DIY: Vinyling Roof
so i vinyled my roof myself. it is the second time i did my roof. The results of the first vinyl roof wasnt that bad, but i wanted it to be perfect... i thought some of you guys would be interested in doing it yourself. Some shops charges way too much for doing the roof. i was quoated for $250(in canada), and i did it myself for $100
Tools needed:
squeegee, heatgun, knife or blade, and a 4 by 6 feet vinyl ( 4 by 3 can fit but 4 by 3 might be too small for people doing it for the first time)
try to get a friend to help out, it be a lot easier
Step 1: Remove the antenna. the roof panel does not have to be removed, you can pop the four clips that hold up the rear half of the roof panel. the antenna was hard to remove for me... i pulled the connector too hard and the wire came out of the connector.. so i ended up connecting the wires without a connector in between. i attached a picture of the connector so its easier for you guys to remove it
Step 2: clean your roof, try to make sure there is no dust and left over wax. also clean the area that you will be tucking your vinyl into. some people use a bit of soap that you use to washing dishes.. but i just used hot water
step 3: lay out the vinyl on the roof, and if you bought a 4 by 6 feet, then you will find that you have a lot of vinyl left over. i didnt cut the extra vinyl yet b/c you might cut it too short. Use tape to hold the vinyl in place if you dont have a helper.
Step 4: peal off half of the the back of the vinyl. i found it easier to do the rear half of the roof first and slowing moving forward towards front left corner and front right corner. Left or right doesnt matter, but b/c of the curve of the roof, it is easier to do the rear half and then front left and right.
- this part takes pretty long. When you get to the front and right corner, you will find that the vinyl has a lot of folds and wrinkles. Use a heat gun to relax the vinyl and the wrinkles wil go away.
Step 5: after the vinyl is flat on the roof, start tucking in the vinyl. i started with the rear. using a heat gun and a squeegee to tuck the vinyl into the space between the rear hatch and the roof. I left about 2-3 inches to tuck into the space. Use the heat gun for this step or else the vinyl would not want to stick. Do not tuck the rear sides yet, you will do that when you tuck in the sides.
Then the two sides. use the heat gun and squeegee to make sure the vinyl is stick in the grove well. This step is important, the first time i applied my vinyl, i did not do this part enough so it started to bubble up. Then find a card that you dont need anymore and put it in between the rubber and the roof. lift up the rubber a bit and use the squeegee to tuck in the vinyl. Do not apply too much pressure or the vinyl can rip or distroy the pattern or color.
The front of the vinyl is easy to tuck in, simple use squeegee and heat gun to tuck in the the small space in front and cut it lightly along the space. Then use the squeege to make sure the vinyl is sticked on to the roof properly.
Tips: - Do not heat up the vinyl too much, it gets thin. If you are doing your roof in CF vinyl, the CF pattern will dissappear if you heat the vinyl too much
- try not the force the vinyl, let it do what it wants.
- When you heat up the vinyl, you can stretch it a lot, but try not to stretch it. It will want to shrink after awhile. Let the vinyl do what it wants for best results
- i did not use the squeege for laying out the roof. i only used the squeegee for tucking in on four sides. I found that the squeegee can sometimes scratch the vinyl.
- i observed the vinyl after 4 hrs to see if there is any bubbles. if there is, then heat gun the bubble and then squeegee it. 3m dinoc vinyl is really easy to get the air out but im not sure about orcals vinyl
it took me 4 hrs to do the vinyl...but im not a professional haha.
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