vinyl wrap instead of respray
Discussion
Hi all,
I've got a 1997 caterham in bare aluminium, I've always fancied having it painted (to save on the elbow grease required when polishing) , but recently it looks like these vinyl wraps might be a decent alternative. I had a look at one companies website (www.totally-dynamic.co.uk) and they claim that the average family sized saloon can be vinyl wrapped for around £1500, so I imagine that a caterham would be substantially less given that its probably less than half the surface area. And you could have a pretty wild 'paintjob' for not much effort.
Firstly, does anyone know of any caterhams that have been vinyl wrapped? has anyone seen any vinyl wrapped car close up, how does it look?
Secondly, are there any drawbacks to vinyl wrapping? the above website claim a life of 3-5 years.
Theres a 996 t3 in the classifieds at the moment that is wrapped, looks good in the photos.
I've got a 1997 caterham in bare aluminium, I've always fancied having it painted (to save on the elbow grease required when polishing) , but recently it looks like these vinyl wraps might be a decent alternative. I had a look at one companies website (www.totally-dynamic.co.uk) and they claim that the average family sized saloon can be vinyl wrapped for around £1500, so I imagine that a caterham would be substantially less given that its probably less than half the surface area. And you could have a pretty wild 'paintjob' for not much effort.
Firstly, does anyone know of any caterhams that have been vinyl wrapped? has anyone seen any vinyl wrapped car close up, how does it look?
Secondly, are there any drawbacks to vinyl wrapping? the above website claim a life of 3-5 years.
Theres a 996 t3 in the classifieds at the moment that is wrapped, looks good in the photos.
Not sure if it can be polished, I'd presume not, so I guess it might look tatty quicker than a proper paint job, mind you my aluminium looked pretty tatty after a year of trackdays anyway, never did manage to get it back to that mirror finish that the previous over maintained. I never was one for polishing.
Yes, I was wondering whether the bonnet louvres or the holes around the front suspension and exhaust would cause trouble.
I'd always been lead to believe that the £1200 that people say it costs TSK to spray means doing all your own prep work, ie removing wings, suspension, screen etc. I'm lazy , so I'd be looking for a drop it off and collect it type approach.
Yes, I was wondering whether the bonnet louvres or the holes around the front suspension and exhaust would cause trouble.
I'd always been lead to believe that the £1200 that people say it costs TSK to spray means doing all your own prep work, ie removing wings, suspension, screen etc. I'm lazy , so I'd be looking for a drop it off and collect it type approach.
I've seen lots of wraps over the years - mainly in racing - and the big problem for me is that you can't really polish them and get a deep shine - if that's important to you. Look great from the grandstands but not brilliant close up. However, I've looked at that GT3 too and it looks matt (or at best 'satin') which is rather cool, so maybe matt would be the way to go
No experience of vinyl wraps but had protective Armourfend (or some such) on an elise which got shot to pieces fairly quickly on the sills and front (which is where you need it). To some extent it did its job, the paintwork wasn't damaged but the protective coat started to look very tatty. In the end had it removed. From my experience of a Caterham bare ally car in the race series with sponsors vinyl stickers down the sides and on the rear wings, these also get knackered fairly quickly from stones chucked up by the front wheels. Once the plastic is covered in small knicks it lets in water and corrosion sets in discolouring the nice shiny polished aluminium.
I'd stick with paint and add protective panels in high wear areas like the rear wings and side panels if you must. These can be replaced occasionally if necessary.
I'd stick with paint and add protective panels in high wear areas like the rear wings and side panels if you must. These can be replaced occasionally if necessary.
Edited by MarchHare on Tuesday 24th June 17:41
The vinyl wrapping of the FW cars was reasonably good.
If you want something you can polish and not have swirl marks from cleaning on though painting is the way forward!
If you strip the front suspension and take the cage/screen etc off then you have 1 caterham pretty much ready for paint and will cost you around £600 for the tub bonnet, scuttle.
All depends what look your after also.
Recently we painted a dax rush in an expensive mitsubishi evo pearl blue for less than 1k and that was all the panels.
If you want something you can polish and not have swirl marks from cleaning on though painting is the way forward!
If you strip the front suspension and take the cage/screen etc off then you have 1 caterham pretty much ready for paint and will cost you around £600 for the tub bonnet, scuttle.
All depends what look your after also.
Recently we painted a dax rush in an expensive mitsubishi evo pearl blue for less than 1k and that was all the panels.
Andrew Vickers had a funky pattern on his Supergrad, might be worth a google
IIRC it looked pretty cool to start off with but ended up looking pretty ratty and tired after a year or so. A flat colour might be better, but I think you'd be better off with even a cheap respray
Oh and if you want to return that mirror finish, you'll need a spare weekend but use Autosol metal polish. Its tedious and you'll end up with biceps like a teenager with an internet habit but its the only polish that even gets that deep pitting out and makes it properly shiny again
IIRC it looked pretty cool to start off with but ended up looking pretty ratty and tired after a year or so. A flat colour might be better, but I think you'd be better off with even a cheap respray
Oh and if you want to return that mirror finish, you'll need a spare weekend but use Autosol metal polish. Its tedious and you'll end up with biceps like a teenager with an internet habit but its the only polish that even gets that deep pitting out and makes it properly shiny again
Cheers for the info everyone, I will continue to investigate, but from looking into it more, it would appear that it might start to appear tatty fairly quickly, maybe a matt finish (a la the GT3 in the classified) doesnt wear so much.
I've owned the car for about 8 years now, and I have always used autosol , but I dont think I have the patience to get it back to proper mirror like the previous owner had. And I think to keep it mirror you need to polish it every weekend, I'm not really the polishing type of owner.
I've owned the car for about 8 years now, and I have always used autosol , but I dont think I have the patience to get it back to proper mirror like the previous owner had. And I think to keep it mirror you need to polish it every weekend, I'm not really the polishing type of owner.
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