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A

APEXWrap

New Member
Hello all,
My name is Steve and I'm currently owner of a detailing company in South NJ. We are looking to expand into vinyl car wraps. As I search through the forum currently, I thought i'd introduce myself and ask a few questions.

Where is the best resource for learning techniques, methods, overall installation of wraps?

As far as purchasing materials, tools..Does anyone have any preferences on suppliers?

Thank you everyone!
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
APEXWrap said:
Hello all,
My name is Steve and I'm currently owner of a detailing company in South NJ. We are looking to expand into vinyl car wraps. As I search through the forum currently, I thought i'd introduce myself and ask a few questions.

Where is the best resource for learning techniques, methods, overall installation of wraps?

As far as purchasing materials, tools..Does anyone have any preferences on suppliers?

Thank you everyone!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum! The best resource might be attending one of the many wrap classes that are offered out there. Fellers does a pretty good job educating the market on wraps, you might want to pick up on of his catalogs.
 
jfiscus

jfiscus

Rap Master
If you're doing wraps you will want to start off doing them right, so check out which school you would like to attend. PDAA & 3M both offer training courses. I assume Avery, Oracal, etc also still offer them.
 
T

trimitbyrich

New Member
be ready to invest a lot of time and a lot of money. Training up front is by far the best approach. The 3M and Avery training are very good places to start. As in my case I didn't do the training's because I thought I couldn't afford to. Instead of learning how to do it the right way right up front I struggled learning how on my own. In a lot of cases of installation you can't know if something will actually last and stay down until the vehicle is gone and stood up to the elements for a while. Learning the hard way will cost you way, way ,way more than the classes for training will believe me. Don't cheap out on the the training and certainly don't cheap out on the equipment.
 
A

APEXWrap

New Member
ExecuPrintGS said:
THIS, go take a class from JP and subscribe to TWI, almost daily new videos and a ton of useful info. Also please start on your own vehicles, learn to wrap your own stuff correctly before you start on clients vehicles.
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For sure. I'm wrapping my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Likely my wives car too. I'm going to sign up for TWI, and i've been reading a ton. I have a test car hood, and I bought some "scrap" wrap material from metrorestyling, so i've been practicing with that as well. I'm a pretty quick learner. I doubt I will pay for training. I'd rather wrap my jeep through trial and error and work out the kinks myself. Thanks everyone for the feedback.
 
ExecuPrintGS

ExecuPrintGS

New Member
APEXWrap said:
For sure. I'm wrapping my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Likely my wives car too. I'm going to sign up for TWI, and i've been reading a ton. I have a test car hood, and I bought some "scrap" wrap material from metrorestyling, so i've been practicing with that as well. I'm a pretty quick learner. I doubt I will pay for training. I'd rather wrap my jeep through trial and error and work out the kinks myself. Thanks everyone for the feedback.
Click to expand...
Getting vinyl on a vehicle is one thing, getting it to stay long term and look good is different. Thats where training comes in. Your jeep may look great when its done. But 6, 8, 12, 24 months down the line, it may not look the same.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
APEXWrap said:
For sure. I'm wrapping my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Likely my wives car too. I'm going to sign up for TWI, and i've been reading a ton. I have a test car hood, and I bought some "scrap" wrap material from metrorestyling, so i've been practicing with that as well. I'm a pretty quick learner. I doubt I will pay for training. I'd rather wrap my jeep through trial and error and work out the kinks myself. Thanks everyone for the feedback.
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That's an admirable approach. I wish more people had the self-determination to get it right, up front. Go get'em tiger. Save your money on classes, cause you're gonna need it to keep buying more material.
 
C

CanuckSigns

Active Member
ExecuPrintGS said:
Getting vinyl on a vehicle is one thing, getting it to stay long term and look good is different. Thats where training comes in. Your jeep may look great when its done. But 6, 8, 12, 24 months down the line, it may not look the same.
Click to expand...

Wrapping is a skill that takes time to master, lots of time! Signing up for a course will shorten the learning curve a bit and may end up saving you money vs. buying a bunch of material and messing around, but in the end it's up to you.

If you would like to try wrapping on different cars, you can always rent a car from a car rental place (get the insurance!) and practice on that, when I took the Avery course with Justin Pate that's what they did, We wrapped Justin's rental car and a rental cargo van, removed it at the end of the class and no one was the wiser.
 
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