Vinyl wrapping a Chimaera...

[Gorvid]

Has anyone here vinyl wrapped a Chim?

I've never had a close look at a wrapped car - is the finish good, do the edges lift over time?

How well does it last?

I was thinking a wrap might be an alternative to a full respray - and cheaper?

And then, when I get stone chips every 45 minutes I would just have the nose re-wrapped, right?

Or am I a complete dick?

[colin 82]

Depends on who does the wrap.
If dont properly then the wrap will not lift off. A wrap is good for 5 years plus. Very easy to look after etc.

Check out www.detailingworld.co.uk

Personally I would rather get the car painted. When wrapping, remember the inside of the panels, sills, engine bay etc wont be done. Get a full paint job and it will.

Choice is upto you. Also the stone chip thing. its easy to flick in the paint, wrapping "coulc" be a lot of hassle

Thanks

Colin

Oh....check out Youtube for some films

[JR]

How do you use your car?

When I used mine everyday I resprayed the front every six months. With the treatments available today if I were still driving my TVR daily I'd ceratinly consider the clear nose coverings on offer.

[colin 82]

After a second read....are you looking to change to colour of your car??

Protection film would work........depending on the current condition of the paint. worth it type thing.

[MPETT]

There was a Cerbie at Roar 2010 and that was wrapped in CF. It looked amazing, and no sign of lips/edges. Cost him £2500 though! (I think)

[Robertjp]

MPETT said:

There was a Cerbie at Roar 2010 and that was wrapped in CF. It looked amazing, and no sign of lips/edges. Cost him £2500 though! (I think)

That sounds resonable compared to a full respray...

I have seen an AMV8 done in matt grey and it looked extremely good, no sign of lips / edges, cant see why a Chimaera would be any more difficult?

[JR]

I was thinking a lot cheaper:

http://www.autoinparts.com/product_info.php?produc...

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=stone%2...

At the end of TVR production a lot had nose protection at the dealers for £200 to £400 depending on which dealer you chose.

[C3BER]

Square box easy wrap, curved box hard wrap. I'm guessing three to four days for a curved body.

[Gorvid]

I was thinking of it as a a 'same colour' alternative to a full respray - just to smarten up the odd blemish etc....

[C3BER]

Give TvR a call

[colin 82]

you will never get the vinyl to match the cars exisiting paint.

If you do wrap it. Remember in tell the DVLA and Insurance

I know of one guy who failed to inform.

I had the "carbon" look on my Kit car bonnet. Didnt like it.
Matte colours look cool. frozen grey and things like that. But gloss is classy

[RichB]

Gorvid said:

I was thinking of it as a a 'same colour' alternative to a full respray - just to smarten up the odd blemish etc.

I think when you go for a "wrap" they put drugs in your coffee and talk you into chrome, day-glo orange or matt black. I'm sure of it because that's all I ever see being discussed by people who do this.

[colin 82]

[C3BER]

The one at TvR is In Pearlescent White.

[markreilly]

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole,i've seen a few examples,Porsches.Range Rover etc,it would seem to scratch easily

[jon h]

C3BER said:

Square box easy wrap, curved box hard wrap. I'm guessing three to four days for a curved body.

That is not necessarily the case- Depending upon the curvature, it can be easier to fit a single piece of vinyl over a curved panel, whereas a panel with sharp corners may need to have sections cut out and joints in.

You can achieve some great effects with a wrap but it is in no way paint replacement. The vinyl is softer than paint, although it will dent rather than chip. Anything over 5 years of life would be a bonus. Horizontal panels such as bonnet and roof will have a shorter life than vertical panels due to increased exposure to the sun. Finally, there is always a chance of paint damage during removal, especially if there has been repairs to the paint in the past.

[ShieldandProtect]

Wraps do look good but the film is as easy or easier to damage than the paint, with both it's a good idea to use a paint protection film to protect your investment, permanent colour changes are best painted, short term or a removeable option to reveal the original paint, best to wrap.

[C3BER]

Jon curves should be easy but you get concave and convex curves on the same panel. Which on the wrap I watched was a real pain in the arse to solve.

[ShieldandProtect]

Can't get any harder than this, rest assured!

[black and green]

ShieldandProtect said:

Can't get any harder than this, rest assured!

Yep, that's a Chimaera colour if ever I saw one.............

(actually I had a 1970 Dodge Challenger in Panther Pink and it was SO cool)