Hey guys,
On my 74 REPU I finally broke down, and bought a set of factory matching vinyl stripes that run the entire length of the truck, and wrap aroud to the tailgate, as well as another set of stripes on the lower portion of the body near the rockers. I ordered them from an enthusiast in Seattle that has a vinyl business, and they arrived yesterday. I dropped by with the vinyl, and the truck to a local sign/wrap shop about 5 miles from home today on my lunch break. They were a bit apprehensive at first until they saw pics of one done, and looked over the quality of the vinyl. They quoted a price of at least $250 which seems reasonable, but I wonder if I could do it myself(not tons of confidence here), and save the cash. It is a really wide stripe that gets wider from front to back, and will be on at least 7 panels. Also I may hold off on the lower stripe right now as there is some chipped paint on the leading edge of the battery door(bed side) that the lower stripe I believe will go over.
The instructions with the decals are not detailed for this vehicle, but rather just generic vinyl instructions. It calls for either wet or dry installation. I'm not sure which is best. Maybe wet as I will be able to move it around some. Do you guys think someone who has never doen such a thing before could tackle this sort of daunting task, or is it best to farm out. Pics of how it looks installed can be seen here:
http://www.mazdarepu.com/Gallery/index.php3?album=Sevenstock+12&photo=uploads/18b.jpg
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
Oh yeah my truck isn't as nice as the one pictured, but is a survivor, and is green, not blue. Same white vinyl stripes though.
Tedious, but doable. If the stripes are printed on the nice new 3M vinyl it will be even easier to work bubbles out.
I did the stripes on my Miata in about 15 minutes. Yours will of course take longer, but if you mark things out with painters tape and use plenty of soapy water to give you more wiggle time you'll be fine.
Depends on how much they cost you. That's a lot of square footage of vinyl and potential for a lot of bubbles.
I have a hard time getting a full size bumper sticker on without any blisters
$160 for the vinyl. The shop I brought it to said it was really good quality vinyl, and they would probably charge about $200 for the same stuff cut like it was.
Actually I re-counted, and if the lower stripes are installed it is 21 panels total. Maybe it is best to farm it out?
Each set of stripes should have been cut and the backing applied together. You don't do one piece of the stripe at a time, you do the whole section. Mine was applied in whole to each side - that's how you maintain alignment to each other.
If you're not certain then don't waste the vinyl cost - just have the pros do it.
One tip I learned years ago watching pinstripers at a dealership. They would use a roll of magnetic tape to lay out the direction and shape they would want on the car, adjusting it and lining it up as needed before laying down the paint. It was a great way to make sure everything was setup perfect before they got started.
IF you decide to do it yourself, you may want to do the same to make sure everything is lined up and stays that way as you apply the vinyl. Should be able to buy the roll at a craft shop. Something like below:
http://www.amazon.com/Quartet-Magnetic-Tape-Brown-MT17/dp/B001E69Z14
-Rob
Where are we - GRM?
You can do this yourself. Worst case you are out the $160. You will probably pay a pro more to install. Just use painter's tape to get everything lined up perfectly. keep all the tape on one side (top) of the vinyl, then once it is ready to go you can 'hinge' the vinyl up, remove the backing, and set it back down while leaving the tape to make sure it stays in place. Use a credit card or hotel key or something similar to squeeze out the air.
Unlike bumper stickers, the small bubbles will outgas in a few days time. prick large bubbles with a pin if they are too big (like the size of your pinky fingernail of bigger).
