Should I wrap my GN?

[theMonch]

Do it yourself

Take the thousand dollars go out and get a good HLVP gun, a compressor, and a few books on body work and painting (or just free online articles). Practice on a few old hoods or something from the junkyard. Once you feel confident enough to tackle your car, go for it. Now not only do you have your car painted, but every other paint job you will need in the future as well.

I am by no means attempting to convey that professional auto body work is simple as pie, but it isn't that hard for someone with the determination to learn. I got sick of paying thousands of dollars for paint, so I took the plunge a few years back. It was easy for me as I already had the compressor and all of the tools minus the gun.

In my experience, it's all in the prep stages, you skimp there, you'll never be able to get good results. The spraying part is the easy part. Learn a few techniques, get used to adjusting spray pattern and pressure, and your good.

All this relies upon having somewhere to do it as well. If you dont have that, then it's obviosly not an option. I bought one of those $150 tent garages from Pep Boys that I use. sets up in an hour, I use an old fan to exhaust it, and voila! instant paint booth. (Just got to hope the neighbors don't mind)

As for wraps, I don't particularly like them because most I have seen are gaudy at best. And I don't care how long they say they will last, I don't believe it till the tech has been around long enough to prove it, and it hasn't.

 

[turbo39151]

I think I'm gonna wrap mine in the leopard print and hide in the tall grass like the car in the pic... maybe I can surprise a few unsuspecting "animal" cars (ie: mustangs, vipers, and the ultra dangerous dodge colt... )

 

[grocerygetter]

I bought 60"x20yds of matte black wrap...I'm doing mine body line down. It'll let me see if I want to paint it this way or not. Matte/satin black paint is HARD to take care of...however, vinyl is not. I've been doing vinyl for a few years...this will be my first wrap but I've being lettering and graphic-ing vehicles for a while. I'd rather learn on my own car than someone else learn on mine.

 

[Nick Micale]

Nick- how much is he charging you? I started this thread and planned on wrapping my GN. ...........

I was looking for a quality shop with a person I that I felt comfortable that had pride in his work, and would concerned with doing his best.

He spent almost an hour with me going over the car including a work plan, and explaining details to me. In our initial conversation, he said the job usually takes less than a week.

When we finished going over details of how he would do the car, and what I would like to have done, he then said that the job would take more than a week, even though the cost of $2500 stayed the same.

It will probably take longer for me to decide on the graphics than for him to do the job.

 

[Eticket]

I was recently contemplating wrapping my car. Got a quote from a shop and also thought about doing it myself. Even bought 1 yard of 54" black matte to play with. I wrapped a header panel that turned out ok for the first time out on the toughest part of the whole car. I have a wrapping video for guys that are interested.

To each his own on wrapping or not. I think it's a very viable option if you like the flat/matte finish. In the end, I wanted a paint job - so I won't be wrapping one.

The 60" oracal 970ra stuff seems like the way to go, but slightly more expensive due to the width. Hexis is the brand i bought, but it only comes in 54" and would take overlapping pieces for the tops.

You need a pretty smooth finish on the surface -800 grit min to make sure the vinyl stays put - and also because the stuff can show imperfections due to it's 2-4mill thickness. (I was fine with the 320 grit that I sanded on the header panel)

Fyi.. material costs will be in the $550-$800 range depending on brands, etc. There is some cheap stuff out there, but not good for compound curves, etc.

The stuff they use on fleet trucks general is probably not the "good" stuff since the surfaces are flat.

 

[Eticket]

Another thing to remember before doing a wrap is the car Must have a shinny top coat to Begin with for the wrap to stick properly. NO PRIMER! There is a shop just down the road that does professional wraps and that is what they told me.

Plus a wrap don't look that great up close with the seams,patches and so on needed to work around objects, they look A LOT better from a distance.

QUOTE]

FYI.. it doesn't have to be shiny paint.. it can be primer, but will need to be sanded smooth.. probably 400-800 grit. The smoother it is though.. the better and is good for longevity.

You can probably do a GN without any seems at all with 60" material that they make.

 

[turbo nasty]

Just thinking about this and actually love the idea.... Thought of a few areas where im curious of how they do and such

I guess it would probably be best to block sand the car with high build primer the car and take care of the low spots and such on the darker wrap colored cars. With it stretched tight bumps, dips, and waves im sure will show up just like a regular paint job.

Nick has some very valid points with the dust and funk that body shops have and they are flat out brutes with the cars. Looks like the wraps will be a $3-6k savings on a car that has a good body underneath in comparison to paint.

I guess the removal of the spoiler, bumpers, rubber strips on bumpers, fillers, window trim, dewsweeps, lights and bezels, door handles, mirrors, etc will be required to hide the edges of the wrap just as a good paintjob.

How do they handle sides of hood and edges of trunk around the seal?

Wonder if the dark colors that are on DD tend to fade faster since they are gonna be hotter?

And does the summer heat make them tend to loosen a bit and cold shrink them and cause fitment/shift issues over time?

I know I have ran through some wet traffic paint and had it sling up on my rear quarters and was able the take it off the paint with chemicals and buff it out.
Guess it will just suck if that happens with the wrap and youll just have to get the 1/4's redone.

Just think of some areas im curious on.

 

[snyderjw1]

Just for another point of reference, I wrapped my smartcar two years ago have put 20,000 miles on it with no issues...all weather. It cost $1600 and is multi-colored...blue carbon fiber base with blue ghost flames and bike sprockets and chains on the sides..

The gn will stay black paint for now....

 

[BandAid]

Just for another point of reference, I wrapped my smartcar two years ago have put 20,000 miles on it with no issues...all weather. It cost $1600 and is multi-colored...blue carbon fiber base with blue ghost flames and bike sprockets and chains on the sides..

The gn will stay black paint for now....

um pics

 

[snyderjw1]

I don't have one on this computer but here's link to company that did it and they use it on their website..... this is the site:

Accent Wraps