Considering a vinyl wrap on my 1975 914 Cali car with original badly faded Palma Green.
I have not seen much chatter here with regards to wraps?

I think it’s a great idea. Modern materials go down a lot better than the old vinyl. Micro perforated vinyl allows you a lot of leeway to reposition and eliminate air bubbles. Cost isn’t much per yard of material. There are lots of diy videos on YouTube. Having a pro so it can cost a couple grand but at least it’s an instant transformation.

Yeah, the stuff's come a long way. We use it a lot on race cars.

A tip, though: it's harder than it looks to get it right. So unless you're looking to experiment and learn then it's better to just pay a pro to do it.

But done right...man, in most cases it's indistinguishable from a good paint job until you get right up on it.

That might be the cure to my car. I have some slight cracking and stuff from the 40 year old fiberglass bonding. I bet vinyl would allow a little movement without cracks.

Well, another tip: vinyl will not hide physical flaws. Cracks, uneven surfaces, edges will all actually be highlighted with vinyl.

But with vinyl you can DA the surface to knock it flat and not worry about paint quality underneath.

But you can do awesome things with a wrap. I highly recommend investing in learning how to do it yourself. The body lines of a 914 are super simple and even with the investment in tools, you will still save money.

A guy local to me has a vinyl wrap business.
He did his 914.

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I have not seen it in person. But it looks nice in the pictures

I think he can print any kind of design.

Exactly, MOST ANY flaws will telegraph through the vinyl. Thanks for the replies, also has anyone had good/bad luck with any of the several manufacturers?

I have applied window film a few times in the past and assume it's a similar process

I've only ever used 3M 1080 series. The new 2080 series has a protective install film that means you don't have to worry about scuffs during install anymore. It's also supposed to be more friendly to repositioning, which is the main complaint about 3M.

Avery is the most popular for installers. It's thinner and easier (faster) to work with. But I think 3M has the closest to a paint like finish.

regarding install. PPF is a wet application like window tint. But color change wraps are installed dry. The films are also designed to stretch with memory so that when you heat it, it will return to original size. This is where the art of installing a wrap comes in. You learn how to read the curve and where the vinyl will need to stretch and shrink and how to get there.
When I decided to learn, I bought a few yards of the cheapest material from the same mfg I intended to buy from and practiced wrapping a bunch of places on my car until I got the hang of it. Then I went for it on the actual install, but started with the easy things like the hood and roof just to build up my confidence.

My plan exactly. I found some Ebay wrap, hope it's not a mistake and have about 2X what I need. And yes, the hood, trunk and work into the more difficult areas. Total investment for 4' x 50' is 250.oo

I can tell you with 100% confidence that will be some very low quality wrap (crap). And not only will it not look like the name brand stuff (3M, Avery) it won't have the same working characteristics.

But, at $250, you're actually still in the cheap practice material realm. So, I encourage you to learn the fundamentals on that, and then spend the coin on some quality material for the final job. You will be so glad you did.

PS - I set up an account with the nations largest wrap wholesaler Fellers.com for sourcing material and tools. They have warehouses you can pick up from all over the US if you want to save shipping cost too.

Thank you for bringing this idea up, I have been wanting my paint re-done for some time as the hood and top of the fenders have lots of small issues with flaking and chips. Was quoted 10k-20k depending on how much prep from a local shop (granted they are a high end shop that puts out good work) but that is not anywhere near the budget right now.

I will have to look into this some more, vinyl had not even crossed my mind.

If wrap is anything like installing clear PPF, it's the one DIY project that defeated me. It's actually pretty easy for most of a 914 but when it came to the front fenders, I never could figure out how to apply it around the sharp compound curves of the front turn signals. At around $100 per failed attempt, I gave up and decided there actually are some things best left to professionals. Maybe I should have practiced with cheap wrap first.

I am currently thinking about a partial or full wrap/livery as my car was painted 10 years ago and looks pretty good from the proverbial 10 (or 20) feet away but it has some track and freeway battle damage I'd like to fix or 'hide'.

I'd prefer to repair and respray just the worst spots but am skeptical that would match well enough and a full repaint is nowhere on my list/budget at this point. Don't have a new livery or wrap design in mind yet but I may talk to some folks shortly re some ideas and approximate costs.

Doubtful I would try to wrap the car myself as it seems very labor intensive and unforgiving and if I messed it up I know it would bug the crap out of me. Just doing race numbers and decals cleanly can be challenging. Although a local friend has done a couple of 997s successfully DIY which look great and he may be up for helping a bit...

I printed/wrapped my 914. Still have to tackle the GT flares

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The front and rear trunk lids were super easy.
The doors, only slightly more difficult.
The quarters are going to be a challenge. I have the vinyl, just haven't taken the time to install. I did a test wrap in white on the front driver side and ended up with only a few wrinkles. Been watching YT videos and think I have it figured out now

wrapping a flared 914 is a fun challenge.

I did mine in satin chrome red, vivvid vinyl, and I'll never buy any wrap from them again.

like others mentioned, go with the 3m 2080 or the avery vinyl. the quality is worth the extra $$.

Thanks all for the replies, it's sounding like "stay away from cheap", you get what you pay for holds true again. Problem is 3M or Avery has very little available product, I have a roll of Chinese wrap on the way, at minimum it hopefully will be good practice material.

Look up “the wrap institute” on youtube. Lots of good tips.

Regarding available product, I don’t think that’s true man. After I read your post I logged into Fellers.com and checked what they showed in stock for 3M and it seems they have everything. Avery seems to be an issue depending on what you’re looking for, but they still had a lot of product.

Not sure where the disconnect might be, but I spoke with 3M directly, Avery North East distributor and Fellers. No luck

do you have a 3M color you're looking for? I'd be glad to log on and look if they have it in stock online and how much it is.

I do my own decal installs but have a young lady do all my wrapping.
She just dechromed (wrapped) my trim last weekend.

Oscar

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@bbrock Brent, you've been hacked! Some dude is posing as you and is stating "I gave up and decided there actually are some things best left to professionals." See above.

It's true, I found my limits. I need to add a "post of shame" on my build thread, but life has been busy. Needs to get done though

It seems everyone has pretty much summed up the pros and cons wrap with their comments. I would just repeat that any flaws in the prep surface will show through amazingly well with wrap. But I like good quality wrap as an alternative when you want a color change without the full commitment of paint, or for a somewhat budget solution if you can do it yourself. I'll leave you with these two cars, one in paint and one in wrap...the photos are being kind to both!

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Thanks in advance, try for M206 green metallic matte finish

I see your struggle now. Satin greens must be the color of the season or something. The only green they have in stock is G16 Gloss Light Green.

Your Satin Pine Green Metallic, and even the Matte Military Green are all out of stock.

Thank you for checking, I was finding the same thing. I do have a Chinese product on the way for practice and who knows if I like it and can get the hang of the install I just may keep it. I never keep it parked outdoors over night and never drive her in the rain.

Durability will be different as a lot of research goes into the adhesive. But what you really notice is the quality of the finish once it’s installed. That’s the part you’ll have to asses once you get it on the car.