Styling Wing Mirrors and Vinyl

[steedy27]

Guys

I have tried to cover my wing mirrors in 3M carbon Fibre Vinyl I did it ok on my headunit fascia but due to the shape of the mirror cover after 3 tries i did it but its got couple of creases and had had to cut the vinyl into two pieces just to get it to go on.
So my question is has anybody done it and where did you get it done or how did you do it?

 

[Matt Boulton]

Guys

I have tried to cover my wing mirrors in 3M carbon Fibre Vinyl I did it ok on my headunit fascia but due to the shape of the mirror cover after 3 tries i did it but its got couple of creases and had had to cut the vinyl into two pieces just to get it to go on.
So my question is has anybody done it and where did you get it done or how did you do it?

hi
i have also tried this
i tried both with heat but also with a weak soapy water solution
bith failed mieserably tho :bang:
there are a few places near me including signs extra and brookfields graphics who could do it
shouldnt cost too much to do tbh

 

[Krysten CTR]

You need plenty of heat. The side effect is that the vinyl loses some of it's adhesive qualities if you go overboard and keep pulling the vinyl off and reapplying it over and over.

There is a water based adhesive enhancer which works really well and keeps the vinyl in place, even after being heated and reheated again.

Once it's warm just keep pulling and stretching it tight. Water doesn't work so well. 3M have said that this vinyl goes on best DRY and the micro air channels are designed to let the air out and reduces bubbles.

Plus loads of practice helps too.

 

[graemebryson]

I managed to wrap mine no bother, its not too difficult if you take your time.

I used a hair dryer and no water, just stretching.

- Cut the sheet to wrap your mirror in (I used just under A4 size per mirror cap)
- Lay it out on a flat part of the cap to get started.
- From there, apply heat whilst stretching the vinyl out over the curves (be sure to do this evenly otherwise you'll either overstretch the vinyl and it'll lose the carbon effect or you may end up with excess sticking together)
- You might have to work round the cap a few times to stretch out any creases

I actually sat the hairdryer on my chair leaving both hands free to hold the cap and stretch the vinyl.

Or, of course, theres always youtube!

 

[Krysten CTR]

The man knows. What he said!

 

[steedy27]

I managed to wrap mine no bother, its not too difficult if you take your time.

I used a hair dryer and no water, just stretching.

- Cut the sheet to wrap your mirror in (I used just under A4 size per mirror cap)
- Lay it out on a flat part of the cap to get started.
- From there, apply heat whilst stretching the vinyl out over the curves (be sure to do this evenly otherwise you'll either overstretch the vinyl and it'll lose the carbon effect or you may end up with excess sticking together)
- You might have to work round the cap a few times to stretch out any creases

I actually sat the hairdryer on my chair leaving both hands free to hold the cap and stretch the vinyl.

Or, of course, theres always youtube!

This sounds good -Will have to try this the main problem was excess material i had cut it twice and cut excess material did you have this problem!

 

[graemebryson]

I tucked any excess behind the cap, but didn't let it stick as you have to keep lifting the vinyl again and again as you work your way round. I think I did about 4 laps before it smoothed out

It'll probably get to a point where everything is smooth bar one small section, which is where you need to be careful as overstretching here can ruin the whole job. Just work your way through it slowly and it should smooth out if you're lucky