Once in a while, an installer will come across with a composite vehicle that needs wrapping with vinyl wrap film. This is always a challenge because those kinds of cars usually have thick edges between different parts, which will take a longer time if you want to wrap it perfectly with full coverage.
Just for an example, you have to wrap around a front door of a composite vehicle, which has a really thick edge that is around 1.5 centimeters…
This means the vinyl wrap film will not be enough to fully cover up the side even though you cut on the fender side. People will be able to spot the different colors very easily if the base color of the car is a bright one if this happens.
Or you can pick the material back up, and try to jam it into the gap and make a cut. However, with the depth of this gap, it is very risky, as you might end up making a bad cut.
You might be thinking about taking the door off in order to wrap more cleanly with the vinyl wrap film. This is apparently a solution, but it will really cost you a lot of time.
Here is a technique that will save you some time – although it is still time-consuming, it is a much quicker way. What you will need for this method are Tri-Line, Design Line, a soft and flexible tucking tool, and a roll of a pre-cut piece of material, where the width is enough to bridge over the gap.
Before doing anything, it is important to clean the surface thoroughly. You can use a microfiber towel as well as the soft flexible tucking tool to degrease the area inside and outside of the gap, making sure it is absolutely clean.
Next, place your Tri-Line (Choose a nine-millimeter one) on the fender side of the gap. It is critical to place the edge of the green tape on the edge of the fender. Round it along the edge of the gap. Be sure that the Tri-Line is placed flat along the way, and straight right to the bottom, where you can cut off the excess with a knife.
Release the outside string a little bit, and set it aside for later use. Then you can go back to the top, where the Tri-Line starts, and make a flush cut.
Once the Tri-Line is properly set, you can now apply the Design Line to the other side of the gap, where the string must be right on the bodyline, which has to be exactly accurate. Thus, this will take you some time. Just make sure you are cautious enough on this step.
As soon as you finish setting the Design Line from top to bottom, again, you can release the string a little bit from the bottom, and set it aside for later use.
By now, you can bring up the pre-cut roll. Bridge the material over the gap. The critical thing is that you should put just enough material on the outside string of the Tri-Line, and just enough to cover up the Design Line as well.
Bridge the material over the gap all the way from top to bottom, and cut it clean – Make sure the material does not cover up your pre-release of the Tri-Line and Design Line though.
When the overlaying piece is all settled and secured, you can apply a bit of heat to relax the material, and pull the outside string of the Tri Line out all the way from bottom to top, then the excess film of that line as well (Be sure to keep the green tape underneath the overlay still).
Now you can pick the overlaying piece back up from the fender side with the small flexible tucking tool – this will prevent you from picking with your bare hands and leaving dirt or oil onto the adhesive. The amount of film you pick up is the amount of extra material you have to wrap around the deep gap, which is way more than enough now.
Once you pick it up, you can use the bigger side of the tucking tool to feed the material into the gap. Apply a little bit of heat when it needs in order to relax the material. The trick for this part is to handle the curved section first, and deal with the flat part last.
When you finish feeding and forming the material, seal it with the tucking tool. Now you are free to remove both the Tri-Line and the Design Line, as well as the excess overlaying film for last.
Last but not least, seal the edges that are cut by the Lines as well. Now you will have a perfect full coverage.
This technique requires a lot of caution and time, but certainly less time than what you will normally take. The best thing about this method is that it is knife-free, so it is less risky as well.
Hopefully, this has given you some inspiration in terms of composite vehicle wrapping.
