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cannot apply vinyl to vehicles properly whats going wrong?
HI all, seeing as i;m a under practised newbie to all this.
Today another decent sized vinyl job but i had to vinyl a full side car window. Easy said than done, it started off all easy but then soon developed into a mass of creases and bubbles.
Is there an easy way, or is it just practice and more practice?
Any info or advise would be great
Thanks
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8 Replies
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Steve, can you describe how you did it, then maybe we can say where you went wrong.
peter
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sorry you can tell i;m new to the forum 😀
I prep’d the surface with grafitype surface cleaner, and then dry applied the vinyl and it stuck well, but due to the wickedly evil curve of the window, there were areas with creases and bubbles.
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I had to flood coat a recessed panel on a merc vito and because of the curve I just coudnt get it to stop creasing at the corners.
time and time again until I tried some of my clear application tape which is alot heavier/thicker and more reluctant to fold then I got it down much easier.
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You need to use a cast material. A calendared film will stretch abit but you need to be pretty good at application to get away with it.
Whenever I apply to anything thats curved ie rear windows that curve on the two axis I try this.
I always try to start from the middle point and work outwards. It’s easier to get the creases by stretching the vinyl out over a shorter length of material instead of working from one end to the other.
Your squeegee technique should be held 30 degrees on a 30 degree slant. Also your squeegee line should not be a straight line like your applying to a flat panel. It should follow the curve.
The best way I got this described to me is imagine the surface your apply the vinyl too. If you were to take this object and dip it in a paint bucket the paint covering would hit different areas of the object but be at the same level. You want to apply the vinyl in the same manner. Reason is if you get the vinyl down in one area before the other the vinyl wants to touch other areas you don’t want it too.
Also relaxing (not stretching) the vinyl when you see the vinyl gathering up with a heat gun helps a lot too. Also if you have text printed on these areas because you could distort it a bit.
Just my tips. I’m sure the other guys here will have a lot more.
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very good descriptive way of explaining it jason……. 😉
nik
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thanks for the info, i’ll give it a try i got another car to do next weekend.
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just an idea, why not use your own car or pop into your local scrap yard and pick up a bonnet, or curved glass screen, worth spending a few quid, and you have an ideal practice panel. You can use all you old scraps and off cuts and play around with applying to different parts etc. All good practice. Just an idea.
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damn fine idea, i may have to be choosey in what panels i get as i reckon the missus wont be too happy with the back yard looking like scrapheap challenge 😀
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