This is what I have done to my dashboard & door capping pieces, vinyl wrap!



Really pleased with the result, bought the vinyl wood-effect wrap (made by 3M) from a seller on eBay, located in Poland, and it is intended for automotive use.

Fairly easy to do, a hot air gun or hair dryer is need to stretch the vinyl over the more intricate parts and the important point is to ensure that there are not any air bubbles trapped underneath.

Best results are obtained when applied to bare metal (sticks better) and this must be really clean, isopropyl is good to wipe the metalwork, best to do it indoors and on a clean surface, bit of patience is required and for a material cost of about £25.00 I think this is a good outcome and better than I could have achieved with a paint-effect!

Lots of video clips on youtube showing car bodywork being vinyl wrapped - interesting to see what people are doing!

Gary

Location: Saltdean, Brighton

This looks really good Gary.

I cannot get to the original picture you have posted for some reason and I would like to see a bigger version of it, my eyesight isn't good enough to see the small thumbnail.

Can you post a larger version please?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, don't know why photobucket did not allow the link to work, I heard that they were having problems about a week ago, so perhaps still have?

Here is the larger image:



Hope that is better!

Although, the thumbnail hides the errors I made!

Location: Saltdean, Brighton

Thank you.

I REALLY like that Gary, are you able to share the link on Ebay for the kit please?

My own dashboard is not the removable type, do you think it would be a mistake to try and do this with a fixed dashboard?

Excellent job Gary, well done.
Ruairidh, I'd like to read what others say about doing it on a fixed dash, I imagine it would be difficult but it might be possible using a soapy solution as is used by professional signmakers.
The vinyl is floated on and can be shaped to fit before applying pressure to squeeze out the water and allowing the adhesive to adhere.

Location: Near M1 Jtn 28

Ruairidh,
Do a search for 'vinyl wrap wood' on eBay.
Different types of wood come up all from the same merchant. Edit - Mahagony only (their spelling) must read everything before posting!
I do think I will give this a try.
Gary,
Thanks for posting your results.
Very impressive.
Mahogany?
What size sheet did you use please?

Geoff - Relaxing

Location: South Norfolk - Near Suffolk

This is the stuff I bought HERE

The size in the listing is perfect for the three components with plenty to cut off as waste. I bought double this size, as this is for two cars, mine & my Uncle's, he's not seen what I have done yet, but has seen the vinyl. It came on a big roll, they did not cut it down to the size shown.

Came from Poland and I was impressed with the speed of delivery, so I recommend that eBayer.

I must confess here & now, this is the second lot I bought, the first go, there were air bubbles and I pulled the vinyl film a bit too hard to peel if off and it just ripped...

Gutted I can tell you!

Anyway, I would suggest doing the door capping pieces first as they are much easier to do, but will still take about an hour or so, not including the preparation of the steel in the first place.

Ruairidh - I would certainly have a go at doing the fixed dashboard, might even be easier to do as you have a ready-made stand!

I am not sure that soap & water would work with this stuff (it is made in Japan), nothing is mentioned in the details about that (on self-adhesive number plates they do talk about that, but this is being stuck to a paint film, not bare metal), the added problem of course, is that you need to use a heat gun to stretch the vinyl over the moulded parts, if it is wet, it would not work, you are also not sliding the stuff around, but moulding it to fit, so slightly different.

Quite a satisfying job I must say, the door capping pieces I was particularly impressed with, they now feel very substantial!

You also need a sharp knife to trim the vinyl once stuck down. I wrapped the edges over on the door capping pieces, but cut flush on the dashboard.

Have a go!

Location: Saltdean, Brighton

Interesting stuff, never knew they had wood effect for "wrapping", I'm surprised on one has done a whole car yet.

The full range can be seen here, there's also a list of UK suppliers here.

I spent a lot of time playing with sticky vinyl and a vinyl cutting machine when I was younger, the soapy water trick is for applying flat vinyl stuff. The stuff you buy from the suppliers for applying is a lot better though.

Location: Buxted

Further to the posts on using soapy water, I've just looked at the suppliers web site and it states NOT to use water.
For parts that can be removed, there is another technique that uses a film floating on water in a large tank. The parts are placed in the water and then raised under the film. I saw this being used by the only UK licensee at the time to put a marble finish on stainless steel panels.
The company was in a large industrial park near Bristol and they were coating plastic coat hangers with a woodgrain finish and even telephones.

Location: Near M1 Jtn 28

Thank you Gary, much appreciated.

If you do get air bubbles don't give up. Puncture the centre of the bubble with a pin and gently ease the air out. Finally firm over the pin hole with the back of a finger nail and it'll disappear.

Location: Farnham

Gary,
Please advise what sequence you used in applying it.
I was thinking, lay it over the whole part so it attaches to the high spots, then apply heat as required - must look on YouTube.

Geoff - Lathe working again WhooHoo. VFD fitted

Location: South Norfolk - Near Suffolk

Hi Geoff

Well, cut the vinyl to the approximate size with plenty of overlap, the size I bought was moreorless correct for the three bits without too much waste, too tight does not leave for much error in fixing, especially if the vinyl is crooked relative to the piece.

With the vinyl loosely laid, but not fixed - it is quite thick, I started at the top of the dashboard on the moulding this being the tricky area.

The using the heat gun, I tucked the vinly down, the important point is not to trap air, and to work it into the seam between the moulding and the relatively flat area, I started at the middle and worked my way outwards to each side, downwards first, then upwards.

Get most of it stuck before moving the piece as the unstuck edges can get in the way (and stick to whatever is there).

The heat gun allows the vinyl to be stretched over the moulded section and it makes it more maleable. Only a very little heat is required, you get the feel of it quite quickly!

If air is trapped, then you can peel it back - CAREFULLY - my first attempt I was a bit heavy handed and it ended with the vinyl getting ripped - that bit was scrap, so wasted my money!

Just keep smoothing and streching until the metal is covered, my fingers and nails were more than adequate to tool the vinyl in position.

On the creases along the edges, I left the vinyl long, heated and then pulled it, teasing it as tight as possible into the crease, you can have several goes at this because the vinyl is quite forgiving. A plastic scraper could be used, but be carefully not to go too hard and rip the vinyl.

Once finished, trim all the excess with a sharp knife, I had those disposable retractable blades that you break off the tip, as the knife needs to be sharp. On the dashboard, I cut the edges flush with the metalwork, and when this was done, went over it again with a bit of heat to make sure the edges were well fixed down.

Air bubbles can be removed using a pin, but if this is into a crease, it may be harder to push out than you think, a bit of heat will be needed to stretch the vinyl at this point.

With the holes, I just heated up a suitably-sized drill bit and pushed through and wiggled it about until the hole was clean, that was the easy part!

For the door capping pieces, same procedure with the top moulded section first, starting at the middle & working outwards to each side.

These were much easier to do, and doing it again from scratch, better to get the experience on these before the dashboard!

With trimming the excess, I had an overlap to the edges to the top & bottom of the capping pieces of about 5mm and stuck this down on the reverse side, as the capping pieces fit differently to the dashboard and any excess will not interfere with the fit, it gave a crisp finish to turn the vinyl over this way.

I applied the vinyl to bare metal and I made sure that this was thoroughly clean before starting, I also let the metalwork sit indoors so that it was at room temperature, and did the same with the vinyl, need a clean space to work to avoid getting any dirt stuck in the adhesive.

Definitely have a look on youtube, see how car panels are done. Quite interesting and I was amazed at what can be done, there was an orange BMW, probably still there, which was quite impressive!

Good luck!

Location: Saltdean, Brighton - very cold, sunny & snow is fast melting!

Very helpful, thank you.

Location: South Norfolk - Near Suffolk

Evening all. Just watched 'Wheeler Dealers' who took some Range Rover components to a company in Poole to have them finished in a 'carbon fibre' effect. Son says just right for the Pearl but the company 'Wicked coatings' offer a range of finishes including wood effects. The prices quoted on t.v seemed reasonable.
Regards
Stuart

Location: Staffordshire

Can't wait to see the burr walnut motorhome, Stuart!!

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

Hmmmmm, a fake wood and body filler radiator cowl for one of the unmentionable sports A7s finished in chrome plastic..............

No! Don't get me started, it can get scarey when I think outside the box!

Location: Devon

"No! Don't get me started, it can get scarey when I think outside the box!"

The box made from wood effect plastic covering?

Tony.

O no! A plastic box with wood covering, all nicely varnished, with brass corners.

Location: Devon

To get back on topic, I wonder if this process could be used to recover a steering wheel in BLACK of course. The aluminium spokes could have a piece of wire wrapped around near the boss to reproduce the bump. How easy would it be to do the spiral finger grip as on page 57 rinsey mills. What do you think anyone game to try? cheers Russell

Location: OZ

hi, where did you buy this burr walnut stuff from,just bought stag dash kit but hole for radio to big,think they think i'm using an 8 track,lol,not a cd player, txt me if easier,07771806006,many thanks brian

The stuff I bought is

3M DI-NOC WG-364GN WOOD GRAIN MAHOGANY Vinyl Film Sheet

and I got it off eBay, seller was in Poland, very good they were. Still selling but they no longer have the stuff, seems like everyone wants it and all sold out!

There is a firm in USA HERE

could give them a go, but there are plenty of other vinyls, so long as it is 3M Di-noc, it should be suitable, fablon or sticky back plastic probably will not fit well over curves, but of an unknown.

Good luck!

Location: Saltdean, Brighton - raining today!