Taking the Vinyl thing to a whole other level.

[SwedishChef]

So as of late I have been feeling kinda depressed about the condition of the paint on my 9-3. Scrapes, scratches, and a small spot of rust. The car is beautiful at some angles and in others, well, it looks like a 2003.

After doing quite a bit of research and reading, I set my plan in action last week by ordering my supplies. I'm keeping what I ordered as a bit of a surprise. Keep in mind I'm doing all this work myself using prior experience.

I wanted to take you all on the journey of the next dimension to my 9-3.


It all started yesterday, by removing the fender that had some rust on it and repairing it. The rust formed from improper installation of the front bumper from previous body work done by the last owner. The vibrations from the car caused the corner of the bumper to rub against the fender and remove the paint. Over time the New England climate took its toll on that corner.


The first item on the list was to take the fender off. Only held on the the car in eight spots it was surprisingly easy to remove. I call this the terminator look.




Here the damage can be seen. The rust has eaten through a bit. The area was treated chemically and primed with an etching primer before being coated with an aluminum body filler on both sides of the panel.



After one coat of aluminum filler, three coats of fine body filler, three coats of finishing glaze, followed by several hours of hand sanding, more etching primer, four coats of sealing primer, and a final wet sand here is how the repair came out.



For costs the fender was repaired, it will be replaced by a new one in the future since I'm just that picky. I'm pleased with the results regardless.

Next step is fixing minor dents and gouges and the removal of trim. That will be for tomorrow.


Oh, and the chef will give five cookies to the first person that can guess what the new color of the car will be.

[AlbertaDrew]

Matte black like you did with the Hyundia in the background?

Drew

[SwedishChef]

Very close, but not the right color.

That Hyundai was actually painted with a roll on truck bed coating. It needs some help.

[xp3]

Looks good, keep us posted with lots of pics.

[Dave 37]

Why didn't you try to make a warranty claim? My 2005 comes with a 10 year rust warranty. It covers only perforation, not surface rust, but you had a perforation. If covered, would you have gotten a new fender?

[SwedishChef]

Originally Posted by Dave 37

Why didn't you try to make a warranty claim? My 2005 comes with a 10 year rust warranty. It covers only perforation, not surface rust, but you had a perforation. If covered, would you have gotten a new fender?

I didn't want to go through the hassle and I really want to go for something that hasn't been done yet. Originality.

[SaabMick]

how about satin black?? oo or seafoam green

[SwedishChef]

I'll give a big hint: Reventon.

[DShain]

Originally Posted by SweedishChef

I'll give a big hint: Reventon.

hmm...i dont believe they ever gave a name to it? anddepends on who you talk to its either Grey Barra, Grey Olive Drab, Gunmetal Grey, Matte Grey, or, Reventon...
did i get it?
either way, outcome is gonna be nice

[awjones]

Originally Posted by SweedishChef

I'll give a big hint: Reventon.

sexy

[Gs04aero]

This is awesome. I've been contemplating this process for a few months. My paint is in rough shape and I figured wrapping it would be better. Are you wrapping it yourself or someone else is? Wasn't sure when I was reading. How much vinyl did you buy for the whole car?

[SwedishChef]

I'm wrapping it myself. I do have some help with the really large pieces.

I ordered a total of 56 feet of vinyl. The vinyl is sold in a 60" wide roll. This allowed for a few mistakes during the learning process.

The main section of the rear quarter panels was from on piece of vinyl that measure 60 x 48".

I now have this process down to an art form. To give you some figures: The quarter panels took about 90 minutes each to do, the doors take about 30 minutes each, fenders about 45 minutes each, trunk was 90 minutes. Total actual working time on the car so far has been about four days.

[Gs04aero]

Originally Posted by SweedishChef

I'm wrapping it myself. I do have some help with the really large pieces.

I ordered a total of 56 feet of vinyl. The vinyl is sold in a 60" wide roll. This allowed for a few mistakes during the learning process.

The main section of the rear quarter panels was from on piece of vinyl that measure 60 x 48".

I now have this process down to an art form. To give you some figures: The quarter panels took about 90 minutes each to do, the doors take about 30 minutes each, fenders about 45 minutes each, trunk was 90 minutes. Total actual working time on the car so far has been about four days.

Awesome. Have you found any particular spots that cause a lot of trouble to wrap? Most panels seem easy enough because they're fairly flat without complex curves. Seems the front and rear bumpers would be a lot of trouble tho. Wish I had the ability to do this. Not going to pay $2000 to have a place wrap it ha.

[SwedishChef]

Front bumper will definitely cause some grey hairs to sprout and the trunk lid is tricky if you do not have a spoiler.

I'll let you know how the rear bumper is on Thursday.

[Moreno Chulo89]

WOW! I too was think of doing this. Excuse me while I pick up my jaw. Car looks great! Im guessing this was very expensive???

[SwedishChef]

It was about 800 for all the vinyl I used including the carbon fiber I used on the roof , which I purchased from a local sign shop.

[Gs04aero]

I really wanted to do this with matte white and then regular black cf on trim areas like the mirrors and door pillars and such but just couldn't figure out some spots. Like I said before, the bumpers look like they would be crazy hard. I also would want the door handles matte white to match the car and I assume those would be a biatch to wrap. Its small spots that I can visualize not being able to hold the vinyl.