Front Lip vinyl wrap experience from a vinyl wrapping noob
02-02-2017, 12:40 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Front Lip vinyl wrap experience from a vinyl wrapping noob
Hey all,
I'll share my lessons learned after wrapping the front lip / splitter trim in carbon fiber vinyl so someone else out there can have an easier time on their first go-around.
Material I bought: VVID Epoxy High gloss Black Carbon 1x5 ft - Link below. $15 bucks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Opinion on the material: Looks amazing, best looking carbon vinyl I've seen. looks better and more realistic than 3M DI-NOC. Easy to work with as long as you have a heat gun - w/o I'd imagine its impossible. Don't try using a hair dryer it just doesn't heat up quick enough, nor get hot enough in general. Use a heat gun. That's probably a day 1 vinyl lesson anyway.
Removing the plastic pieces from the bumper: pain in the ***, mainly because you need to use some force combined with strategic tab depressing - but you can't use too much force as the tabs are brittle. I had planned on taking pictures of the removal process but was too busy swearing at the bottom of the car. Nonetheless, I got them all off.
Here's a thread with some helpful info on tab location so you can understand what needs released
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-splitter.html
Vinyl wrapping lessons learned:
1. Buy more vinyl than you think you need. Stressing over perfect utilization of the material isn't necessary. Including scrap, I used about 75% of the roll on the front lip. Next time I would have bought the 2x5ft roll.
2. Optional, probably a good idea - buy some cheap basic vinyl to practice on something. The learning curve is quick and your results on final product will show. My third piece looks notably better than my first
3. CLEAN YOUR PARTS, and find a clean place to do the work. Tiny dirt specks cause what look like mountains of vinyl imperfections.
4. Use a heat gun - not a hair dryer. Don't be afraid to stretch the material, don't be afraid to get a little rough with it. I spent the first 45 minutes trying to be all delicate in order to not wrinkle it, when in reality it just needs some heat and then stretched over the part. Heat it up until it almost feels like hot saran wrap and then stretch it over the contours. The weave on this stuff holds shape pretty well. I was worried it would get distorted with stretching, but it was really minimal all said and done.
5. Get some of those scraping/smoothing tools - my fingers are killing me today
Overall - The execution looks pretty good, far from perfect though. Minor air bubbles here and there are my only issue.
Good luck out there!
I'll share my lessons learned after wrapping the front lip / splitter trim in carbon fiber vinyl so someone else out there can have an easier time on their first go-around.
Material I bought: VVID Epoxy High gloss Black Carbon 1x5 ft - Link below. $15 bucks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Opinion on the material: Looks amazing, best looking carbon vinyl I've seen. looks better and more realistic than 3M DI-NOC. Easy to work with as long as you have a heat gun - w/o I'd imagine its impossible. Don't try using a hair dryer it just doesn't heat up quick enough, nor get hot enough in general. Use a heat gun. That's probably a day 1 vinyl lesson anyway.
Removing the plastic pieces from the bumper: pain in the ***, mainly because you need to use some force combined with strategic tab depressing - but you can't use too much force as the tabs are brittle. I had planned on taking pictures of the removal process but was too busy swearing at the bottom of the car. Nonetheless, I got them all off.
Here's a thread with some helpful info on tab location so you can understand what needs released
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-splitter.html
Vinyl wrapping lessons learned:
1. Buy more vinyl than you think you need. Stressing over perfect utilization of the material isn't necessary. Including scrap, I used about 75% of the roll on the front lip. Next time I would have bought the 2x5ft roll.
2. Optional, probably a good idea - buy some cheap basic vinyl to practice on something. The learning curve is quick and your results on final product will show. My third piece looks notably better than my first
3. CLEAN YOUR PARTS, and find a clean place to do the work. Tiny dirt specks cause what look like mountains of vinyl imperfections.
4. Use a heat gun - not a hair dryer. Don't be afraid to stretch the material, don't be afraid to get a little rough with it. I spent the first 45 minutes trying to be all delicate in order to not wrinkle it, when in reality it just needs some heat and then stretched over the part. Heat it up until it almost feels like hot saran wrap and then stretch it over the contours. The weave on this stuff holds shape pretty well. I was worried it would get distorted with stretching, but it was really minimal all said and done.
5. Get some of those scraping/smoothing tools - my fingers are killing me today
Overall - The execution looks pretty good, far from perfect though. Minor air bubbles here and there are my only issue.
Good luck out there!
Last edited by blue00r6; 02-02-2017 at 12:44 PM.
02-02-2017, 01:03 PM
#2
Senior Member
Great job man. That looks very clean. I did this same thing on my c43 and I agree that removing the lower side lip pieces were a huge PIA! I was using multiple trim removal tools, pushing from the inside and pulling from the outside and it was a bear to remove. The vinyl wrapping was the easy part I thought.
Also I know a lot of people hate on the vinyl wrap, but for a part like the lower front valence which receives a lot of rock chips/scrapes/etc. I think the vinyl makes much more sense than an expensive carbon fiber one. Also, unless you are right on top of it, its hard to tell the two apart. Well done!
Also I know a lot of people hate on the vinyl wrap, but for a part like the lower front valence which receives a lot of rock chips/scrapes/etc. I think the vinyl makes much more sense than an expensive carbon fiber one. Also, unless you are right on top of it, its hard to tell the two apart. Well done!
02-23-2018, 03:13 PM
#4
I went another route that left me totally satisfied. I had a guy near Chicago wrap most of my console, HVAC surround, door trim, etc. in Real carbon fiber. It was clear coated and looks as good as any high end carbon I've seen. Not inexpensive, but I was able to carbon more than the factory carbon option.
Trending Topics
11-26-2018, 08:31 PM
#8
Super Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 836
Received 132 Likes
on
112 Posts
2018 C43 AMG Brilliant Blue Metallic
I went another route that left me totally satisfied. I had a guy near Chicago wrap most of my console, HVAC surround, door trim, etc. in Real carbon fiber. It was clear coated and looks as good as any high end carbon I've seen. Not inexpensive, but I was able to carbon more than the factory carbon option.
