Satin Dark Grey 3M 1080 Vinyl Wrap
 

I picked up a solid red 2016 370z Sport 6MT. Unfortunately, red is my least favorite color for a car.

I've ordered the material and tools and am going to attempt to wrap the car myself (first time!). I got quotes between $2,500-$4,000 to have it done, but decided for a total cost of $450 it was worth trying myself. It doesn't have to be perfect, so I figured why not.

Here are a couple pics of my car, and the color I'm wrapping it with.

Wrap color

Interesting project,I like the color you picked,make sure to follow this up with the "after" pics!!

if you don't like red, why did you buy a red car?

It was the only sport manual within 500 miles and the price was right.

Keep us up to date on how things go. Best of luck and most important, Take Your Time!!!:tup:

Nah man. The color chose you. It's your destiny. :p


no but really, I had no control over color either. Best deal in the local market was in Black Cherry. I'm not hating it, but I likely wouldn't have picked it given the choice.

Same here, the only MT 370 within 500 miles and it was in black :/ hoping to wrap it in either red or white.. Looking forward to progress pics!

:iagree: lol

Wrap jobs are never 100% even with the pros. It never lasts. I've seen pro jobs that don't even show well after 3-6 months.

Hope all goes well with your DIY. Take your time and watch out for those difficult corners and edges. The bad weather in the midwest + bad install = aaarrghh.

Ugh, here we go again. Rest assured, it wont just be not perfect, but far from it. Id wager the 2500 quote would end you with "not perfect". Skilled installers know their worth, and theres a billion dollar industry surrounding the training and certifying of installers. If you havent laid a panel in 1080 before, be aware of stretch and adhesive lines, relift lines, and scoring. Also, make sure you have a second set of hands around for every panel. Pull bumpers and headlights and taillights, side rockers and the wing. Clear real good in the crevices as wax and grease buildup is common there. Pull inner door panel to remove mirror and loosen handles. Dont overstretch the tag recessed area or the lip to the lower accent diffuser. Im only giving you these day1 tips because if a person sees your car as their first exposure to wrapped vehicles, it makes it hard for a professional to erase that first encounter from their memory and show them what a good wrap should be. And, that affects their ability to pay their mortgage, child costs, etc.
Good luck! And be sure to order from the same lot the short roll you have was cut from when you need to order more. Wrap on, brother!

Those arent pro wraps. :roflpuke2: Those are overpriced amateur wraps. I have wraps on the road 5 years old looking as good as the day they left tge shop (with inclusion of some chips from years of driving) i just removed my 46k old wrap this week on my shop car.

^I've also been working with vinyl since 1996, and take the term "pro" to mean professional. And, i take that term for literal meaning- product of years of training, and experience.

"You dont get good at wraps until your 50th car, and you dont get excellent until your 200th. You wont be considered a professional in the industry until your 500th"

:iagree: I only wrap small carbon vinyl wrap on my motorcycle and its a bitch...Cant imagine a whole car, especially the sexy 370z. Red is awesome color keep it.

Point taken. I have never seen a wrap job that would satisfy me as a consumer. I'm here in CA and have seen many show cars with wrap work that I know would not last. I've been on many shows and have not seen satisfactory work. The few do's and don't tips you mentioned above are variables that has to be in place for a perfect and lasting install. And these are things a pro can control. Add external issues like bad weather, heat, moisture, etc. it's just not worth it. Many professional installs never last IMO let alone DIY work.


OP - learn to love red instead.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-p...thread-61.html

Haha thanks for the feedback everyone.

I'm not looking for a "professional" quality job. I'm looking to learn something new and have some fun on a project. Total investment is less than $500 so if it is a COMPLETE failure it isn't the end of the world.

I'm thinking of leaving the mirrors, and possibly the lower strips of the bumpers red, maybe the mud flaps as highlights and even the spoiler. If it looks too "ricey" I'll just wrap them too.

I will say, I usually ALWAYS do everything I can myself. I'm type A and usually feel I can do it better than the 'professionals' in the industry. I found myself cleaning up sloppy work that I just started doing everything myself. I've finished off garages, built screened in porches, installed full in-wall home theater systems, installed gas fireplaces etc.

If you don't hear from me again in this thread it's because **** hit the fan and I somehow wrapped myself in vinyl and am stuck under a tree.

I'd do it. The OP is right, it's only $500. People drop that on parts that they end up taking if off after a few months. Post pics!

Good luck man! Looking forward to seeing the outcome.

Wrapping an entire car is not a do it yourself project :-) Just my opinion. Good luck!

My nephew is a professional car wrap guy and I've watched him in action. There is no way I'd do it myself. 2 of the main necessary tools required are not things I want to be using anywhere near my car. A razor blade, and a torch.

Second, unless you go crazy with costs, the best paint color to wrap is black. Otherwise where ever you stop the wrap you see the old paint color. Imagine wrapping a red car with blue wrap, or vice versa. Open the doors and see red door jams. I've considered having him wrap my white Z for years but always balk because I don't want green wrap / white paint / black interior. Wrapping black isn't so bad since it's wrap color then black paint then black interior.

Once my car is back from the shop I'm now considering having him wrap my pearl white paint with Avery pearl white gloss wrap. Will be like getting clear bra all over the car. Still debating it.

This was my exact situation. Except I have grown to love my black cherry. Its unique and special and rare and isn't that what we all want in our car? for it to be like no one else's and make it our own. It suits the uniqueness of our car well.

http://www.the370z.com/members/kbc74...ure93723-a.jpg

*grabs popcorn*

Vinyl arrived. Going to start this weekend when I've got some time. My goal is to complete one body panel a day. I'll start with the roof, which is the fastest, most square piece.

Are you going to do anything about the engine bay, door jams, etc. ? Might look weird unless you do leave a few pieces red on the exterior like you mentioned.

I paid $2500 for my wrap job and it wasn't what I expected. I'm thinking of ripping it all off. There's defects in the wrap, probably from stretching. Also, there is bubbling. It's not worth the headache for me to keep on.

Doesn't look like anything is wrong, but when you go up close, you see everything. It was bubbling on the rear license plate area since day 1 and it was stretched too much that it ripped. I just don't understand how you let it go out the door that way.

http://i.imgur.com/LFmq3Eah.jpg

Nice color choice! My wrap is the same color except matte finish instead of satin. I think you will find doing it yourself extremely challenging... I guess it depends on how much time you put into it and how much of a perfectionist you are. I paid for mine and it's definitely not perfect but close enough. Best of luck though :tiphat:

Any of you guys consider AutoFlex yet?

I had my roof and wheels done in a matching custom Obsidian black flake in AutoFlex with gloss, and the quality is amazing - with no worries about ruining clear coat, bubbles, or anything else like that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJIrKezB0rE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI0Kw0lgYH7/

Never understood this fad or trend so to say. So you hate red so much that you would rather ride around with a flawed wrap instead??? I've seen hack job after hack job and people still dump money into this shiit. Well at least the American economy is better with all this money being wasted..................SMFH.

In all honesty I seriously thought a wrap would hold up for a few years when I had mine done. The problem is the high demand for wrap jobs, shops are popping up all over the place with bad employees and little experience. My wrap peeled and bubbled in a handful of places and faded very quickly. It looked like $hit, im sure there are professionals that are very good at wrapping cars, however all this stuff is a fad it wont last forever. Paint isn't dead.

Good look to the OP on the wrap tho, maybe you can make it look good.

My nephew just got done doing this red car, and you will see my reasoning why the only good color to wrap over is black. Door, trunk and hood jams.

And I was strongly considering wrapping my Pearl White Z with Avery gloss Pearl White, kind of like an over all clear bra, until my nephew showed me these pictures of other people who have done that exact thing.

Ouch.

Consider this.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...oflex-dip.html

Looks like plastic surgery gone bad. :ugh:

You know where this is going.

http://latestplasticsurgery.com/wp-c...Gone-Wrong.jpg