tneker Posted February 11, 2017 Report Share Posted February 11, 2017 Many years ago in preparation for our first crapcan endurance race for lemons, we thought that using house paint and a roller was the fastest, most appropriate path to painting our car / theme. Fast forward to now and it is time to power wash off whats left and start anew. We are considering just getting some ebay vinyl and doing a wrap job. I get the gist of what you need to do for panel prep etc for best results. Anyone have experience with dealing with special circumstances of a chumpcar? For instance, our doors are welded shut, I was thinking we would just leave the wrap as one big piece and not worry about cracks and crevices we would be bridging like fender to door seams or old side marker pockets. Anyone have relevant experiences you care to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommytipover Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 I have no experience, would foil tape work for gaps and holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tneker Posted February 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 I like the foil tape idea. After further inspection of the body work and old paint that needs to be removed, this will not be an easy job and a rattle can approach may be more appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiredBirds Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 I like the foil tape idea. After further inspection of the body work and old paint that needs to be removed, this will not be an easy job and a rattle can approach may be more appropriate. Why not just spray it yourself? It will be cheaper than spray paint (cans) and it will look MUCH better. Get a single stage and have at it. If you use a light color it will also help conceal armature body work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVA Graphics & Wraps Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 The act of applying the vinyl wrap is not to be taken lightly. There is a tremendous amount of heating, stretching and prep that goes into putting this stuff on correctly. It truly is an art, one that takes a substantial amount of training to do correctly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 With all respect to our sponsor, I disagree on the difficulty in applying vinyl for budget endurance racers. First off, we are not doing high end street cars that have to be perfect or generally speaking, a custom printed wrap that needs perfection to line up. I did it on my race car with no lessons or practicing. I did buy quality vinyl (3M) and started with the easier panels. Second, my car has rusty spots that I prepped and some dents. The panels are from four different cars so fit is far from perfect. I used a heat gun, squeegees and learned as I went. I will never paint another race car as wrapping in vinyl is much easier with none of the mess. Watch a few YouTube videos and have some fun with beers and teammates. Here's our result: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turd Ferguson Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 FWIW, when we recently painted our truck, three of us wetsanded/scuffpadded all of it in like 5 hours. A buddy of ours shot it basecoat / clearcoat in his spray booth for just the cost of materials. It still wound up being not cheap and required a bunch of work. Work to blow the truck apart, scuff it all, shoot it , clear it, reassembly, then go back and spray bomb over the overspray. And still the undercarriage has a yellow tint on 90% of it. It looks boss in our opinion but we have overspray on EVERYTHING! And that was with a HVLP setup. I've never wrapped a car so I have no experience doing that. But I've got a lot of experience in prepping and paintng cars and I think it sucks. If i wanted to paint a racecar again, I would try to wrap it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 FWIW, when we recently painted our truck, three of us wetsanded/scuffpadded all of it in like 5 hours. A buddy of ours shot it basecoat / clearcoat in his spray booth for just the cost of materials. It still wound up being not cheap and required a bunch of work. Work to blow the truck apart, scuff it all, shoot it , clear it, reassembly, then go back and spray bomb over the overspray. And still the undercarriage has a yellow tint on 90% of it. It looks boss in our opinion but we have overspray on EVERYTHING! And that was with a HVLP setup. I've never wrapped a car so I have no experience doing that. But I've got a lot of experience in prepping and paintng cars and I think it sucks. If i wanted to paint a racecar again, I would try to wrap it. We painted our other car in my garage with a HVLP for the primer layer then used rattlecans for the outer colors (told the checkout lady at Walmart that I was a famous graffiti artist and that she should watch the local news that night). Besides prepping the car (which is 85% of the work) I put up plastic sheets in the garage for overspray, etc. It took several days as we shot 4 colors on the primer. It was very labor intensive and Mrs. Butterman wasn't happy with the state of the garage. The vinyl wrapping was a fraction of the effort and the vinyl makers give great instructions on line. I wouldn't want to do a new car in vinyl, I would leave it to the pros like our sponsor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 Below car was painted in my garage and also happens to be for sale. https://forum.chumpcar.com/index.php?/topic/15822-tbr-bmw-e36-race-car-for-sale/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoorfunguy85 Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 On 2/12/2017 at 3:59 AM, tneker said: Many years ago in preparation for our first crapcan endurance race for lemons, we thought that using house paint and a roller was the fastest, most appropriate path to painting our car / theme. Fast forward to now and it is time to power wash off whats left and start anew. We are considering just getting some ebay vinyl and doing a wrap job. I get the gist of what you need to do for panel prep etc for best results. Anyone have experience with dealing with special circumstances of a chumpcar? For instance, our doors are welded shut, I was thinking we would just leave the wrap as one big piece and not worry about cracks and crevices we would be bridging like fender to door seams or old side marker pockets. Anyone have relevant experiences you care to share? Ask help from the veteran installers, why not visit Gatorwraps. I believe they have installers for a vinyl wrap in all major cities. Professionals there will be able to address all your concerns plus you can request a quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 40 minutes ago, Outdoorfunguy85 said: Ask help from the veteran installers, why not visit Gatorwraps. I believe they have installers for a vinyl wrap in all major cities. Professionals there will be able to address all your concerns plus you can request a quote. Ya know this series is sponsored by a wrap company. Please support our sponsers! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takjak2 Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 @RVA Graphics & Wraps it looks like many teams don't know even a rough cost for a "cheap" vinyl job. Could you maybe give a rough estimate for doing a Miata, E36, or a Mustang in 2 simple colors? Might get more visitors to Richmond that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronh911 Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, takjak2 said: @RVA Graphics & Wraps it looks like many teams don't know even a rough cost for a "cheap" vinyl job. Could you maybe give a rough estimate for doing a Miata, E36, or a Mustang in 2 simple colors? Might get more visitors to Richmond that way. Don't forget 944s. Edited November 2, 2017 by Ronh911 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAMR2 Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 7 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said: Ya know this series is sponsored by a wrap company. Please support our sponsers! Tone of the post and account age makes me think he's just a spammer searching forums for interest in vinyl wraps. Seems to be an uptick in that type of stuff lately. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 This was rattle can primer'd after I replaced the whole front clip, and passenger side from gas cap foreword. Painted with about $15 worth of rustolium tractor paint sprayed with a harbor freight HVLP gun, then about $50 worth of clear. I think I put about $200 into the paint and prep. It's held up pretty well through half a dozen rally events, and about 50 hours of endurance racing. If I had to do it again though, I think I'd vinyl it. The only benefit to the paint, is small repairs are easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedMaverick Posted November 3, 2017 Report Share Posted November 3, 2017 There is a difference in vinyl. Cheap vinyl doesn't go over curves well. It also doeasn't hide what is under it very well. (see through) Needs 2 layers if the colors underneath show through too much. Darker colors are better. Cast material which is about 4-5 times more expensive will go over curves. Also see through but not as bad. Then there are the 'Wrap" materials which have a gray opaque adhesive. It is really easy to use and you can crunch it into a ball and if you can get it apart can be re applied with some heat. So it is real user friendly but is most expensive of the unprinted vinyls. Wrap vinyls also come in some great colors. The other problem with wrap vinyls is the minimum quantities you can purchase. Usually 10-50 yard rolls. My wholesale cost for printed wrap material is about $5.00 a sq ft. So cost adds up REAL fast. If you need it I can get it for you in different colors and widths. I still have about 30-40 rolls (24" wide) of the cheap stuff I can sell by the yard. But there a gazillion companies selling it to the general public at retail pricing. Small sign shops are usually better to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted November 14, 2017 Report Share Posted November 14, 2017 I painted one race car and vinyl wrapped the other. I will never paint another car. Vinyl can be purchased locally or via online sites. I use an online site that has a local pickup. I found there is a huge difference between the cheap eBay vinyl and 3M. We use the 3M vinyl and bought the colors to do the car. It takes some time to learn how to apply but after your second panel, you should pretty much have it figured out. Heat is your friend around any kind of curves. It's easy to fix small spots or whole panels (I've done both and two hoods). Here's a look at the final product. Car on the right was painted with Krylon rattle cans, and the car on the left with vinyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcsi99 Posted November 14, 2017 Report Share Posted November 14, 2017 So how much did it cost to wrap the car vs painting the car? How much time did it take to wrap the car vs paint the car? They both look great BTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbro Posted November 15, 2017 Report Share Posted November 15, 2017 (edited) 6 hours ago, hcsi99 said: So how much did it cost to wrap the car vs painting the car? How much time did it take to wrap the car vs paint the car? They both look great BTW! Rough estimate of materials is $400-1000. It depends on how many colors, complications of schemes, inclusion of sponsors etc. I've done a few street cars (which imho are a little more in depth than what I'd require on a racecar), and they've been roughly $700 each. I am a HUGE fan of vinyl wraps for race cars and street cars. One great thing is any damage incurred could be rewrapped for typically less than $100 a panel and could be done directly over primer/gelcoat/fiberglass/carbon fiber, etc. Also, it's a breeze to clean (cleaner wax or 50% rubbing alcohol, and microfiber/towel. Or take it through carwash and hit with brushes whatever else). I have a small cutter than allows me to do logos/designs as well, so I'd have a ball wrapping a chump car! Also, I have only good things to say about 3M's 1080 vinyl series. That would be the product I'd recommend. Edited November 15, 2017 by Bobbro 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRVOLKS Posted November 15, 2017 Report Share Posted November 15, 2017 I did the Beetle for last Lemon race I did the drivers side it cost about $60 looked OK from far away. We where a lemon just like there logo every one loved it Bob Mann www.DRVOLKS.com bobtec@comcast.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVA Graphics & Wraps Posted November 15, 2017 Report Share Posted November 15, 2017 Sorry for the delayed response to this post. As Tubby and Speed Maverick stated, there is a substantial difference in cost and quality between the 3M vinyl we use and some of the cheaper vinyl out there. I would think $5/sqft for printed and laminated vinyl would be an accurate measure for a wholesale cost. I think an e36 uses about 208 Sq ft of material to get a rough idea of cost. I applaude anyone who has the ability to put a wrap on after watching a how to video as I know I am not able to do what our guys in the shop can. But I guess the ability is relative to the level of presentation one is comfortable with. I imagine most folks could DIY one for their ChumpCar, especially if theirs is a wrinkled as ours, but I still say it takes serious skill to do wrap a street vehicle and have it look as good as a factory paint job. My concern would be that if one wrinkles up their material attempting to DIY, then that would be money wasted. Applying a logo or graphic would be pretty straight forward, but heating and wrapping around corners etc is pretty difficult in my opinion. That being said, we would be glad to discuss options with anyone interested in trying to do their own car. I am sure our guys would be happy to share a few tips n tricks to help out fellow Chumps. Best, Justin 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedMaverick Posted November 16, 2017 Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 Partial wraps which cover a section of the car is a great place to start. You can put a beautiful printed graphics as an accent like on the QP and door and or a hood. Something like the red QP on the Beemer above but printed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVA Graphics & Wraps Posted November 16, 2017 Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 I agree, that is something we are considering offering as a package for fellow Chumps. Which brings up a question I have been wanting to ask. Are there any other decal/printing type products you would like to see RVAGFX offer to Chumps? Either items for sale or items to be awarded during award ceremonies? Any items that Chumpcar could have available at every race if folks want/need them. For example, every time we go to a new track, we have a track map printed up to put on our pit box so we can discuss the track after our stints, hopefully improving our performance. I was wondering if those types of items were available, would folks want to buy them at the races, or online. Best, Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MR2 Biohazard Posted January 7, 2018 Members Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 I am wrapping my new build with 3M Scotchprint Vinyl 1080 g336 gloss envy green. I did get some samples (10 different colors) and really like this one. Now saying that, how much should I buy to do an entire small car? This is a CC so if I have to piece a little bit I am not really worried about, but less would be better. https://www.metrorestyling.com/3M-1080-G336-Gloss-Green-Envy-Vinyl-Wrap-p/gloss1080g336.htm IS 5'x45' enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Benty Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 I will buy your vinyl. Send me a private mail here with your info for contact. On 11/16/2017 at 10:11 AM, RVA Graphics & Wraps said: I agree, that is something we are considering offering as a package for fellow Chumps. Which brings up a question I have been wanting to ask. Are there any other decal/printing type products you would like to see RVAGFX offer to Chumps? Either items for sale or items to be awarded during award ceremonies? Any items that Chumpcar could have available at every race if folks want/need them. For example, every time we go to a new track, we have a track map printed up to put on our pit box so we can discuss the track after our stints, hopefully improving our performance. I was wondering if those types of items were available, would folks want to buy them at the races, or online. Best, Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.