Vinyl wrap for 80 series vs. paint (1 Viewer)

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Hey mud,

My 80 needs a paint job, but seeing that I am building it for expeditions and it is not a garage/show queen I am considering all options. It seems pointless do get body and paint work done to just go back out in the bush and scratch it up again....

So... I have had a couple of people talk about full vinyl wraps, which may be more durable than paint, and would allow for some cool pinstripes or graphics to be baked into the look at the same time...

Thoughts? Has anyone done a wrap on an 80? My good buddy @ukaviator used to have a kitted out tacoma (Nemo, the red one) that had a full vinyl wrap and it held up well...

The cost will be more to do a wrap than a paint job, right?

cheers,

Joel
 
I've been looking at going down this road on my 80 as well.

I thought it would be considerably cheaper than good paint....Hmmm:hmm:

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Do yours and let me see it.
 
We do a lot of wraps on customer cars(high end stuff).....I've got an 80 that needs the hood/top painted....and the more I look....the more I see that the tops of the doors, fenders and tail gate need to be done. So probably a full repaint. Full repaints, done properly, are very expensive. Add in some body work(inevitable on a 20 year old truck) and that cost goes up. Again...that's a quality paint job. Sure you can find them cheaper.

So in my thought process...I naturally considered a wrap(my lower portion and flares are wrapped now). It works well but adhesion is key...and that faded roof(not smooth) might be an issue...on my truck at least. So I'd probably have to fix that first, then wrap. I would guess, somewhere around $2500-3000 to do an average wrap on a truck that size(our high end stuff starts at $5k and we're talking doing it on cars the are new and easy to disassemble). And that $2500-3000 would be with a lot of pieces removed by the owner....you have to remove parts to make it look good. Wraps aren't all that challenging to do, probably a DIY for some. Material is probably going to be $400-500 for a roll. All kinds of cool colors. Good durability. Non-permanent. Hard to not like it. But for a truck that's going to be outside and on trails....it might not be best. Some of the gloss vinyls can be polished should they get lightly scratched. But if it get damaged, you'd have to replace. Which isn't going to be hard on an 80 since there are so many panels.

I have pretty much talked myself into doing a bedliner exterior with a very smooth finish. My truck is burgundy and I hate the color but I don't think I can do a wrap with the condition of my paint(without sealing or reclearing). My other issue is that the door jambs, under hood, etc. will be burgundy when you open them...if I go with a vastly different color on the outside, like a cool cement grey or something. Not a huge deal but it bugs me. So bedliner it is. Easy to touchup, easy to change. Not super excited about it though. Lol.
 
I've looked at it for other vehicles i own, but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. local place quotes from 2500-3500. I think its a great alternative to a paint job and should last several years. FWIW, the wrap is very thin and will not cover up and dents, dings, etc...they will still show through. Some colors and finishes (matte vs satin vs gloss) will cover up more than others.
 
I've looked at it for other vehicles i own, but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. local place quotes from 2500-3500. I think its a great alternative to a paint job and should last several years. FWIW, the wrap is very thin and will not cover up and dents, dings, etc...they will still show through. Some colors and finishes (matte vs satin vs gloss) will cover up more than others.

Extremely thin.....you will see sand under it. The flares would be a challenge to do...they'd need to come off the truck to do it right. The more you can break down, the better it will be.

We do a lot of roofs in gloss...they hold up nicely. I've had a couple of matte cars deteriorate. They had zero care given to them.

Satin is my favorite finish...it shows off lines and curves really well. Matte is a little more challenging to care for(satin is way easier). Gloss is very good but if you look close, you'll see very fine orange peel.....not really the right way to describe it. It also scratches easily in my opinion. Gloss can be waxed(darker colors).

Clean up on the stuff is EASY. You can wash the matte stuff with a dirty t-shirt and gutter water. Gloss would be like a normal paint job. Satin does some weird things....smudges can be a challenge. I'm sure it will scratch easily too.

When we blow apart a high end car and wrap one, it's very hard to know if it is paint or not. Neat stuff.
 
Extremely thin.....you will see sand under it. The flares would be a challenge to do...they'd need to come off the truck to do it right. The more you can break down, the better it will be.

We do a lot of roofs in gloss...they hold up nicely. I've had a couple of matte cars deteriorate. They had zero care given to them.

Satin is my favorite finish...it shows off lines and curves really well. Matte is a little more challenging to care for(satin is way easier). Gloss is very good but if you look close, you'll see very fine orange peel.....not really the right way to describe it. It also scratches easily in my opinion. Gloss can be waxed(darker colors).

Clean up on the stuff is EASY. You can wash the matte stuff with a dirty t-shirt and gutter water. Gloss would be like a normal paint job. Satin does some weird things....smudges can be a challenge. I'm sure it will scratch easily too.

When we blow apart a high end car and wrap one, it's very hard to know if it is paint or not. Neat stuff.


So a high end wrap in satin on an 80 series is going to be $5-6k if the shop pulls the whole thing apart and does it properly? Compared to $10k for a nice paint job? Sound about right?
 
I got my 62 re-sprayed in single stage enamel (white-no clearcoat) for $800, yes at MAACO. Looked great to me. Not show quality, but pretty nice. No way you're going to get anywhere near that price with a vinyl wrap. For a trail rig, I'd hesitate to spend any more than needed. Also, this paint is tough. Single stage enamel is what they use on tractors and farming equimpent. Doesn't scratch too easily, and minor scratches polish/buff really well.

"quality" paint job is $$$, and if that's what you're looking for then the cost of a wrap is more attractive. But frankly a "quality" paintjob is a waste of money for a truck that gets used. Save that for the car show crowd.

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Im going to be getting a middle of the road paint job estimate in a few days. The old paint would be sanded enough to be used as a primer which cuts costs significantly. Basically smooth a few of the dings out, sand the whole thing with 800 grit and shoot. I will also remove trim pieces for the guy to cut costs. Middle of the road being in the middle between a maaco and a show quality job. My guestimate is 4k. Just a exterior paint job, no door jambs or nothing. But I will know for sure shortly. The monstaliner job is very tempting. But I wan't my rig to look like a new normal truck for the most part rather than a trail rig.
 
if you are willing to do the wrap yourself, enough vinyl to do the whole truck will run you about $400 for more than enough of the Avery stuff... around 50 ft ish. I have a few samples from metro restyling, the gloss grey is a really close approximation of the TRD cement grey... almost a "nardo" grey, like audi uses. I have been throwing around the idea of wrapping my 100 myself, it looks oddly satisfying and like a royal pita. Which is the kind of stuff I seem to enjoy doing.

Also should note, I have heard that the lighter satin colors like to hold onto grease smudges, bird poop, and the like... makes the gloss a little more appealing although the satin looks the best

Youtube has some good how to videos, look up "ck wraps" he has a ton of info and does a good job.
 
I did the MAACO single stage enamel for $1350 all in. That included $300 extra labor for the roof and hood where the rust was starting to appear. So would have been $1k if I did it a little sooner. Took 4 days so not a huge inconvenience and I figure I can do it again every 2-3 years for a long time before hitting the cost of a good paint job once. Never even thought about a wrap, but if I had I probably would have gone with the paint still. My goal was more protection from rust taking over than looks - I even lost my pinstripe as that added cost. If graphics is what you want then the wrap might work out better.

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From a friend recently, he had his 94 80 painted completely the RIGHT way. $12K

He researched the wraps ahead of that and I have seen others on here that wraps for these are in the $4000-$6000 range.

Monstaliner can be done yourself with rollers in your driveway for around $600 total.
 
I've got an old E36 M3 at paint right now for a customer. It's $12k to do that car. No rust, no major dents/dings. This will be a very high end paint job. I was kind of shocked to hear that quote but paint has become massively expensive in the last 5 years. We used to do full repaints for $7500. Now that's $12k. But that's a job that will last 20 years and look as if the factory did it.

Thinking that this color would be cool on an 80.

3M Satin Battleship Grey.

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I'm now into my 6th year down the road from having Maaco respray mine. I went with the base/clear package - so it was definitely more $$ than their base price packages. Definitely not a high-end, show finish, but it has held up quite well for a truck that spends most of its time outside.

I did pull most all of the bolt on bits (lights, flares, bumpers, mirrors) prior to paint so they could be sprayed separately.

Like anything, results for paint comes down to the quality of prep and the skill of the painter. I was able to inspect my truck after they did the sand down before primer. and to my eye, they did a good job during prep. I won't claim that any other Maaco will do a job this well, but it did work out for me.
 
A decent wrap might last 5 years outside before going to complete crap. Even washing and waxing regularly I only got 3-4 years before I started noticing issues. You also have to find someone willing to remove it then you are right back where you started. I would find a local small independent shop to repaint. Alot of times a simple conversation with the person doing the actual work can shave half off what a retail shop normally charges.
 

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