Going carbon.......

[alefustec]

Okay, so ordered this off e-bay http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KNTDA5K/r ... TE_3p_dp_1.

As I have never wrapped anything before, any tips from members who have tried wrapping any of these bits listed below and anything I should look out for would be very gratefully received with thanks!

So bank holiday weekend plan is;

1. Wrap front chrome grill surround
2. Wrap B & C pillars
3. Wrap chrome window surround (I'll see what this looks like but the chrome is horribly milky so needs sorting, but if its 'too much' I'll swap it out for a matt black vinyl)
4. Wrap front lip
5. Wrap rear diffuser
6. Replace red Stickers on RS4 badges all round with carbon vinyl
7. Attempt wrapping the wing mirrors (guessing its going to a ball ache as I don't want to pull them off the car, so will be done in situ, so will leave them to last based on my prior success and confidence levels!)

If it all goes well I may even try wrapping the front and rear chrome rings too. I'll post up pics of the results (or failure) next week.

[bam_bam]

Yuck.

[alefustec]

Yuck.

Thanks, I value your opinion and have now scrapped the whole idea because I care so much about what you think

[MB2]

Duplicate Post

[MB2]

Good luck - it is quite easy but also needs a fair bit of practice. I would start on something simpler like the wheel caps. Slightly moistening the surface might help - you will also need a hair-dryer or heat gun & something to smooth it down with. Air bubbles aren't a big issue any more but getting it round corners can be problematic - the trick is stretching the film around corners without making the pattern go weird - it is very heat sensitive so be gentle with the heat.

[docurley]

Cant see the link (work blocking everything) but get your self a spray bottle a very cheap whashing-up liquid put a little (half a teaspoon) then fill with water.

clean surface and no dust spray the back of the film and item to be applied to so you can move around then start at one end to push the air and bubbles out.

curved area may require you to heat the film with a hair dryer to mould round the shape.

Clean area is a must

[seaney76]

good luck your gonna have an eventful yet frustrating bank holiday, i think the matt black will offset the window surrounds nice.

[alefustec]

Good luck - it is quite easy but also needs a fair bit of practice. I would start on something simpler like the wheel caps. Slightly moistening the surface might help - you will also need a hair-dryer or heat gun & something to smooth it down with. Air bubbles aren't a big issue any more but getting it round corners can be problematic - the trick is stretching the film around corners without making the pattern go weird - it is very heat sensitive so be gentle with the heat.

ahh, very helpful. I didn't consider the pattern, good tip to on the heat too. Thanks

[alefustec]

good luck your gonna have an eventful yet frustrating bank holiday, i think the matt black will offset the window surrounds nice.

Thanks, I hope its not too bad...........but keeps me out the house and avoiding DIY stuff my wife finds me to do. Im going to do carbon on the window surrounds (trial area at least) and see what that looks like, I'm thinking it may be all a bit too much, in which case I'll go with the matt black instead. Have seen the carbon effect on the window surrounds on a couple of black beemers and it looked quite good IMO.

[jaysrs4]

Another one here for not doing the wrapping i'm afraid. Di-Noc looks cheap, not as bad as hydro dipping, but bad none the less.

In my humble opinion an RS4 deserves real carbon, but subtly though and even real carbon all that you're planning to cover would look too much.

It's a bitch to do too. I wrapped the grill surround on my old R32 and it was a complete pain in the arse. One thing to also think about is the weave, if your weave is running in different directions and all over the place on different parts it looks proper pony and like a child has done it. If you stretch it to go around moulded radiuses and concave areas, the pattern distorts and that also looks meh.



Then I did it properly - real carbon has that brown and grey pearl effect under changing light and the weave is three dimensional under the resin, no other material can imitate that finish. If you look my badge here is wrong, the weave is in the opposite direction to everything else - it did my head in.

[alefustec]

I agree with the real carbon being best option, but it's not exactly cheap. I think I'll try the vinyl then where I think it really works and I'm happy with it get it done properly.

Your right too about adding subtle carbon additions, I think I may be going too far, but the point is if I don't like it I can just pull it off. Bit trial and error really.

Thanks for the advice on direction of weave, I wouldn't have thought about that until afterwards.