Carbon wrap Q

[The Boosh!]

The gear knob insert in my 182 is screwed so I bought some 3m carbon vinyl off ebay for £3. Have got the gear decal coming as well.

Do I simply wrap the insert, slap on the decal and lacquer over it? Or would a clear vinyl be better?

Thanks

 

[jenic]

Lacquer over it.

You done vinyl before? Can see it being tricky over the insert, I've heard people use a hairdryer to make it more malleable.

 

[The Boosh!]

Nope never done it mate but I've got an a4 sheet so can afford to mess it up a few times.

 

[chris powell]

gently smooth the vinyl over the face of the insert first and then using a hair-dryer warm the vinyl up and wrap down the edges and around the underside edge.
be careful not to use too much heat or you will find that the casting in the vinyl will loose its 3d effect.
also you want to be trying to lay the vinyl over the surfaces rather that stretching it over them if that makes sense?
once it has completely cooled down trim the bottom edge off with a stanley blade and then fit the decal.
if you lacquer on top of the vinyl you will loose some of the carbon effect as it is dependent on the edges of the casting reflecting light but it will still look carbonish.
have fun and hope this helps.
cheers

 

[fasttalkerchat]

Finally, post pics

Good luck.

 

[Gavin.]

I have mine done in 3M Carbon Luke, I expected it to wear really badly but 18 months on and it still looks as new. Leave is bare imo.

 

[The Boosh!]

First attempt. Bit tatty but the visible part looks good so I'll see how long this lasts.

 

[biojo]

yer its easy to use jut get it hot, but dont burn ya fingers, dont thing the gear decal will stick the the 3m stuff though

 

[MichaelGrimes]

yer its easy to use jut get it hot, but dont burn ya fingers, dont thing the gear decal will stick the the 3m stuff though

The company i work for produce digatily printed wrap kits, and weve all wrapped some motorbike panels in carbon, dont just 'get it hot' because if you get it too hot, you will ruin the glue, and it wont stick, if you stick the flatest face down 1st, and the warm up the edges gently, and pull it down and round underneath, then just trim it off with a sharp stanley/scalpol blade
we have found at work that with some vinyls and carbon, that it does shrink back after a while, my boss's clio PH2 172 is completely wrapped matt orange, and he was going to do carbon wrapped wing mirror, but we found that it shrunk back on the edges revealing the colour underneath
Hope this is of some assistance

 

[barker22]

The company i work for produce digatily printed wrap kits, and weve all wrapped some motorbike panels in carbon, dont just 'get it hot' because if you get it too hot, you will ruin the glue, and it wont stick, if you stick the flatest face down 1st, and the warm up the edges gently, and pull it down and round underneath, then just trim it off with a sharp stanley/scalpol blade
we have found at work that with some vinyls and carbon, that it does shrink back after a while, my boss's clio PH2 172 is completely wrapped matt orange, and he was going to do carbon wrapped wing mirror, but we found that it shrunk back on the edges revealing the colour underneath
Hope this is of some assistance

Surely this is down to either a crap cast vinyl or incorrect application. If its done properly with a decent material it won't shrink.

 

[Danith]

is this stuff any good for external plastics or not?

 

[jesus]

is this stuff any good for external plastics or not?

I slapped some on my mate's Vivaro van on the metal slider and it's held up well. Be aware that in the sun it will 'shrink' again though.

 

[Danith]

Ahhhh, so any of the 'carbon' sheets you get off eBay will do for having a go at doing the bullets/rear bumper insert?

 

[jesus]

I'd recommend proper 3M stuff as he got the cheaper eBay stuff and it felt a bit cheaper and was less pleasant to work with. It's up to you though, they looked very similar.

 

[The Boosh!]

The 3m stuff is relatively cheap as well. I paid £3.40 posted for an a4 sheet which i didn't think was too bad

 

[jesus]

Aye I got mine off eBay.

 

[Danith]

Yeah sorry, meant the 3m stuff on ebay. Sound, will give me something to have a go at this weekend then.

 

[Rob]

I'm going to be having a go at the zed electric window switches later this week.

I've done bits before, if you don't get it too hot and over stretch so that it doesn't try to retract and eventually just give, it's easy enough to work with.