section of bodywork too, these are all starting to lift and peel around the doors where people getting in and out have gradually worn them and loosened them.

 

They are good for quickly and cheaply applying a livery to a fleet of vans but I'd never use them on my own car or van. Quality paint looks far better and lasts a lot longer.

[Bfg]

How about this

 

 

^

 other stereotypical groups with more money than taste are available.

 

That's obscene vanity when you watch yourself in your own mirror as you approach your own super car

[mercrocker]

I briefly considered vinyl when I had the grey bits done on my Morris (its an ode to its original colour plus every Moggy round my way seemed to be all over black...)  

 

Door repairs prompted the idea.  I was originally thinking of vinyl basketweave (a la Renault Parisienne or like Peter Sellers' Mini) but was persuaded paint would be a much better plan.   Given the appearance of one or two very small bubbles over the intervening six years I am very pleased I didn't as I imagine there wouldn't be much steel behind the vinyl before I found out.... 

 

 

  

 

 

I did see a wrapped T25 the other day, Gawd knows what is lurking down those now-invisible seams.....

[95 quid Peugeot]

Oh dear oh dear. I'm 58 and this is my effort on our 150 squid MX5 that I filled all four arches and painted with nearly the correct , Grace green.

[Bfg]

Amusing.

image.jpeg

 

^ Isn't that second photo is of a wooden bodied car rather than graphics ?  Judging by the lines of that front wing, the chunky grille, and the humour* of two different halves of body style - I reckon so.  

[SiC]

Funny enough, I was just reading about it the other day. The idea being that if I got a car that was silver, I could change it to something interesting.

 

Found this PH thread with good mixed viewpoints:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=517055

(I know, I know it's pistonheads)

[Asimo]

One of the autoshite Tagoras gets wrapped:-

 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?ebc=ANyPxKps_MEj5RapJatwhHedwFl0TZkCtsFA7gMTNGrw2YQ9Owr71xFnfPl5FDW3yA9kxX7eBLmw_Cl1qg4eg0yT7fDSlEiR0Q&v=vQDsNKWou3c

[robinmasters]

Responding to the 'Vehicle Graphics' party of the thread title, as I realise it isn't a vinyl wrap, I'd put these in both the bad and ugly categories:

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Not exactly budget Autoshite wrap, but I quite like this. Certainly makes a change from all the matte grey Rangies and Cayennes or the chrome effect blue BMWs.

[SiC]

Is that not a game/CGI render?

[xtriple]

Don't think so, if I recall correctly, the wrap is complete with 'dirt' so it looks like it's just finished a 24 hr race. I really like it! Been thinking about having the upper sections of my cars bumpers chrome wrapped. The genuine chrome bits are available but are many hundreds/few thousands per section and there are six! wonder if a wrap would work?

[cobblers]

That picture looks like a render but I have seen that actual car with said wrap a few times around Chesterfield, so there is a "real" one. It looks pretty good tbh, like a prop from next to the Nemesis at Alton towers or something.

[Matt]

Don't think so, if I recall correctly, the wrap is complete with 'dirt' so it looks like it's just finished a 24 hr race. I really like it! Been thinking about having the upper sections of my cars bumpers chrome wrapped. The genuine chrome bits are available but are many hundreds/few thousands per section and there are six! wonder if a wrap would work?

 

It might look better than tatty chrome from a few feet, but it wouldn't have the same clarity/quality; I imagine it would be like the difference between having a wing in the wrong colour vs a somewhat decent DIY rattle can spray job in the correct colour. Also the surface would need to be smooth so remaining chrome might have to be stripped at which point there is no going back.

[Ghosty]

[pshome]

One of the autoshite Tagoras gets wrapped:-

 

 

 

yep, and it was a lot of work! We guestimated two or three weekends, ended up taking a week off to finish the project.

 

http://altefranzosen.de/archives/150-Pauls-Verwandlung.html

 

 

Prep work is no less than if you want to do a normal paint job, you have to take off all the trim, remove door handles, bumpers, etc...

 

Applying the foil is not that difficult once you got the twist. Start with smaller parts and do the large surfaces last. We did the large roof first, thinking that's the easiest part and ended up redoing it twice. 

 

Use only "microperforated" vinyl, air bubbles are no issue at all with this.

 

The material is very thin, any surface defects and any dust that is on the car will be visbile though the foil. For this reason, i don't think it's really a good alternative to painting for a color change or fresh up of old paint unless you have a dust free environment. On the Tagora, the many logos and different colors distract from the fact that the surface is actually far less than perfect. 

 

We did the logos with a cheap cutting plotter from ebay, that was well worth the expense because having them made by a service adds up to much more than the cost of the plotter and you can sell on the plotter when you are done. Note the the foil to be used for the inscriptions is different, you need a type that does not stretch, otheriwse things will go out of shape when you affix them.

 

The vinyl is on the car since 2 1/2 years now and shows no sign of aging. You can wash it like other cars and no need to polish.

 

All in all we were very happy with the result and generally get a lot of praise for the job. Personally i wouldn't do it again.

 

 

it takes time!

 

 

Third round doing the roof...

 

You can see the dust in the orange squares, re-did that as well and came out better.

 

 

Logo work... very time consuming!

 

[Jams]

I've had the little smart car I won of this very forum done! A mate started it then disappeared.... He is well known for bending the truth and being Billy big nads when it comes to this sought of thing so I had half yellow half grey stripped down car. Luckily* a mate new a bloke who owns a sign place who agreed to take it on. I told him no time limit and not to be to carefull.

 

Should of kept my mouth shut tbh it's a bit shite... doesn't help that the car was flipping yellow and it's supposed* to come apart with a t25 torx bit.

I will post a pick if anyone's interested.

 

Just be carefull of the colour you choose and the previous colour the people who are doing it and well everything really ha ha

[fordperv]

Responding to the 'Vehicle Graphics' party of the thread title, as I realise it isn't a vinyl wrap, I'd put these in both the bad and ugly categories:

 

Go and wash your mouth out, Tiger stripes are so 90s it hurts, they are awesome

[richardthestag]

I have seen a beetle bonnet wrap on a Bug at a show. no pics but you can imaging the shrieks of wont somebody please cover that up

[bub2006]

I had both sides and rear doors of the van done for £15. Can't argue.

[DodgeRover]

I sent some signage out to Sister in Law in Australia they spent 8 years on her truck getting baked by the sun and still looked good when they were taken off. Quality vinyl makes a huge difference, I've been asked to work with the cheap stuff and it just makes everything ten times harder.

[Bfg]

I briefly considered vinyl when I had the grey bits done on my Morris (its an ode to its original colour plus every Moggy round my way seemed to be all over black...)  

 

Door repairs prompted the idea.  I was originally thinking of vinyl basketweave (a la Renault Parisienne or like Peter Sellers' Mini) but was persuaded paint would be a much better plan.   Given the appearance of one or two very small bubbles over the intervening six years I am very pleased I didn't as I imagine there wouldn't be much steel behind the vinyl before I found out.... 

 

WP_20150712_14_50_48_Pro.jpg

 

 Look fantastic.. very tasteful..  I could certainly live with that little beauty

 

Oh dear oh dear. I'm 58 and this is my effort on our 150 squid MX5 that I filled all four arches and painted with nearly the correct , Grace green.

 

150 squid bargain. Looks a lovely car in superb condition ..aside from the papier mâché. 

..never driven an Mx5, perhaps I should have.