Wrapping time!
 

I thought I would share my experience wrapping for the first time.

The 69 GTO I bought recently is a fantastic car- 1 owner and solid as can be…. But in the most god awful color. Being that I have two cars at two different body shops it didn’t make sense to put another car in paint jail. I decided to give wrapping the car a shot.

This was my first attempt at installing a wrap, but I’ve done a few stripe kits. I was pretty happy with the result so far.

I ordered the gloss, but it’s really more of what I would call semi-gloss. There is a glossier version but for my first attempt I wanted to start with the easiest film.

The film went on great- so far I’ve only done the hood and trunk but I’m happy. I’m good with the semi gloss look as it looks like an older paint job but is still much better than the ugly 30 year old paint on the car.

I opted to not get into body work. I want to wrap it as is so if I decide to pull it off I can. The film is thick, pliable and easy to use. If you damage it or get creases in it you can hit it with some heat and it will go back to normal. I’m going to show where the blemishes in the paint are before and after for reference.

I’m estimating about $300 in vinyl to do the entire car which is a great deal when you consider how much paint costs today.

Here are some pics of the trunk:

Here are some pics of the hood:

I like it!!!

Here is an example of some of the damage before and after:

Looks good overall, but what not flatten the hood’s damaged-paint surface?

Wonder if starlight black wrap looks as black as Single-Stage.

Since this is the first time I’ve done it I didn’t want to disrupt the paint because if it didn’t work out I didn’t want to go from having an all brown car to a brown car with primer spots. Once I have a car or two under my belt I will probably feel better about smoothing the body work out.

Another reason is that one of the reasons I wanted to do this was to make the car look better without getting into body work. The body work on the car is probably 15 yrs old and isn’t going to change much if stored indoors. If I start sanding you never know what your going to get into.

They have an ultra gloss black that I’m sure would pass for single stage.

https://vvividshop.com/collections/u...-piano-black-1

That looks much better that that school-desk brown! Totally acceptable for a driver-car. I like the idea of a black wrap for the top if the car has a vinyl top and trip already. If not, the orange looks just fine. It makes the car looks like a Day Two survivor from the '70's. Very cool.

Looks good. Carousel Red GTO works, but stripes would certainly not be out of place. But Judge stripes on a wrap? If our hosts are curious about compatibility, there's science to be done.

Was thinking changing colors on scoop inserts could be fun, but they're closed. Wrapping those ribs might give a pro a nervous breakdown. Flat black out of a rattlecan? Or...

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1669500245

1965gp, It looks really good so far. I can't wait to see the before & after pictures! I may have to wrap my '71 GT-37!

Dennis

The goal is to try to make this car as fun as possible without getting into body work. The car runs and drives great and I totally planned on leaving it as is, like a regular GTO you would have seen in 1975. But I can’t do the color soooooo……

Right now body work is so expensive and takes so long that I am forcing myself to leave the car alone and not start sanding or grinding. The wrap may look like sh!t after 3 months too and I decide to pull it off and I don’t want primer spots all over it.

I’ve often thought about wrapping an older car as an affordable option and finally decided to try it.


Guy- day two is a great way to describe the finish. Not perfect by any means and not really shiny but it’s smooth and all one color. A much better color! The finish is similar to what you would find on a shiny plastic toy.

242- this is generic ‘orange’ from vvivid and I took a chance. Online it looked very close to my hugger orange blazer so I decided to try it. The scoops are actually matte black but it’s older paint so maybe faded. This car is definitely getting judge stripes if this all works out. The car will be stored indoors so I’m not too worried about the decals.

Thanks SD455- I will keep posting updates. It may be worth trying if you want to avoid the hefty bill and wait time of the paint shop. I really wish I had done this to my 70 GTO convertible rather than send it to the body shop (4 years ago). The car had issues, but they were well hidden and I could have been enjoying the car as it ran and drove great.

Very cool project. Looks good. Can't wait to see it all done.

The car is coming along. I almost had enough with the 50’ roll. If I would have cut it closer when I was trimming the pieces I might have made it. I ordered more and will hopefully be able to finish it this upcoming week.

I screwed up a bit stretching it on the passenger side quarter so I’m going to peel it off and re-do it. Stretching it around the corner of the quarter panel was a b!tch. Probably the hardest part of the car.

That looks really good. I'm a fan of the eggshell or semi-gloss finishes on these cars.
So is the material peel and stick, heat activated or what?

It’s peel and stick- comes in a 5’ roll. You can pull off and reapply. I think the adhesive is pressure activated, then once it’s on and flat you heat it.

Thank you for taking the time to post this.

I have a little experience with wraps so I am following along with interest.

I have been using small pieces of vinyl wrap to repair rusty spots on my truck.

I happen to know certain "B surfaces" (like the door jambs) of the black limo shown below were done with vinyl wrap.

The stripes on the Z car are also vinyl graphics (and my design).

It appears you are putting these on dry?

Sometimes it helps to use a little bit of a soapy water solution, which can help you position the vinyl a little bit before nailing it down, and can also provide some lubrication for your squeegee as you work it out.

I trust you start in the center and gradually work your way toward the edges.

K

When I saw the title of your thread I thought it was going to be about this:

;)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...9.jpg~original

Love the stripes on the Z. This vinyl is designed to go on dry.

I lay it on the side, then spread it and pull it tight. Try to get a line pressed midway across the fender, door or quarter and then work up/down from there.

I had a few rust spots behind the rocker trim and I just went right over it.

Me too! My wife and I keep the kids wrapped presents in the trunk of the GTO

Here is a quick update. I learned a lot about vinyl and a lot about the car.

The car is not as pure as I initially thought. There is some rust, looks like it’s been in an accident or two, etc.

There are a lot of things I would do differently with the vinyl- mainly there are just certain pieces that need two people. The roof and quarters really need two people to do them right. The roof was a pain until two of us tackled it. I also should’ve waited when the temps dropped. Even when I heated it the vinyl cooled too quickly.

That being said. I ordered one 50’ roll and ended up needing an extra 20’ since I screwed up on the passenger quarter and needed extra for the roof.

I tried the knifeless cutting tape and just haven’t got the hang of it. I prefer to buildup an edge with masking tape and use a razor blade.

Keep in mind I did no bodywork, nothing to this car prior to wrapping it. If I had sanded it down it would have eliminated a lot of the blemishes but I wasn’t sure it was going to work.

Anyway- here is an updated pic of the progress. I am extremely happy with it. For about $500 I took a relatively mundane brown car and turned it into an eye popping 20 footer.

I still have to wrap the endura and spoiler, as well as put on Rallye II’s. I’m sure I will end up re-doing parts of it but for right now I think the car is really coming together.

I don't know what it looks like in person but it looks good in the photo. That bumper should be interesting...