going to vinyl my van

August 8, 2006

ive got a van with a shabby paintjob, so I thought id vinyl it, as I have access to vinyl. ive read a few things here and there, looked at some websites. so its just pulling and squeegying to the shape of the vehicle. start from highest point of panel and squeegy outwards ?? is this about right ? do I put it on dry ?? my neighbours isuzu bighorn is vinyld up so im going to look how it was joined. would it be easy to vinyl bumpers ??

any advice would be great.

flat rock stan · August 10, 2006

I can't wait to see some answers here. Wanting to do my van.................. good luck! :duck

September 14, 2006

ive got a van with a shabby paintjob, so I thought id vinyl it, as I have access to vinyl. ive read a few things here and there, looked at some websites. so its just pulling and squeegying to the shape of the vehicle. start from highest point of panel and squeegy outwards ?? is this about right ? do I put it on dry ?? my neighbours isuzu bighorn is vinyld up so im going to look how it was joined. would it be easy to vinyl bumpers ??
any advice would be great.

hi you dont say wich type van it is but ill give you a few tips on doing a ford transit dont know if you get these in the states but I do lots of them in sunny scotland and the same principal aplies to most vans.first remove anything you can handles, mirrors, locks, window rubbers, lights ect the less obstructions the easier.then clean the van dont use waxy car shampoo the vinyl dont like it. I use isopropeline a high alchohol cleaner that evaporates quickly but diluted white spirit or something similar would be fine if you use soapy water be sure the van is completley dry especialy around lights and any oter crevices where water will stay and vinyl has to be tucked into.all full wraps are done dry wet aplication is only suitable for completley flat surfaces ie not a van! next position all the vinyl to make sure it fits and ties up using masking tape to hold it in place. this is when you check all text is straight the logo is centred ect use a tape measure and try to use something on the van like the bottom of the door or the top gutter avoid measuring from the ground unless you know its level. You should be ready to fit your first panel now wich should always be the back one so that when overlapped by the middle panel the overlap wont have wind and rain bloing towards it understand? aplying large panels...... tape these at both sides round about the middle you should then lift the bottom half up take the backing paper off bring back down without the adhesive touching the van and start squeegeeing at the top from the centre left to right never up and down! if you get bubbles or creases pull off and gentley aply heat trying not to stretch the vinyl while pulling it this is where you will end up losing the joins that you lined up previosly if you streatch too much so be careful. .....the top half will differ from the bottom if it has an indented panel you should remove backing paper,pin to the top of the van and aply the top part first not the large indented part in the middle,this part is different again, this should be aplied leaving a 1.5 inch pocket of air all the way round it the air pocket should then be heated in gentley heating the vinyl and licking your finger and working the vinyl in along the lip of the panel until the air pocket is all heated in, quite tricky if youve never done it and let me tell you a mistake here could mess up the whole look of the panel and if not done right it will pop out in no time so if you get this part all full of bubbles you might as well stop right there!! .....most doors are done pretty much in the same way taped at the left and right at the middle then the bottom half aplied first in the same fashion the bottom of a large panel is done. bumpers would need to be painted vinyl wont stick to plastic and there pretty tricky ive done a few mini bumpers and there a nightmare usualy leave the bumpers black but most of the ones I do are plastic anyway.the easiest way to do a wing is to take all the paper off stick it on in one go and aply from the middle going left to right from the middle up or down,if it ties up to the door you should hinge it on the door then remove all paper and apply across the middle first to keep it in place then wokr it left to right towards the top or bottom. .........the bonnet should be taped verticaly in the middle not all the way down though just half way to avoid creating a crease in the middle,do half at a time aplying up and down from the middle out only aply just over halfway down at both sides then come back and finish the bottom half wich will probably need some heat to stop it creasing the reason you dont aply all the way down to start with is that it creates far to many creases.