-
part wrapping onto Fibreglass
Hi all an existing customer of mine is into rallying and has asked me to wrap the bonnet of his markII car. The bonnet is a replica and is fibreglass. It has a coat of primer on it but still feels rough to touch. Im not sure wrap will adhere well to it but he reckons loads of other cars he sees have been done. So questions are
Do i need a special wrap to use on fibreglass
Is there an alternative
Has anyone done this successfullymany thanks for reading and Happy New Year
-
4 Replies
-
if it is a non pourous gel coat / gloss finish, then it shouldn’t be a problem – even if it is a little rough – you just need to explain that you can’t guarantee the finish due to the finish on the bonnet.
vinyl stick well to fibreglass so don’t worry about that!
if it’s a paint primer, then I wouldn’t, most primers are still pourous. KNowing what race car owners want to pay, is it worth the risk?
-
Hi Jean,
I agree with Hugh on this, we wrapped a rally car a few years ago, it was a fibreglass shell with no primer, it was for a one off event so the customer pushed ahead against our advice but there were failures even in the non recess areas very quickly. Don’t think a primer will alter things much.
Gil
-
One thing we found was that if you try and re position the vinyl too much it takes particles off the surface of the fibre glass which gives the impression there is sh!t under the vinyl. Not the best finish but to be fair the body work on the rest of the car wasn’t undamaged, no rust but plenty of dents and scratches. With plenty more to come in the future I am sure.
-
I would really need to see and feel the surface before being able to comment properly.
but in a nutshell, i would say no. its not a suitable surface to apply a wrap too.
will you be able to do it and complete the job? Possibly but it will be short term.
Personally i would not do it.anything other than a high gloss surface, I would not wrap it.
I see countless wrappers apply wraps over matt primed car parts. I would not do this either.you mention rough surface. this indicates a tiny uneven surface.
the peaks of the risen areas are levitating the adhesive. so there is not 100% contact with the surface.
being a fibreglass bonnet, it will expand and contract with the heat of the race car. this again will increase the cavity of air behind the vinyl due to the rough surface. basically just promoting a fail.
if the bonnet has typical race car vents or raised areas, again this will lead to a fail.as i say, i am saying all this blind.
if he wants it regardless of your advice, give him it but outline he has been warned and there is zero come backs to you, if it fails. however, dont give him it any cheaper. the same material and work has to go into the job regardless to what its being used for or the probably outcome of the life it will last.
Log in to reply.