Hello im thinking of vinyl wrapping my 88 fiero formula id like to hear what you guys think would look cool or see pictures of what youve done. I dont want crazy intricate detail but I know I want something on the hood and possibly something doen bith sides to go along with the "formula decal

Let's get crazy out of the way. I had this wrap custom printed by Metro Restyling and installed it myself on my track car:

[This message has been edited by Steven Snyder (edited 11-04-2014).]

Are you planning to wrap it yourself? Have you ever wrapped a car before? If you haven't I would seriously SERIOUSLY recommend against it! I started wrapping my Fiero this past spring and it is a very time consuming frustrating process. I'm still not completely finished because it's my daily driver and I took a break because I was getting burnt out on the project. There is definitely a learning curve and you WILL ruin some material, but I think that's the only way to learn.

The wrap place I talked to said that their printed wrap wasn't as durable as the off the shelf ones. I'm still looking into a wrap. I want to see if I like my lambo replica in metallic red better than the orange it's been for four years. I know my limitations so it won't be self installed.

Sounds like he wants decals.....not a wrap. Decal on the hood and decal down the side of the car.

Man your car looks great Steven.

quote Originally posted by dratts: The wrap place I talked to said that their printed wrap wasn't as durable as the off the shelf ones. I'm still looking into a wrap. I want to see if I like my lambo replica in metallic red better than the orange it's been for four years. I know my limitations so it won't be self installed.

Yeah printed wrap won't last as long because the off the shelf stuff has the color all the way through the material, compared to printed on the surface. I used a dark blue metallic on my car and the metallic colors will show age faster as well. Lifespan also depends on how it's taken care of and if it's garage kept or exposed to the sun, kept clean etc.

Good call not wanting to try it yourself. With the amount of labor I have in cleaning and prepping the car I probably could have taken it for a cheap paint job and ended up with decent results for a similar price as what I have in the vinyl material. But it has been a learning experience.

[This message has been edited by zmcdonal (edited 11-04-2014).]

I want to politely disagree with people saying for him not to do it himself, and instead he should take it in to be done somewhere professional. If we always did that, then no one would learn new skills. What if he wants to change it periodically? (quite likely since wraps don't last as long as paint). Instead, I would recommend finding someone with experience in wrapping to come out and teach you how to do it, and help completing it the first time. It is a lot of work, but if you learn the skill then you will be free to change the wrap whenever you like and you'll save money in the long run.

quote Originally posted by Neils88: I want to politely disagree with people saying for him not to do it himself, and instead he should take it in to be done somewhere professional. If we always did that, then no one would learn new skills. What if he wants to change it periodically? (quite likely since wraps don't last as long as paint). Instead, I would recommend finding someone with experience in wrapping to come out and teach you how to do it, and help completing it the first time. It is a lot of work, but if you learn the skill then you will be free to change the wrap whenever you like and you'll save money in the long run.

I'm not trying to completely discourage people from attempting to wrap their own car, but I just want to warn them and give them an idea what they are in for. I ended up using twice the amount of material due to mistake or learning errors. I don't know how easy it would be to find someone that would be willing to teach and assist in learning, that would be a big help and learn a lot of tips and tricks that way. I watched EVERY YouTube video I could find to learn as much as I could beforehand, which was helpful. I would suggest starting with a small project like hood or deck lid or something and get a feel for it before diving into an entire car wrap though.

[This message has been edited by zmcdonal (edited 11-05-2014).]

My Daughter and I wrapped her 88 Formula after a fender bender last year.



It took us two weekends to finish with 3M 1080 off ebay

Must say, both look pretty nice.

That yellow looks great!
(Nice as always Mr. Snyder)
:3

either of you guys who have wrapped your car car to post a write up of how it's done?

quote Originally posted by ericjon262: either of you guys who have wrapped your car car to post a write up of how it's done?

X 2

Im surprised SSN669chris who posted above didn't show off his awesome car:

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 11-06-2014).]

quote Originally posted by ericjon262: either of you guys who have wrapped your car car to post a write up of how it's done?

I will edit this post with further information and tips as I think of them/have time.

I had been meaning to post pictures of my progress while I was doing mine but since I am still not finished I didn't want to start a thread on a project that wasn't sure if I was going to finish.

The biggest most important thing that cannot be stressed enough is make sure your surface is clean. Make sure the area you will be working in is clean, I made sure to sweep out the garage and wash down the garage floor before I started. The more dust and debris you can remove keep out of your working space the better. Wash and dry the car thoroughly. You may want to smooth out any chips or scratches in the finish because you will be able to see the imperfection through the vinyl. Some of the YouTube videos from the professionals I have seen recommend to let the car sit in the garage overnight to make sure the car is all dried out, in the nooks and crannies. I went over each panel with compressed air to make sure it was dust free any hidden moisture was taken care of. Make sure you know the temperatures at which the vinyl you are using can be applied, I learned the hard way on this and the garage got colder than I thought while I was working, the material becomes sort of brittle and will almost shatter like an ice berg when you go to pull it up to work out problem areas if it gets too cold. Before you apply vinyl to the panel you will be working on, spray it down with isopropyl alcohol and a wipe it dry with a microfiber towel to remove any remaining wax or contamination from the finish. Another VERY important thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the state of your current paint. If it is peeling or the clear is lifting, you will have problems. The adhesive from the vinyl will pull up any questionable paint which was a big problem that I encountered with my car. The previous owner had a cheap macco job done and the paint on the edges would pull up as soon as the vinyl touched it. So as soon as I went to wrap it around the edge of the panel, say front fender at the door gap, the vinyl would not stick because it pulled paint out of that seam.

Now you are ready to measure your piece and get started applying vinyl. Make sure you plan ahead on what order to do things and cut material so you can avoid wasting material. The vinyl will stretch but you want to be sure not to overstretch the material. For deep areas you will need to inlay pieces beforehand. You are going to need a heat gun, a squeegee, and LOTS of fresh blades.Lay down the material, and try to get it as wrinkle free as you can, put it across the entire panel and pull it a little taught, then start working the material from the inside to the edges lifting and heating when necessary to take care of wrinkles. Have a container with water around so you can get you squeegee wet to avoid scratching your material.

I started with the top of the front fender because I thought it was a fairly small piece so if i messed it up, it wouldn't be too much wasted material.


I had my front bumper removed because I was also installing Amida's 512 front bumper which is kind of what prompted the whole wrapping project to begin with.

After you finish a panel you are supposed to post heat it with the heat gun, especially if there was any heating and stretching involved. Post heating the material helps to guarantee that all of the air is removed, and the material has a "memory" it needs to be heated to a certain point soit will lose memory will not recede back to it's original shape. This memory is what makes the material more forgiving to work with. A little heat with your heatgun and the wrinkles will disappear.

I did the top sections of both front fenders and then moved onto the hood, which is pretty flat and straightforward but a lot material wasted if you mess up.


It took my 4 tries to get the front bumper right. I kept trying to do it in one piece without inlays. It turned out awesome the first try until I tried to make the cutouts, then I ran into problems.

This is what happens when you overstretch the material or don't inlay properly.



I discovered that is not like upholstery work where you can cut an X or relief cuts and work the material into the area you need, the X will rip and travel like no other. Starting off cutting a circle works much much better. You can slowly heat and stretch the material and the circle will slowly grow bigger and bigger.


For deeper areas, like the air inlets at the bottom of my 512 bumper, you need to inlay material first. Lay down vinyl pin-striping as a guide where you want to cut. You can work the pinstripe around any contours you need and it will give you a layer of protection for when you make your cut.


This is how the edges of your material will look when your heating and stretching to make it fit the complex surfaces such as bumpers.


I tried wrapping the front bumper both on and off the car. It is definitely easier to wrap them on the car. While you have more mobility and different angles with it removed, it is also sliding around and fighting you every time you try to do anything with it. With a stock rubber bumper it will definitely need to be wrapped on the car, or it will be flexing around and fighting you the entire time.

I think one of the biggest issues I had with wrapping my car was that I was trying to use it as a daily driver transportation as well. So there was a lot of pressure to get a panel done in a certain amount of time so that I could drive it to work. My other car had a non-working drivers window and no AC so I didn't want to be stuck driving that in the middle of the summer. You can achieve pretty awesome results by yourself in you garage but it does require a lot of patience. This is where I am currently at with my wrap, I got sidetracked with other projects and needed a break from it. Plus the paint on my rocker panels is a nightmare. They have been repainted so many times with shotty macco jobs I am really dreading trying to wrap them, unless I sand them down first.

[This message has been edited by zmcdonal (edited 11-07-2014).]

Thanks for posting my car, I did pay to have it done but the shop let me help and taught me a lot before my daughter and I tackled her car.

We started watching some of the videos online. There are several good products out there, knifless tape is very useful. A heat gun, good squeegees and temperature are a must.
The F[img][/img]ormula had been in a fender bender and it gave me a chance to give this a try.

The write up above is good, we did go a different way in a couple of areas. I have had my wrap for four years now and it is my daily driver. The only area that I am having an issue with is the hood scoop, it is the area that was stretched the most during install.

So for the lighting recessing on the Formulas wrap we cut some of the scrap pieces to fit.
Think ahead on where you want the wrap seams to be. The Formula's belt line made this very easy. For the front and rear bumpers we put the seams behind the plates.

The car needs to be prepped the same as paint except I stopped with the 400 grit sanding and it worked great. I did not do this on my car and it showed through.

Lots of good tips, Zach. If the paint on your rockers is questionable don't hesitate to sand them down smooth. If you get them smooth enough you can go straight to wrapping it, or you can shoot the sanded area with primer sealer first.

A couple pics of my wrap for the OP