The Wheel Vinyl Experiment...

[JLneonhug]

Aside from professional companies doing this I've not seen any other people having a go at this.

How hard can it be? Question is which colour? Going for matt as mistakes wont be as obvious if/when they occur.

So Im looking for a look like this..

For reference - I worked out I need for each wheel ~54x54cm piece for the face and ~14x120cm for inside rim (two piece jobby).

A 60x500cm roll should be sufficient for all 4 wheels plus spare. Cost of it is next to nothing (£10-15 for matt black and £20 for matt gold).

Unless others have a better colour idea? I would try that carbon fibre vinyl for a laugh but little too expensive if it really goes t*ts up.

['daiking']

Won't the heat and the brake dust affect it?

[PastyBoy]

i'm still toying with doing my second set of spiders in gold (painting though) to go on my red VRS

but it works equally well with black i reckon

or have a look herefor the other options i considered

[JLneonhug]

Thanks for the links, it was that thread which sparked me off initially

Won't the heat and the brake dust affect it?

I have no idea, I plan to stick a spare bit of carbon vinyl I have left on the wheels and see how long it sticks for. If it is the glue that is the issue I can layer on some heat resistant glue during applying.

But on saying that there are companies who do offer vinyl for wheels. So im sure it cant be that abrasive..

Live and learn!

[PastyBoy]

there was talk of someone doing it with the camoflague vinyl? :S

[Mr Slippyfist]

I'd like to see how this turns out to be honest..

Good luck John!

[Marc81]

I saw this thread on detailing world a while ago now. It's definitely worth a read if your considering wrapping your wheels;

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=175828

Marc

[JLneonhug]

On closer inspection it'll be wiser to leave a lip (as i think sticking vinyl on a near 180 bend wont agree with it.. will attempt when stuff arrives), problem is.. Im not sure a fabia can pull that off

An example - http://www.tunerzine.com/view-article/black-and-gold

My photoshop attempt -

Edit - Haha thanks for the link Marc , if he can pull Jelly beans off I think im ok with gold with lip!

[Guest BigJase88]

vinyl on wheels will be trash...

and i wouldn't like doing spiders, will take and age!!

[Rob.]

.......

Dear me, Are we really about to see gold wheels on a Furby? I've been waiting for this moment.. (That's my photoshop with the stripe further up)...

Keep us posted!

p.s. Next you'll be telling me you're building a vRS Saloon!

[JLneonhug]

.......

Dear me, Are we really about to see gold wheels on a Furby? I've been waiting for this moment.. (That's my photoshop with the stripe further up)...

Keep us posted!

Awesome photoshop

Think I've decided which type of gold now...

Found these guys on google (then ebay) but apparently the vinyl they supply are Avery brand (equivalent to 3M stuff) - http://starvinyls.com/_24__matt__vinyl

10m roll for about £25 - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310313740488&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123#ht_2498wt_989

Just waiting reply of email to see if they can supply a 5m roll instead.. Unless someone else wants to wrap theirs in matt gold too?

Edit:

Few research updates - found this site which does gucci vehicle wrapping materials

KPMF - http://www.kpmf.com/content/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

(they also have really funkey pearlecent colours too)

e.g. kpmf has adhesion rate of 650-700nm whereas the one im using is only 560nm (if I calculated that correctly).

The revised version I will be getting is the Ritrama - M Grade Matt Gold @ 75 microns (3-5 yrs exterior), it looked better on spec sheet than the Avery Jac ones, but I'll be happy with one winter tbh! lol

http://www.paper.co.uk/content/docs/Ritrama%20Specialities.pdf

A better website for all the colours of the rainbow that Ritrama supplies - http://www.selfadhesivevinyls.com/products_self-adhesive_vinyls_ri-mark_premium_series.php

Annoyingly, going gloss will have better adhesive properties.

Edit2:

Theres loads of companies which does vinyl for cars/boats/signs etc in loads of different grades. This is another booklet pdf I found - http://www.thevinylcorporation.co.uk/info/catalogue/vinyl_corporation_brochure.pdf

So, its no problem against sea water dust etc, its more of the heat I think... in terms of heat though, how hot will alloys get? I wouldn't of thought its over 200c..? You get stickers on engine covers of f1 cars etc, im sure they get pretty hot. I suppose the conclusion is that its all about the quality of the vinyl/adhesive, it will stick to anything if you pay enough for it.

hth

[Kablam]

A friend of mine works for Ambient Graphics in Cambridgeshire, did this to his wheels

[JLneonhug]

A friend of mine works for Ambient Graphics in Cambridgeshire, did this to his wheels

That looks good I'll try a 'safe' matt gold colour first, then I'll experiment with others, do you know if it costs much to wrap the wheels professionally? I would really kick myself spending hours on this if it cost £20 a wheel..............

I think vinyls are the way forward, save the environment! stick vinyl, don't use paint!

[Kablam]

To quote my mate "I'm never touching wheels again! It was such a bitch to do."

What he's got there is 1 printed sheet that he cut into strips and then using heat stretched to fit his rim. Can't fault the job, but as it was such an arse to do not sure what he would charge... Wouldn't be £20 a wheel though.

[PastyBoy]

John if you are going with the Premier Ritrama my work has a trade account with then with a massive spend.

Might be able to buy it cheaper for you?

Although having read the PDF you linked to isn;t that product actually a paper rather than a vinyl?

[JLneonhug]

John if you are going with the Premier Ritrama my work has a trade account with then with a massive spend.

Might be able to buy it cheaper for you?

Although having read the PDF you linked to isn;t that product actually a paper rather than a vinyl?

Thanks for the heads up on the discount! But I've already bought it a couple hrs ago and its been dispatched definitely up for some gloss at a later stage if this goes well.

lmao, I just confirmed with the company I bought it off of - it is self adhesive backing, and not colour paper. That would have been comical to say the least.....

[PastyBoy]

ah well maybe next time.

still pretty sure it's paper though!

The description on page 16 of the linked PDF says:

"Gold matt paper aluminium laminated, lacquered" then has a "FP02 Permanent water based" adhesive and backed with a "One side siliconised kraft paper" liner

I guess you'll find out shortly

[st3f4n]

Il be honest and say i cant see this ending well, bit like trying to tint your own windows, If i was going for a plain colour id just have them painted.

[JLneonhug]

Update today, not overly exciting im afraid -

1) Received the vinyl to day, it is the sticky kind!

2) I have misplaced my locking wheel nut key! It seems like to replace a key it would cost £20 (will confirm tomorrow with the dealers) so I'm most likely going to get some off fleabay and ask the dealers to get it off instead.

Gold roll looks like this:

Probably a bit less glossy look and more matt look than the pic shows.

[JLneonhug]

I was going to to this after exams but the missus wanted to play chicken with the kerb today so this was my excuse I suppose to have a play.

Basically I should've bought a heat gun instead of using the hair dryer (it kept cutting out ), I couldn't stretch and stick at the same time because of the dryer kept blowing the vinyl, ended up tearing the damn thing thus I had to change the 'design' because of this. plodding on and finished a wheel to see what its like on the car. Finish is not pretty up close but it'll do as a test version 1 for now.. Will be buying a heat gun and attacking the other wheels properly after exams :|

Edit - Forgot to mention it took 4 hours....... If vinyl didnt keep tearing I would've done it in about 2

Enough talk, heres what you guys are waiting to see...

(Covering the kerbed area)

[PastyBoy]

john fair play for sticking with it.

The bits that I assume were easy to do (spoke faces & sides) look mint. It does quite obviously get more complcated and the finish drops off around the ends of spokes and around the rim.

I reckon if you are prepared to put the time in and with a proper heat gun they will look mint when finished.

The colour is actually really good and looks really impressive for a distance

I actually quite like the 2 tone gold & silver you have going on too

[Tas]

This is bang on the colour I want on the centre of my wheels. Sorta between gold n bronze.

[JLneonhug]

Thanks for the comments.

I just slapped vinyl across the top and heated it until it hugged the contours. The vinyl stretches really easily if enough heat was applied. Basically, i didnt get enough heat on them so the vinyl couldnt stretch right down to the base of the sides and the bits which are silver because it started to tear.

Heat gun is the way forward for doing spiders, for anything with less of a long side edge then hair dryer should be ok!

Yeah this matt gold is pretty much spot on what I was looking for

[Tech1e]

I'll stick with the paint I think.

[JLneonhug]

I'll stick with the paint I think.

Pah, version 2 will own, just you wait. @ cost of £3.50 per corner I can afford to have a few tries