Disco re-fresh. Matte wrap, paint, stuff

[seanmcd]

I have had this '04 for about 4 years, bought it for daughter #3 and she learned to drive on it, drove it all thru High School, crashed it a bunch of times, I fixed it a bunch of times, and now she is going off to college with a new car.

I just did the head gasket a few months ago along with a new radiator, water pump, and the usual plugs wires etc. I figured since I have a pretty good running motor we would recycle it the daughter #4 to learn to drive on and hope it gets her through High School. Anyway I wanted to freshen it up a little and decided to give wrapping it a try instead of paint.

So I put it in the garage a week ago and started taking it apart, stripped everything off and went to work. I went with a 3M wrap in Matte Charcoal Metallic, spent $450 for the wrap which is way cheaper than a paint job.

I also painted the wheels, fender flares, replaced some of the trim and wrapped some in satin black, I think it looks pretty good for not alot of money.

Still waiting on the headliner material then I will replace it and put the interior back together. Will post more pics when that is finished.

One note, wrapping in vinyl was much harder than I had anticipated. I work in racing so we have everything wrapped all the time and it always looks pretty easy, it however is not. I am sure after a few cars you get the hang of it but for a first timer I really struggled, kudos to you who do this every day.

Here are the pics.

 

[seanmcd]

A few more pics.

 

[seanmcd]

And finally.

 

[AfiRover]

nice no roof rails ?

 

[seanmcd]

nice no roof rails ?

I am still deciding whether to wrap the roof in satin black or paint it, either way I had to remove the rails. I haven't decided which way to go yet so they sit on my garage floor. I am partly worried that if I try t wrap it I will ruin a bunch of vinyl, the vinyl only comes in 60 inch wide rolls and the roof is about 70 inches if I recall, which means I will need to stretch the vinyl over and down both sides, I am not sure I can do that, so it looks like a satin black paint is in the future.

 

[mgreenspan]

Nice work on the wrap. I don't like matte finishes on vehicles, though.

 

[CORover]

Nice work. And I do really like the matte finish. I have seen a few high end cars wrapped like this and they look sharp and stand out. Sometimes you don't realize why for a minute and then you realize it is not shining and not much reflection, then you figure it out. How would the vinyl stand up to trail abuse I wonder? Small scratches would buff out on my paint, but not on vinyl I am guessing. Makes yours look new though.

 

[seanmcd]

Nice work. And I do really like the matte finish. I have seen a few high end cars wrapped like this and they look sharp and stand out. Sometimes you don't realize why for a minute and then you realize it is not shining and not much reflection, then you figure it out. How would the vinyl stand up to trail abuse I wonder? Small scratches would buff out on my paint, but not on vinyl I am guessing. Makes yours look new though.

In my experience Vinyl shows scratches similar to paint but can not be buffed out like paint. I guess the pro is that if you destroy a panel it is pretty easy to just replace that piece of vinyl for less than $100 so....

 

[the deputy]

Why bother with the roof, looks fine in the pictures...or...put a 2" lift in it and 3/4 of the population won't be able to see the roof anyway.

Brian.

 

[seanmcd]

Why bother with the roof, looks fine in the pictures...or...put a 2" lift in it and 3/4 of the population won't be able to see the roof anyway.

Brian.

Because. OCD.

I wish I could ignore it, my life would be so much easier lol. When daughter #4 is done with it in about 3 years I will confiscate it for good and may put a lift on it, but for a 16 year old driver aint no way I am going there yet.

What's great is that I bought it 4 years ago with 82K miles on it and even today it only has 90K, so in another 3 years it will still be right around 100k with a recent head gasket, still lots of life left.

 

[4Runner]

That looks like you did a great job. Been thinking about wrapping my LWB myself. Would you do it again?Any advice? I just can’t justify dumping 3 to 6k for paint on a rig that is built to scratch paint. On the other hand, I hate riding in something that looks like a pile.

 

[Rob371]

You can just put a seam in the wrap on roof. 3/8 to 1/2 inch overlap. Won't be noticeable from ten feet away. Start at rear so the seam overlap isn't lifted by wind. Looks like you wrapped up the sides of roof in the pics. If that's the case nobody will ever know but you and maybe the birds. I wouldn't try stretching it the extra ten inches. The adhesive will become very thin for one, and the film does have a memory so it can shrink and lift from over stretching.

On the other hand, that's not a lot of area to paint either.

As for the scratches, minor scratches can be removed with heat gun or steamer, or even a propane torch (carefully). Some scratches will disappear on a hot day baking in the sun.

Nice job on the wrap.

 

[Rob371]

I see now. Looks like original color is very close to wrap color. You could wrap the sides of roof then seam it on top. Use some wrap cutting tape for a nice clean edge.

 

[Shiftonthefly1]

Great work. Looks awesome. I've thought about this too. I never considered doing it myself. Didn't think it was possible with out knowing what your doing. Awesome that you just dived in. Looks great!

 

[seanmcd]

You can just put a seam in the wrap on roof. 3/8 to 1/2 inch overlap. Won't be noticeable from ten feet away. Start at rear so the seam overlap isn't lifted by wind. Looks like you wrapped up the sides of roof in the pics. If that's the case nobody will ever know but you and maybe the birds. I wouldn't try stretching it the extra ten inches. The adhesive will become very thin for one, and the film does have a memory so it can shrink and lift from over stretching.

On the other hand, that's not a lot of area to paint either.

As for the scratches, minor scratches can be removed with heat gun or steamer, or even a propane torch (carefully). Some scratches will disappear on a hot day baking in the sun.

Nice job on the wrap.

I have considered doing this, I am still a little sketchy on how well a seem would hold up on the roof like that. I am heading to Daytona for the Rolex 24 Hour and will ask our paint guys what they think, they also do out wraps and such.

Great work. Looks awesome. I've thought about this too. I never considered doing it myself. Didn't think it was possible with out knowing what your doing. Awesome that you just dived in. Looks great!

Thanks I appreciate that. I wouldn't say I dove right in, I did quite a but of research before I started but end of the day I guess you have to just cut a piece of vinyl and start right. Every panel was better than the one before it and even thought I wasted a bit of material with mistakes I still have extra left over so I can't complain really.

 

[seanmcd]

That looks like you did a great job. Been thinking about wrapping my LWB myself. Would you do it again?Any advice? I just can?t justify dumping 3 to 6k for paint on a rig that is built to scratch paint. On the other hand, I hate riding in something that looks like a pile.

Great question. Yes I would do another wrap again, in a way it was kind of fun but damn it is ALOT of work! I have mad respect for the guys who do this for a living, it's really an art.

My advice would be to do lots of research, if possible try to help someone with experience do a full wrap and ask questions, the devil really is in the details, it is alot like painting in that respect. Also the more prep work you do the better the end result will be.

In the future I am going to try to get with an experienced person and watch them closely and ask questions so I will have a better idea next time.

One major piece of advice is to make sure you buy MORE wrap than you need, especially for your first time. I had my hood 90% done and was just pulling the last few wrinkles out and the edge curled under and stuck to itself, when I tried to nonstick it it tore! I swore for 10 minutes, had to trash the whole piece and start over, so buy extra vinyl, you will thank me.

 

[4Runner]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. If I go that route then I will buy extra a lot of extra material.

 

[Blue]

That actually looks pretty damn good. Looks like a new truck. Your daughters are lucky gals.

 

[Rob371]

I have considered doing this, I am still a little sketchy on how well a seem would hold up on the roof like that. I am heading to Daytona for the Rolex 24 Hour and will ask our paint guys what they think, they also do out wraps and such.

There's liquid seam sealer and also a clear 1/2 inch seam sealing vinyl tape. Also 3M primer 94 can be applied at trailing and leading edges prior to install. You wouldn't really need any of these on a roof but it's an option.

I've only done a handful of cars, vans,... but have done several boats. The films and seams hold up even when submerged if treated properly.

The drawback on the roof is the films are typically rated for five years on vertical surfaces and not really rated for horizontal surfaces. They might say 2 to 3 years on horizontal. Kind of a crap shoot depending on climate and exposure. If there weren't roof bars then it's no big deal to swap out in a few years but that's not the case here.

 

[SGaynor]

nice no roof rails ?

Ditch the roof rails. The look out of place and are like a strap-on on Caitlyn J.

You can buy rubber plugs that fit the holes perfectly.

Because. OCD.

I wish I could ignore it, my life would be so much easier lol. When daughter #4 is done with it in about 3 years I will confiscate it for good and may put a lift on it, but for a 16 year old driver aint no way I am going there yet.

Go for the lift. My daughter claimed my Disco when she turned 16 - 2" OME lift and all. She's had it the last 4.5 years and won't give it back to me.