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Oracal 970RA Squeegee Lines?

ryanl

New Member
A couple weeks ago I did a simple hood stripe on a new Mustang. It was one fat stripe then a void and a smaller 2 inch pinstripe on either side. Its somewhat of a standard stripe for the Mustang. The material was Oracal 970 RA Graphite Metallic.
Because of the stripe being in several pieces, I had used a paper premask. I cleaned the hood several times, clay barred it, tack cloth, cleaned again etc. All of this right in front of the customer, as he was standing there watching me go through the whole process.
So I put it on like I have done almost every other graphic. Went on pretty much flawless. Once it was done it looked real glassy smooth. I gave the whole hood another quick clean off with isopropyl and a microfiber cloth, the customer was real happy and he went on his way.
2 weeks after the install, the customer called back saying there were lines all through the stripe. I told him to leave it out in the sun for a couple days to see if it just needed to cure out. Unfortunately, that didn't do it He came in with the car and sure enough all the way through the graphic were horizontal lines. The kind of lines that I have seen on other wrap jobs where the film was heated and overstretched and then laid back down. I didn't heat or stretch this at all as it was a pretty straight forward install.

So am I doing something wrong? Are these lines from where I squeegeed? Is it the material?

Some of the lines are super close together (almost 1/8th inch at spots) and almost exactly straight across the graphic, more close together and more straight than what I had squeegeed

What is baffling me is I did two other Mustang hood graphics later in the week, one with Oracal 970 Matte Black and one with 970 Gloss Black. They were almost identical graphics and were done the exact same way and Haven't heard anything about this issue on those two cars.

Any help would be great as I now have to re-do this customers hood and I am worried that it will happen again.

I tried taking pictures, but it was one of those things where you couldn't even see the lines from certain angles and my phone just couldn't get that close without being blurry.
 

TXFB.INS

New Member
have you used this graphic metallic material before?

based on passed experience there are some points being left out by the customer. specifically they did something / tried something and now the graphics look wrong.
especially since the material looked pristine when it left your shop
 

ryanl

New Member
I have never used the Metallic 970 before. I have used the gloss many times on many different applications. I have heard that whatever makes up the metallic part can sometimes make metallic film more difficult to apply.
 

ryanl

New Member
have you used this graphic metallic material before?

based on passed experience there are some points being left out by the customer. specifically they did something / tried something and now the graphics look wrong.
especially since the material looked pristine when it left your shop

As far as what the customer might have done... do you have any examples of what he could have done so I can ask him (implying he will tell me truthfully)
Could it be he went through a car wash or had a pressure washer to it?
 

2B

Active Member
I have never used the Metallic 970 before. I have used the gloss many times on many different applications. I have heard that whatever makes up the metallic part can sometimes make metallic film more difficult to apply.

YES!! it is more difficult to work with not as difficult as say reflective but it is still difficult.
More to the point like TXFB said if the graphics looked good when they left then there was no issue on the installation

Since you are having to redo the graphics make sure you use a VERY SOFT squeegee, we always use a true felt when dealing with any material like this.
https://www.fellers.com/fellers-sho...leece-felt-squeegees/set/oshee-felt-squeegees
 

ryanl

New Member
YES!! it is more difficult to work with not as difficult as say reflective but it is still difficult.
More to the point like TXFB said if the graphics looked good when they left then there was no issue on the installation

Since you are having to redo the graphics make sure you use a VERY SOFT squeegee, we always use a true felt when dealing with any material like this.
https://www.fellers.com/fellers-sho...leece-felt-squeegees/set/oshee-felt-squeegees

Do you think I should try using the soft side of the squeegee over the mask?
I've always learned that if the graphic is masked I can use the hard side.
I could use the soft side over the more flat parts, but once the material starts to get worked toward the front of the hood where it curves down toward the bumper, I feel as if the soft squeegee will not be enough to get the material flat.
 

striper14

New Member
see if you can duplicate the effect using a piece on the hood of your car. I'd try to scratch it on purpose with an old applicator..Did the scratches line up between the thin pieces & the wide ?

I've always been the first to notice if theres a scratch or flaw in any job i've done especially the hood when ur nose is right on the job...i've put some fine marks in the clear on the paint on a few jobs where i got too enthusiastic with the squeegee which needed a bit of cutting compound to renovate. That sometimes works on vinyl too if ur careful

I dont think you can scratch the vinyl thru app tape..Did you squeegee after removing app tape ? Other than that i can only think of a car wash but you'd think it would mark the paint as well :banghead:
 
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