Matte Black Vinyl Wrap

kmiller93

kmiller93

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So in the very near future some major changes will be happening to my 3rd gen 4runner. I have already been through the plasti dip faze on my 4runner. I painted the emblems bumpers and wheels black. Now I plan to buy the infamous sport hood and then instead of repainting the truck or matching the paint im going to vinyl wrap the entire thing. I have no pictures currently since we still have yet to place our order on the vinyl. Im going to be wrapping my friends E90 BMW, his parents Navigator (that should be fun) and then once we have mastered the technique (I hope) i'll be wrapping my 4runner. Ill definitely post many pictures of the process and plan to make a video of it too.

I have looked through the forum briefly and haven't found anyone that has done this before. If anyone knows of a thread that has Vinyl Wrapping it'd be greatly appreciated if you could post it here. Wish me luck.

P.S. here's a pic of what im shooting for but this 4th gen is painted not wrapped.
 

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Subscribed as well. I've recently inherited an '04 camry...only problem, it's gold. Yuck. Rather than paint it, I've thought about vinyl wrap instead.

I've not done much research on the matter though...how expensive is it to wrap an entire vehicle? Also, what's the longevity of the vinyl itself?
 
There is a 4th Gen that was wrapped Matte silver for a short period of time, the wrap didn't hold up as well the owner had hoped so he removed it shortly after it was applied.
 
Yoter said:
There is a 4th Gen that was wrapped Matte silver for a short period of time, the wrap didn't hold up as well the owner had hoped so he removed it shortly after it was applied.
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Was it shortly? As far as that thread goes (May - Oct 2011) he still had it / liked it.

EDIT: Looks like he pulled it Sept 2012... but then again, this is what the truck looked like before the wrap:

DSC09482.jpg~original



I have to imagine a wrap would be good for 90% of the guys out there. I don't think paint, wrap or even bedliner could stand up to that. :)
 
I'm planning on doing mine in the next month or two once I get fiberglass fenders and the long travel stuff put on. I really dislike the champagne silvery color it is now, and it needs a bit of body work so a wrap will be a good way to get it back to one color once the primer is sprayed where it needs to be.
 
Well I will start by saying good luck, and buy extra material. If you have never done a vinyl wrap before, tedious is an understatement. Here is my list of hints and items you will want to purchase.

1. Buy felt blocks - these are by far the easiest way to apply the wrap without leaving scuff marks.
2. Buy quality vinyl - trust me it will be so much easier to install.
3. Buy cutting tape - This is two layers of teflon tape that has a wire sandwiched between, you lay it down under the film where you want to cut it. this way your are not cutting on your paint.
4. Take everything off you can - the more you can remove the better it will turn out. I would advise headlights, grill, door handles and any trim you can.
5. Use primer - there is vinyl primer on the market, we used to use 3M. Put it on the leading edge of areas like the hood and roof. It will dramatically increase the lifespan of film.
6. Start on an area you will not look at as much, like the roof.
7. Heat guns can "heal" some scuff marks and wrinkles - just apply some heat and hopefully it will shrink back to its original form.
8. Plan for at least 2 full days per vehicle you are gonna wrap - we finished one in a day, but with three people that have done many many wraps.

and again, good luck!
 
Some companies are charging 3,000 for a wrap. We found the vinyls online for 150 and they say itll last 4-5 years. We'll see about that.
 
Didn't see your post before. But I don't know what brand it is. My friend was looking and he said he found something that cost $150.
 
Its kind of ironic that this thread just popped up, as I just ordered a set of 3M carbon vinyl samples yesterday. Im not wraping my 4runner however. Im gonna wrap my bike, most likely with 3M white and graphite carbon fiber vinyl.

But Im almost positive that theres a forum member here who wrapped his 3rd gen in matte black vinyl a while back. I havent seen his name in a long time, and I didnt see him in the collection of build threads either. But Ill try searching some more . . .
 
1985taylor1925 said:
Its kind of ironic that this thread just popped up, as I just ordered a set of 3M carbon vinyl samples yesterday. Im not wraping my 4runner however. Im gonna wrap my bike, most likely with 3M white and graphite carbon fiber vinyl.

The carbon will lay down nice on a bike, but be careful of how much heat you use. Excessive heat can cause the carbon pattern to melt away, leaving you with a funky matte black film. Heat is your friend with wraps, you just need to be a little more careful with the patterned vinyls. I would be cautious of the white, white vinyls that are textured or mattes finished will look dirty very quickly. We wrapped a Porsche in matte white and the oils from your hand made the vinyl look terrible. It can be cleaned, but on areas like the door handles good luck!
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Not sure if you're interested. But theres a website somewhere online that sells the supplies needed to plastidip an entire car (paint cans, sprayer gun, etc) and i think it looks pretty similar to vinyl, you would probably want to wait until it gets warmer though. Theres a suburban on campus that is vinyl wrapped, it looks good from a distance but that thing is a fingerprint collector. Lol, and if theres someone that doesn't dig your style, they could easily just cut a piece and rip it off leaving it looks quite janky.
 
kmiller93 said:
Brentif, Thanks for the tips. Any suggestions on quality vinyl? What should I look for?
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I would recommend 3M 1080, Oarcal, or Avery Wraps. These are the only films I have personal experience with.

If you are going for flat black I would use the Oracal over the 3M. The 3M is just too chalkboardy for me, looks almost like ashy skin when it gets a little dust on it. I think the Oracal is slightly cheaper as well. You will probably need 65 to 75 linear feet on a 60inch roll (325-375 square feet of material) per vehicle.
 
I was surprised at how short lived the "matte" fad was. I was expecting it to be considered hip for longer.
 
Brentif said:
1985taylor1925 said:
Its kind of ironic that this thread just popped up, as I just ordered a set of 3M carbon vinyl samples yesterday. Im not wraping my 4runner however. Im gonna wrap my bike, most likely with 3M white and graphite carbon fiber vinyl.

The carbon will lay down nice on a bike, but be careful of how much heat you use. Excessive heat can cause the carbon pattern to melt away, leaving you with a funky matte black film. Heat is your friend with wraps, you just need to be a little more careful with the patterned vinyls. I would be cautious of the white, white vinyls that are textured or mattes finished will look dirty very quickly. We wrapped a Porsche in matte white and the oils from your hand made the vinyl look terrible. It can be cleaned, but on areas like the door handles good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Its a 2000 suzuki sv which has more curves than lines, so Im hoping that will it a little more simple to lay down
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The sample is coming in very soon. The sample is 3m 1080p. Were going to compare it to another brand soon. We got free shipping because my friend told them he wanted to wrap a fleet of semi trucks for his dads company.
 
sorry to dig up an old thread... looking into vinyl as my paint is oxidizing and wanted to see what you ended up doing here (if anything)
 
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