I have included some pictures with a little how-to, but hopefully this will make sense. I am planning to cover the interior wood trim over with some semi-gloss black vinyl I have laying around as the wood-trim really isn't me
I have only gone for the black as its what I have to hand but you can get vinyl in virtually any colour these days including some very realistic looking carbon fibre and kevlar effects and if I get some carbon I might just peel this all off and do that.This is my first go on tricky little bits of interior plastic and apart from the odd 'finger' here and there I'm actually pretty happy with the result and after years of stripping, priming, painting and lacquering interior plastics I wish I had done this sooner!! The vinyl isn't massively expensive and once you get the hang of it and how much you can heat/stretch it before it goes brittle it's pretty easy too, but I would recommend getting more than you need so you can practice.
Well lets get started.
The vinyl I'm using is a 5 year cast vinyl from Avery its pretty awesome stuff which is normally used for wrapping cars/planes/vans pretty much whatever you wanted to but you don't have to use anything near this kind of quality it's just what I've got knocking about. It is pretty strong though and I know I can give a load of abuse before it'll break!
Here are the trim pieces from the rear passenger doors, I'm gonna do these tonight as they are pretty easy, no strange curves or tough shapes and it was all i wanted to strip off the car!
I also have my trusty heat-gun, some anti-bac wipes, a microfibre cloth and a scalpel blade taped to the end of a pencil (it's pikey but its the most natural way I have found of holding one but that's personal preference) Though I wouldn't recommend a stanley blade as you need some thing with a thin blade and has a bit of 'feel' to it.
First thing to do is roughly cut the vinyl to the trim, it's better to have more and trim bits off than go too small and not have enough to stretch and pull about so I'd always go massively over what you need.
Give the trim a really good clean, the more you clean off now the less likely you are to get dirt or crud trapped until the vinyl that can bobble and you will be giving the vinyl glue something to grab to. I have avoided anything that's going to leave a residue as well as this can react with the glue. Normally, I would of done this with some kind of white spirit or rubbing alcohol but seeing as it's only interior trim and I might be pulling it off at some point and anti-bac wipe is perfect.
Here you can see I've started to stick the vinyl on. It's easier to peel the backing off as you are putting it down. I use either the palm of my hand or the micro-fibre cloth to push it down flat as I pull it back. Try not to let it wrap around the edge at this stage, as all you want to do is get it down flat without too many bubbles!
If you get a snag like this the vinyl is pretty tough so don't be afraid to pull it back and and put it back down with a good stretch.
Now flip it over and you can see how the vinyl will natural fall around the edges.
Now comes the fun bit! The ends! this is the tricky bit, I warmed it with the heat gun til it just goes soft then pulled it tight, trying to push any 'fingers' out as it goes down. You can only do this a couple of times though as it will become brittle and snap so when it starts going down right trust the stretch and don't stop half way. It can be pretty hard and will take a bit of practice but when it goes down perfect its a great feeling.
As it starts to go over.
Once you've pulled it tight and gathered it in the back, this can look as messy as you like as it's gonna get cut off!
Now you can start coming down the sides. This bit isn't too hard but the trick is to keep it tight and work it down from the front, don't be tempted just to run your finger down the edge as it can fold up and catch and you won't get a good finish.
Keep it nice and tight especially around the lugs.
Now its just trimming of the excess. I found the easiest way is to run the scalpel blade down the inside of the trim to give it a nice clean line but to be honest it's gonna be covered up when it goes back on the car so it doesn't really matter. Just make sure you get the excess of as it will get in the way when you re-fit them to the car.
And voila
New compared to old.
I'll get some pics of them on the doors tomorrow when I get chance to refit them but I ran out of daylight tonight.
Hope that all makes sense and I haven't bored anyone too much. It's my first how to so any cc's would be great!
