First time wrap, I want to learn before touching anything

Good luck.

 

Take it to someone that actually knows what they are doing, including with the paint.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Good information on painting the whole thing first, let it set up then go to town wrapping it. It will be a good experience and you will learn a lot for next time. Tell us later how it turned out. Good luck.

 

I'll find somebody with experience, pay for their help and learn with them, its normal to loose some material, time and money on the learning process. Good luck