Hey all

I'll preface this with a disclaimer of sorts - I am by no means an expert when it comes to wrapping. This is the first car I've ever done it on, but I thought I'd take a few pics and share the experience for those who fancy a go themselves. I hope you find them useful.

First of all, get your tools ready. You'll need a hairdryer, a ruler (pref steel) and some plastic cutlery. I kid you not, when messing with car trim, IKEA kids cutlery is awesome!

Door card trim:

Cut a straight piece of wrap. I like to leave an inch at either end and an extra inch underneath, just in case.

Start lining up from the top left, so that the wrap covers the trim AND the recess it is in to the left hand side and the top, like so;

Don't stick too much of it down yet, a few inches will do just to take the stress off the wrap from its own weight. Throughout the ordeal, you ideally want to be working at the project an inch or two at a time, as I'll explain in a moment.

Gently run your thumb in the recess to score the vinyl. Don't press too hard or you might rip through it;

Get your hairdryer at the ready and heat the corner area and first few inches at the top;

With the edge of your ruler, gently press the heated vinyl in. Carefully prise the trim from the door card, only slightly, and give the ruler a gentle wiggle. This will slowly work the vinyl behind the trim piece;

IKEA to the rescue! For corners, I prefer a rounded edge to work with. It's the same process as above with the ruler, but the rounded edge makes it easier to get the vinyl to bend with the shape of the trim (for me, anyway);

Right, it's time for the tough bit. When you approach the door handle, first of all cut off the excess vinyl backing to reduce weight pulling down on the vinyl and stretching it. This is important to do at this stage as you are going to cut into the vinyl and leave a only a thin piece at the top. Excess weight will distort your vinyl when it is heated again or, even worse, tear it. Yes, I have a pair of animal slippers;

Don't forget to use your Simply Clever ™ bottle holder to store the hairdryer when not in use!

Work your vinyl as close to the left hand side of the handle as possible. With your thumb nail, carefully mark around the door handle (you only want to make a slight mark here, not a full blown score - this will make it easier to start cutting your piece). Using scissors, cut the vinyl from the bottom, following the shape of the middle of the door handle until you reach your thumb score at the top;

Finish wrapping the vinyl at the top and also the right hand side. Once you have the done, work towards the door handle from the bottom edge of the right hand side of the trim this time. When you have reached the handle again, cut off the excess vinyl underneath and then prepare yourself for the scary bit;

There's next to no gap between the handle and the door card here, so you will just have to cut as straight and as carefully as you can. It's do-able though, with a great deal of patience!

Glove Box

Follow almost exactly the same steps, as outlined above. It helps to start by lining up from the very centre of the trim, due to its shape, rather than the left hand corner exclusively. The glove box is much more forgiving when you come to wrapping the bottom edge of the trim. Here, pop the glove box door and you will be able to feel a significant gap under the trim, making it easy to work the vinyl into with either finger nails or your IKEA bad boys;

Sit back and admire another job very well done.

Don't forget the small trim pieces behind the steering wheel. Those are really easy to do as you can pop them off with your IKEA cutlery and stretch vinyl on to them easily from the comfort of your couch.

If anyone has a go at this, or has some improvements to suggest, I'd welcome your feedback immensely.

Cheers

Danny

I plan to do this at the weekend. Great guide there - exactly how I would have approached it actually. Well done!

Excellent guide

Not sure how you did the outside of the tight corners so well in situ, took ages for me to get it right when I took them out! :(

Would you do it wearing animal slippers though??!

@brimma, seriously dude, that's where the Ikea tools really work a treat. They are remarkably flexible, to get behind the trim slightly, but firm enough to push against the soft part of the door card when pulling them out again.

I have vinyl waiting for this but struggle to find the time. Looks great ill get it done someday. Job well done. Come do my trim now.

It took about an hour to do each segment, so not too long. I'm neither brave enough or good enough to be let loose on other people's cars!

Excellent write up. For a cheap mod, it smartens up those cheap looking dash inserts no end. Going to do mine asap. Can you get different grade vinyl? Im guessing it doesn't want to be too thick.

I tried the radio console before with a piece of carbon wrap I had left over but found it tough to work it into the corners I reckon the wrap was too thick as it is used for roof wrapping anybody have that problem?

Heat it up loads with the hairdryer and stretch before wrapping it round.

Looks great

Sadly i haven,t got the patience to do something like that.Would certainly freshen up the inside though.

Excellent write up. For a cheap mod, it smartens up those cheap looking dash inserts no end. Going to do mine asap. Can you get different grade vinyl? Im guessing it doesn't want to be too thick.

I bought this stuff, in black: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190764831163?var=490120498235&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Works a treat.

I'll hold back on recommending it for external use though. I wrapped my grill about a month ago and there's an area I noticed this morning which looks significantly faded / marked already.

Awesome looking job. Very well done!

How much of the stuff did you get? I'm rubbish at working out areas!

Awesome looking job. Very well done!

How much of the stuff did you get? I'm rubbish at working out areas!

The door card trim is about 24" long and the glove box 18.5", if I recall correctly. The door card trim in the rear is slightly longer, probably 25-26", but I haven't done those yet so haven't measured them exactly.

One comment to make it a bit easier.

When doing the doors you can remove the handle trim with just a screw driver. It just pops off. This makes putting the vinly round the top way way easier as you are not relying on your cut being so perfect.

One comment to make it a bit easier.

When doing the doors you can remove the handle trim with just a screw driver. It just pops off. This makes putting the vinly round the top way way easier as you are not relying on your cut being so perfect.

Great to know, cheers. I assumed it was screwed in to the door card from the back. This certainly takes away the hardest aspect of the job, thanks for sharing.

I probably did make it sound a bit too easy. The trim is held on with 3 metal clip things which hold it on very well. You really do need to give it a bit of a yank to get it off (Thankfully my mechanic neighbour saw me struggling being careful with it and just said "Oh just give it a good pull it will come off")

There is a little indent on the underside you can put a screw driver to start to prise the handle over off - then just pull hard

So, how did your weekend projects go?

I'm mid way through doing mine as we speak. Pictures when it's done

Only got my iPhone on me, but here's a picture. I've done them in matte black to match the rest of the car.

Only got my iPhone on me, but here's a picture. I've done them in matte black to match the rest of the car.

is that the same wrap that is on the outside? or is it lighter wrap? its a very tasty job must have a go at mine soon when i get some more carbon wrap. was it hard to push it in bhind the trim?

Yep. Same as the outside - Avery RS matte black. Getting behind the plastic was easy. I used a hard squeegee to pull the trim forward, then one of the tools included with an iPhone tool kit to push the vinyl behind. Really pleased with the look, it's darkened it up nicely.

Only got my iPhone on me, but here's a picture. I've done them in matte black to match the rest of the car.

That looks like a really nice job, nicely done Harry. A solid colour is less forgiving than carbon effect as absolutely any tiny imperfection is noticeable, but I guess you (of all people) don't need me to tell you that!

Is it just me, or does the leather part of the VRS door card look odd? I've not changed mine over as I prefer the cloth version.

BTW, where do you buy your vinyl from Harry? Is it the same grade (not just colour) as the stuff you use on the exterior? And have you noticed any decay on the vinyl you used on the exterior at all?

Cheers

Danny