Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior need help putting vinyl on my interior...

ok I want to put vinyl on my "center console, little cubby, ashtray area" ...does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?? I just bought a 2x6 sheet of purple vinyl and I already have a pattern that I am gonna use to cut out the needed shapes...but I dont know anything about application... if anyone has any suggestions, ideas, or hints...Please let me know...THANX

Ken should be able to help you.

ken? who is that?

karrion28

Yeah he did his in Blue Vinyl

Wow id like to see how this is done as well... make sure you post some pics if you do it

Sara,

What you need to do is cut a chunk of vinyl about 1" larger than the ashtray door (door is off, right). Spray the door with a little soapy water (so you can slide it around), lay the vinyl on top. Then working from the center out smooth with a soft cloth while heating with a hair drier. You should at this point have a smooth center with flaps of vinyl hanging off the edges. To smooth the edges heat the vinyl with the hair drier and pull the vinyl over the edges, sticking the extra to the back. This is a lot like skinning a drum, just keep working it all the way around. Heat, stretch, heat, stretch. Keep doing this until the edges have no lines. When your happy with it let it cool then trim the extra off the back with an exacto knife, leaving a small over lap to keep the edges looking smooth. If you have any questions let me know. I did my whole interior using this method.


BTW, if the door is not off let me know I will tell you how to get it off. Oh, one more thing be careful not to heat the vinyl to much, it can melt.

So it wont stick when it's hot?

no, no, it does stick, heat sets the glue. But the heat helps you stretch it, when its cold you can't stretch, it won't move an inch. Also with out heat you can't get it to mold to a curved surface. When done right vynil will look better than paint. My dash looks like black chrome.

It sounds like Sara may be using a dash kit pattern to do hers, which is fine. That makes things really easy but a full wrap it really something to see.

Could you post pics of your dash???

I want to so bad, but I don't have any. My art director said I could use her digi cam but she keeps forgetting to bring it in. I'm going to end up doing it the hard way, take pics and scan them. Sorry I really want to show you guys, we all gotta wait I guess.

Sorry to keep askin ques but...how do cover peices w/ holes in them? I mean you can't cut it perfectly around them???

Its not a problem, its why where all here, right. Holes are easy! Wrap it like the holes are not there then you just heat up the hole your going to cut out and push down into the hole with your thumb. Then just trim out the hole with a knife using the inner edge of the plastic to guide you. You can even cut a little out from the edge and fold the extra over on to the back. That works for the AC knob holes but for the cig lighter hole the first method is all you can do. Heat is the key, heat well let you mold the vinyl any way you want.

Thanks man That sounds like a project that would be well worth it Where can you buy vinyl in large sheets?

There is the tricky part (sort of), I get it from a local sign shop and from Andy (bluebatmobile). I don't know of any auto stores (autozone, pepboys, and such) that have it. Pro import shops may but it will cost out the ass. Sign shops will sell it to you for only a few bucks a sq foot. This will not be cheaper than painting, chances are you will pay as much a sq foot for vinyl as you do a can of paint. Stock colors (black, white, blue, yellow, red) will be very cheap. Odd colors (chrome, gold, steel, silver, metallics, carbon fiber, multi shade) will cost a bit more. I can't give you an exact price because every shop is different. I got my silver from Andy (want some parts to match my AC kit) and his prices are right around what they should be. If you can't find a good sign shop Andy might be able to help you. Or google, might be able to get it on line, I have never looked on the net.

Thanks

Found a site:

http://www.imagesignsupplies.com/averyvinylfilms1/


My black is avery 7 year, great stuff. Do not buy less than 5 year film. This site will help you understand what you are getting but I might not buy from them. There prices are for whole rolls, you don't need that much. A sheet 36"x10' did my airbag covers, center dash, a pillars, fuse covers, gauge frame, and so on.

Just checked out the site more, don't buy there. You don't need $117 roll of film. Use the site to see whats out there, then find a shop to sell you a few feet.

This might be a good price

http://www.edecals.com/Merchant2/merchan...uct_Code=SUP102 [edecals.com]

Not bad at all, there charging $6 per linear foot. That works out to $3 a sq foot.


If you want to know the square foot price multiply the length by the width then divide by 144.

I should also point out that if you guys want to do it one area at a time, just messure the part you want to wrap then add a inch or two to each side. That will save you some cash.

Well, i know i can buy a small sheet at Michaels, so I'm going to try it this weekend and if it turns out good, I'll order some off the internet or somethin

Ok
1. THANK YOU!
2. I have no idea hoe to take the ashtray door off...
3. I would definitly like to know ahead of time how to take the vinyl off..just incase...
4. I have a 2x6 sheet vinyl that has not been cut yet..I did get a pattern of all the dash parts just incase I was oing to use it..wasnt sure if the pattern would make it easier-but nothing has been cut yet...
5. about how long did this take you? so I can plan my day!
6. UFCELI: I bought my Purple vinyl off E-bay... it came as a sheet only $17 plus shipping...
7. THANK YOU AGAIN for your help

1. Lets get that door off. When you remove that part of the dash (you will have to take all parts out of the car to do this, except air bag covers) flip it over, pull off the spring with a pair of needle nose pliers. Go slow you don't want to lose that, the last thing you need is that little thing to go sailing across the room. With that done go after the pins on each side of the door. Use a small nail or screw driver and a hammer to slowly tap out the metal pins the hold the door on. Do this from the outside in. Now you can pull off the door. Do not lose those pins or the spring, you know how toyota is about parts.


2. To take the vinyl off, just warm it with a hair drier and peel. WARNING, this can fuck up the fake metal finish on the stock center dash. It is removable but not harmless to the fake finish on the center plastics. It may or man not happen.


3. This being your first time (that didn't sound right) I would use the pattern. It will help you learn how to use the vinyl without being as hard as a full wrap. The soapy water will be very important, you will need to be able to push the vinyl into the exact place you want it. The soapy water will keep it from sticking while you get it into place. My brother and I used a pattern in his eclipse to test the red color he wanted, looked fantastic!

4. I did a full wrap, took 2 days. The pattern will take about 20min to cut (per part, go slow) and give yourself an hour or two to install the center vinyl, less for the small parts.


PS. AIR BUBBLES: they will happen! To avoid them use a soft cloth to slowly push out the soapy water, working from the center out to the edges. Air bubbles will still happen, to get them out put a hole or two in the bubble with a SMALL pin. Then heat the area with the hair drier and smooth with a cloth or q-tip (q-tips work great for smoothing while the heat is on, no burnt fingers).

Also TOOLS you need: soft cloth, hair drier or heat gun, spray bottle with two drops of dish soap to a full bottle of water, tweezers, x-acto knife with lots of sharp blades, q-tips.

I think it is too much work IMO...i would never be able to do that...
good luck and just take your time

I know it sounds like a lot but its really not. If you do it right it look fantastic, better than any DIY paint I have seen.

it will look smoother...
that's why i have a Carbon Fiber dash kit...awesome.

sara this is gonna be one heck of a project but we'll try to attack it and see how it comes out

Whoa, sorry I missed this thread.

Gen7fan pretty much covered everything

BTW- Its very very easy. When I did mine I had no experience with vinyl whatsoever and it turned out great.

https://celicahobby.com/gal3/uploads/blue_dash1

https://celicahobby.com/gal3/uploads/blue_dash2

https://celicahobby.com/gal3/uploads/blue_dash3

Thank you very much you guys!!!! I plan on making a video of the installation- so if anyone else needs it later on... I am just not sure when I am actually gonna do this "project"... But again...THANK YOU!!!

good luck, definitely post up the video when you're done so I can do it, too