- Location
- Houston, Tx
I really want to do a wrap
-
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The Lab Rat - SFR's R&D Comanche
- Thread starter StinkyFab
- Start date
- Location
- Denver, CO
That's going to look sweet!
So the last piece to be wrapped was the tailgate, and with the deep impression in the middle it promised to be the most interesting so I thought I'd get some step by step pics of the process.
First things first, cut a piece of vinyl that's a bit bigger than the part. In this case it was the last bit of the roll, as I apparently measured very well when I ordered and had exactly enough.
You may have noticed the little pink tape along the edge of the bedliner. This is rather special tape. Stay tuned til the end and you'll see why.
After peeling the backing off lay the sheet down, stick the top edge and pull a bit of tension on it.
It's hard to see here, but to start the depression I heated around the perimeter a bit and gently pressed the middle down.
From there it's a slow gentle process of heating and pressing the vinyl down. The hardest part is getting all the air out, so I pulled a small section up on the drivers side and worked right to left.
So after a lot of careful heating, stretching and pushing the air out we now have the vinyl fully in place and ready to be trimmed.
First things first, cut a piece of vinyl that's a bit bigger than the part. In this case it was the last bit of the roll, as I apparently measured very well when I ordered and had exactly enough.
You may have noticed the little pink tape along the edge of the bedliner. This is rather special tape. Stay tuned til the end and you'll see why.
After peeling the backing off lay the sheet down, stick the top edge and pull a bit of tension on it.
It's hard to see here, but to start the depression I heated around the perimeter a bit and gently pressed the middle down.
From there it's a slow gentle process of heating and pressing the vinyl down. The hardest part is getting all the air out, so I pulled a small section up on the drivers side and worked right to left.
So after a lot of careful heating, stretching and pushing the air out we now have the vinyl fully in place and ready to be trimmed.
Last edited by a moderator:
So, remember that little pink tape? Well here's where it comes in. Embedded in the edge of that pink tape is a thin kevlar strand. You pick that string out of the end and then use it as a cutting line to slice the vinyl right along the edge. This allows you to cut the vinyl in place without running a razor against the paint. In this case I just wanted a clean line at the edge of the bedliner, but you can also use the tape to cut shapes, stripes, whatever you want really.
End result, nice and clean.
End result, nice and clean.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Location
- In a strange land
Nicely done.
You have me thinking about this as a solution for the Chrysler quality paint job on my dually. I have not been looking forward to the price tag on getting that peeling mess fixed.
Any recommendations on sources for vinyl?
You have me thinking about this as a solution for the Chrysler quality paint job on my dually. I have not been looking forward to the price tag on getting that peeling mess fixed.
Any recommendations on sources for vinyl?
Boostwerks.com
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Colorado
That's awesome! Looks like it turned out great.
While I had the Jeep in the shop I just had to build a rear bumper. Driving around without one had been bugging me.
First step was the brackets. Because of the way the shackle hangers are built you can't just build a flat bracket and bolt it on though, so I first cut out 1/8" spacers that got welded into place.
Then I did a bit of measuring and drawing to come up with the actual bumper mounts.
Thankfully the comanche is very square, so the main tube of the bumper was really simple. Just one long piece with 2 90* bends.
I needed to have a receiver hitch on this thing as I have a lot of trailers and it's handy to be able to move them around with whatever vehicle is nearby. I doubt I'll be doing any real towing with it, but a receiver is always a good recovery point as well.
To make the hitch strong enough to use for recovery it got some bracing back to the frame as well.
Makin it pretty
First step was the brackets. Because of the way the shackle hangers are built you can't just build a flat bracket and bolt it on though, so I first cut out 1/8" spacers that got welded into place.
Then I did a bit of measuring and drawing to come up with the actual bumper mounts.
Thankfully the comanche is very square, so the main tube of the bumper was really simple. Just one long piece with 2 90* bends.
I needed to have a receiver hitch on this thing as I have a lot of trailers and it's handy to be able to move them around with whatever vehicle is nearby. I doubt I'll be doing any real towing with it, but a receiver is always a good recovery point as well.
To make the hitch strong enough to use for recovery it got some bracing back to the frame as well.
Makin it pretty
Last edited by a moderator:
- Location
- San Diego
beautiful.
DansGreyMj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Nuevo, Ca
Looks really good!
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
korda
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- San Diego, CA
What type of vinyl, thickness etc? What type of tools, a squeegee and heat gun?
I think I'm going to take your suggestion and do this on the Scout.
I think I'm going to take your suggestion and do this on the Scout.
I used 3M 1080 series vinyl. Not sure what the thickness is, but it's one of the higher quality wrap vinyls. Quality is really important, as it makes all the difference in how well the stuff goes down, getting air out etc. You can basically take this stuff, stick one edge down, then yank and stretch on it, crumple it into a ball, stick it to itself, then hit it with a heat gun and get it back perfect again.
Tools are pretty simple. Squeegee with a felt edge, break off style razor knife, microfiber towel or soft glove, and a good heat gun preferably with adjustable temp settings.
I basically learned how to do it by watching YouTube videos. 3M and Hexis both have great channels with lots of tutorials. If you wanna do the Scout let me know and I'll give you a hand.
Tools are pretty simple. Squeegee with a felt edge, break off style razor knife, microfiber towel or soft glove, and a good heat gun preferably with adjustable temp settings.
I basically learned how to do it by watching YouTube videos. 3M and Hexis both have great channels with lots of tutorials. If you wanna do the Scout let me know and I'll give you a hand.
- Location
- Denver, CO
LOOKS SO GREAT!!!
POLAR_JEEP_04
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ohio
That windshield trim sticks out like a sore thumb now. It's coming along great though. Good work!
Yeah, not really sure what to do about that.
- Location
- San Diego
can you wrap it?
- Location
- Denver, CO
I *think* you can order new windshield trim that is black. Rockauto maybe? I loathed the chrome windshield surround on my '88 XJ.
Paint doesn't stick very well.
I'm sure I could, but it's such a small part, with enough complexity that it would be kind of a pain and I'm not sure how well it'd hold up over time. If I could just get black trim I'd rather just do that. Would leave the rain gutters as the only chrome left lol.
