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First time wrap, I want to learn before touching anything

D

Daniel Queen

New Member
Alright, so I've been watching YouTube videos, trying to find good threads that I can relate to, listen to what people are saying and well, I think I just need direct help to be sure. So to fill yall in, ive been to automotive school, worked in dealerships, off road is a hobby, ive painted vehicles and can fab most things up (more tools, more better) but ive never messed with a sticker larger than a foot and a half. I wanted a wrap because I didn't feel like painting this jeep. Its 91 Cherokee, clearly a blocky body shape. So I went with a digital camo. Figured, long straight body lines, why not? I understand i have to keep it as straight as possible, I have a carpentry laser for setting axles and im sure it will work for this situation. The real kicker, this is project. Ive spent a couple months now fixing a plethora of rust holes, fender cuts, missing body panels, etc. Its also rattle bombed. Bad. Real bad. So bad in fact, I went nuclear and got 80grit paper for my orbital to start off with. So when im satisfied with the paint cutting, what is the next step? I also got a new hatch that im fairly certain will have to be color matched first so the wrap doesn't seem a little darker. The hood and roof are going to be black. All door jams will be black. The jeeps factory color is white, the front fenders were red but destroyed so I swapped them from my other cherokee that is factory black but I painted navy blue with silver flake. The new hatch is green but as I said, I will either color match it to the tan of the rest of the jeep, or whatever I need to do. Im pretty confident I have all the tools I'll need for whatever yall suggest but if not, id love to buy more lol. So do I paint the whole thing with primer? Paint it all one color with clear and do that? Can I sand it really really smooth with 2000grit and stick it? Sealer coat before wrap? I want to learn, any information/suggestions are welcomed. Thank you in advance
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
You're going from Signs101 right into Signs901. Even people in the sign industry for 20 years and wrapped 30 vehicles STILL CANT WRAP. Its a finely tuned skill that takes a lot of practice. There isn't much we can tell you online, this is something you have to learn and practice in person. But its your car, your $ and time, try it out and see how it goes.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Texas_Signmaker said:
You're going from Signs101 right into Signs901. Even people in the sign industry for 20 years and wrapped 30 vehicles STILL CANT WRAP. Its a finely tuned skill that takes a lot of practice. There isn't much we can tell you online, this is something you have to learn and practice in person. But its your car, your $ and time, try it out and see how it goes.
Click to expand...
C'mon man, it might be hard for you but he went to school and watched plenty of youtube videos. You'll be working for him soon
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
I would paint the whole thing black first and wait 4 weeks for it to fully cure. If it's not fully cured, the paint will fuse with the vinyl. Black is the most forgiving vehicle color to wrap and you don't have to do the jambs. Bad cuts won't look as bad either.

Who knows what you've seen on YouTube and whether they were any good. I would suggest, at a minimum, you get a subscription to Justin Pate's Wrap Institue videos. Watch the videos and practice on your other car while you wait for the paint to cure and practice your squeegee technic as well. You are probably going to end up wrapping some of the harder panels 3 times before you get it halfway right and they still may fail in a week or less.

In the end, it will probably be cheaper to have someone who knows what they are doing wrap it, but If you want the experience and challenge, more power to you. Just be prepared to buy more vinyl. Make sure you watch videos on how to clean and prep the vehicle, installation techniques, trimming, and post-heating.
 
GAC05

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
Sounds like the body is toast so the wrap will be toast not too long after you get it laid down. But it should look fine moving down the road at 45 or so.
In addition to the Justin vids watch the ones from CK wraps (if you have not). He speaks Canadian but is not too hard to understand.
Strip off anything you can that will get in the way of laying down the vinyl - bumpers, mirrors, door handles, lights, etc.
Much easier to move stuff out of the way than to work the vinyl down around it when you are just starting out.
Start with the easy stuff like the hood to get a feel for the vinyl - save the worst for last.
Should be a good learning experience - good luck.
 
D

Daniel Queen

New Member
Thank you, I was already pretty sure that I was going to have to paint it but, thats what happens when you try to cheat the devil. Well in theory this time instead of IRL. The hatch has a hard spot for the license plate for sure, I think that will have to be a sperate piece inside the deepest part then stretch the other part over top of it. Its recessed and the wrap says it can stretch 130% before relief cuts but again, new to this. The jeep will be going offroad (like it should) so I just want the wrap to be nice for at least a little while before I rip it off on a tree or rock lol. Thank yall for your input, definitely what I needed to know.
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Daniel Queen said:
Thank you, I was already pretty sure that I was going to have to paint it but, thats what happens when you try to cheat the devil. Well in theory this time instead of IRL. The hatch has a hard spot for the license plate for sure, I think that will have to be a sperate piece inside the deepest part then stretch the other part over top of it. Its recessed and the wrap says it can stretch 130% before relief cuts but again, new to this. The jeep will be going offroad (like it should) so I just want the wrap to be nice for at least a little while before I rip it off on a tree or rock lol. Thank yall for your input, definitely what I needed to know.
Click to expand...
There was an article about Rock Hill a while back in the Wall Street Journal. It talked about how that area is just blowing up and that for every new house that is built & sold the county or city is charging $5000 tax to go towards the schools because so many people are moving there.
 
scott dunacn

scott dunacn

adgrafix
Daniel Queen said:
Alright, so I've been watching YouTube videos, trying to find good threads that I can relate to, listen to what people are saying and well, I think I just need direct help to be sure. So to fill yall in, ive been to automotive school, worked in dealerships, off road is a hobby, ive painted vehicles and can fab most things up (more tools, more better) but ive never messed with a sticker larger than a foot and a half. I wanted a wrap because I didn't feel like painting this jeep. Its 91 Cherokee, clearly a blocky body shape. So I went with a digital camo. Figured, long straight body lines, why not? I understand i have to keep it as straight as possible, I have a carpentry laser for setting axles and im sure it will work for this situation. The real kicker, this is project. Ive spent a couple months now fixing a plethora of rust holes, fender cuts, missing body panels, etc. Its also rattle bombed. Bad. Real bad. So bad in fact, I went nuclear and got 80grit paper for my orbital to start off with. So when im satisfied with the paint cutting, what is the next step? I also got a new hatch that im fairly certain will have to be color matched first so the wrap doesn't seem a little darker. The hood and roof are going to be black. All door jams will be black. The jeeps factory color is white, the front fenders were red but destroyed so I swapped them from my other cherokee that is factory black but I painted navy blue with silver flake. The new hatch is green but as I said, I will either color match it to the tan of the rest of the jeep, or whatever I need to do. Im pretty confident I have all the tools I'll need for whatever yall suggest but if not, id love to buy more lol. So do I paint the whole thing with primer? Paint it all one color with clear and do that? Can I sand it really really smooth with 2000grit and stick it? Sealer coat before wrap? I want to learn, any information/suggestions are welcomed. Thank you in advance
Click to expand...
 
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