DIY: Vinyl Wrap Your Roof/Hood or Whatever
 

1st off I should introduce myself since I bought my RX8 several months ago I had a white one prior which I sold for this red 04 GT edition. I always use the forms to search for stuff and it's helped me because I had that foamy dipstick scare and also helped me pinpoint my check engine light which was luckily just a air sensor and even had a tutorial for doing it yourself which helped me decided that I'd rather not do it haha. So it's time to give back to the forum with a little tutorial.

NOTE: I like hexis but I DO NOT work for them (wish I did though as i am just going to college full time at RCC at the moment) Another reason I like them is because I am super lucky they are 5 mins away from my house in the commercial area of corona so I don't have to pay for shipping.

Ok now that I am introduced time to learn how to vinyl wrap.

So I decided to wrap my roof which would be cheaper than replacing my roof with a real carbon fiber. Plus, I didn't know how it would look and this is easy to take off and protects the paint against the sun (even though it's garaged). My dad wanted to help and a big piece is easier to do with two people. So start of our father sun tutorial.

How To:
First of all these are cliff notes but these are the main points I could probably write a book on this. After I wrapped my entire Yamaha R1 I decided why not do the roof.
1) Get your vinyl where every you want. I used the famous 3M on my r1 but it started to peel. So I decided to go with HEXIS this time. Some company's provide better vinyl CHECK THEIR WARRANTIES which are located on their spec sheets for the vinyl. This tell your how long it will last in certain climates and mounting positions. Vert or Horizontal. On my r1 I used 3M last month in which i bought for $150. I now have to peel it all off and redo it which took 12 hours the 1st install! So just like you read review for cars read review for vinyls or call some sign shops that wrap and ask what they use and their warranties.
2) You'll need a felt tipped squeegee and a butane torch/heatgun to lift up and heat to remove wrinkles only. Only set down when it's cold again and do not stretch when hot it will deform and you will get crows feet
3) You'll need a helper
4) You must do a dry install (no water as this dosen't work with the adhesive it's not tint as I get lots of those questions)
5) Remove everything you can the plastic rails and the moon roof if you have one.
6) Prep the surface no wax no dirt no bug or it won't stick and will show through. Prep stuff can be bought at any nearby sign shop or even made. The contents of which are always disagreed upon by each person.
7) Place a piece of painters tape and do it half and half as shown in the video (I learn better from watching)
8) Gently use the squeegee from the middle out. Gently is so that it can be easily lifted if you need to replace
9) Your going to mess up your first piece so go buy another. It's like a sport. You need practice unless your some sort of god. :yesnod:

It's not letting me upload so here is some photobucket sorry
BEFORE:
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee230/dedaredevil/RX8%20Red/?action=view¤t=DSC04469.jpg

BEFORE
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee230/dedaredevil/RX8%20Red/?action=view¤t=DSC04470.jpg

AFTER:
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee230/dedaredevil/RX8%20Red/?action=view¤t=DSC04491.jpg

AFTER:
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee230/dedaredevil/RX8%20Red/?action=view¤t=DSC04490.jpg

AFTER:
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee230/dedaredevil/RX8%20Red/?action=view¤t=DSC04486.jpg

http://youtu.be/pPDBipiwtsw

in before the ban.

I find it curious that there's an ebay seller, with your exact user name, selling vinyl wrap of the same make you recommend here.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/dedaredevil/...&_trksid=p3686

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...edbackAsSeller

Not one sale on vinyl EVER! I am not selling vinyl I am showing you guys how to wrap... I don't work for HEXIS. No where in the post does it have anything to do with the sale of vinyl.

I reinstated this thread from the OP deleting it (due the hounding from other members) because I don't see any issue here. It appears to be a useful DIY thread and the whole vendor topic was brought up by other people, not the OP. if you still feel that strongly about it please feel free to bring it to the attention our Super Moderator staff for their review and decision.

Keep it open. It could be useful for future reference.

monchie and teamrx8 :biggthump

You make it look so easy in the video... Lol

About how long did it take?

Well the video was a sped up 22 minuets. Then at that point I ran out of battery haha. It took almost 2.5 hours because my dad was learning and we had to redo several parts. Like there was a bubble right in the middle we had to take off the vinyl and do that half over again. Then there is cutting and tucking under the rubber and tucking in coroners and testing with heat to make sure it dosen't peel once out in the sun at the edges. I could do it again in less than an hour next time and have it be 100% perfect even with my sun roof.