FJ40 Camo Vehicle Wrap

[cmhar82]

My husband and I run a print shop in Washington, and one of the things we do pretty often is vehicle wraps. My husband has had an FJ40 for years and keeps saying we should wrap it, but we never got around to it. Thankfully one of our clients has a sweet 40 and wants us to wrap it in camo! If anyone is interested in this process it can be a good solution for changing the look of your car without the hassle of paint, and it's pretty easy to replace panels if they get scratched or torn. I'll post the mock up and some progress photos, if anyone is curious about the process feel free to ask questions!

P.S. We're also building an FJ60 and have another thread about it, but the we painte dit ourselves and are getting delamination in a few spots. We still have to color sand, so if it gets worse we might wrap that too. Painting it gave me a lot of respect for people who can produce a nice finish, it's a lot tougher than it looks!!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3 (This is the one the client chose)

 

[skidplate]

Pretty ccol! Is it a "peel and stick" product or how do you "wrap"it?

 

[cmhar82]

The material we use is a vinyl with adhesive on the back, we print on it and then put a laminate over the top to keep the ink from fading. It's the kind of stuff you see on city buses or box vans, it's pretty durable and actually protects the paint once it's on. Getting it on there can be tricky though! You use heat to kind of stretch and form it to the car, so it takes some finess. We were thinking about selling do it yourself kits, but we've had clients try it and get really frustrated doing the install. It's got some flexibility when you put it on, but it's hard to stop wrinkles and bubbles if you haven't done it before.

 

[Fast Eddy]

What would be the cheapest paint that you would recommend under it? How about just epoxy primer?

 

[hellbilly]

any paint works as long as its not mechanically failing (Flaking/Chipping). Gloss paint works the best but Ive wrapped plenty of race and drift cars with dura-glass and primer paint under their wraps.

 

[hellbilly]

on a side note client chose option 3

Here is a shot of the print before we trim it out and install:

 

[cmhar82]

First day on the install

We got the panels laminated and ready last night, here's a shot to show how the process begins:

 

[cmhar82]

Mik got about 2/3 of the car wrapped today and will be out to finish it tomorrow. It seems like a small amount of area to cover, but when you look closely each piece has really complex shapes and lots to cut out, so it's a tricky install. Here's the progress photos so far, we'll get some nice glamour shots tomorrow when it's done!

 

[gregnash]

Really cool!

 

[cruiserdan]

That is very cool. What is the projected life span and how difficult is it to remove it?

I'm thinking a desert cammo on this would be cool.......

 

[cmhar82]

The material we use is rated for 5-7 years with laminate on top, that gives it extra protection from UV. Unless you scratch it up a bunch the only thing that happens with time is that it can fade, so really it could stay on there longer. Once it's been on there a few years it's harder to get it off, you just have to use a heat gun and take your time. The nice thing is it won't damage your paint, so if you had a good paint job to begin with you will even after it's taken off! If you've got loose paint though, it can pull that off when you remove it. I thought the desert camo would look good too, but we're in the Northwest so the "Savage" pattern blends in better around here!

 

[cruiserdan]

How are jobs priced? I assume by the square inch or foot?

 

[theside00]

That is looking good. I might contact you guys when my 55 is up and running.

 

[cmhar82]

We price the material by the sq. ft., which for this material is currently $12.50, then the charge for labor is estimated separately. Not every car is the same shape, and some take longer if the have lots of complex curves and details. The fj40 ended up taking a bit longer than we expected because of all the trimming and areas like the vents. This job was priced out at $1200 total, which is pretty reasonable for a full wrap of this type. If you want an estimate for your truck you can find our contact info at www.bgprinting.net. We'll have some finished photos this afternoon!

 

[cmhar82]

Finishing up the Wrap

Mik pulled a late night and finished up all the little details this morning. We are all super happy with how it turned out and can't wait to tackle another!!

Mik demonstrating how flexible the material is, he is able to heat and stretch it into a round opening on the bib

 

[gregnash]

Now that is badass.... Kudos to you guys for quality worksmanship!

 

[hellbilly]

Thanks gregnash

 

[skidplate]

Looks great! Bet those louvers were a bear.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Would that stick to raw aluminum, such as a new aluminum utility trailer? How resistant is it to pressure washing? If it were to pick a corner up and loosen it (such as abrasion or catching on a rock, etc ), is it possible to respray new cement and restick it?
I like it, very impressive! I would have thought much more expensive, very cool! J

 

[hellbilly]

Yes the vents were a challenge. Yes it would stick to raw aluminum well. I would try to avoid pressure washing directly at or towards an edge, but the lamination that's used after we print the design is easy to keep clean and self polishes with exposure to the suns rays. I don't think there's a way to apply new adhesive to it once the adhesive is damaged or contaminated with grease or dirt, but thats why the most important step is preparing the surface by checking paint cleaning with a degreaser, soap/water, then Isopropyl Alcohol (99%). But once the glue has formed a full bond (24hrs at 70 deg, longer for temperature that are cooler) its definatly on there until you want to remove the product. Its better than paint about swirl and brush marks as they will take care of themselves. It gouges and cuts as easy as paint how ever you can always remove and replace a damaged section with out redoing the whole thing, sanding or patching a damaged area. We also do local Police and DNR Fire trucks that see a lot of action and they hold up excellent considering their line of work and use.