Saturday, December 3, 2011

Coupon Code - 25% off

Between now and 11/31/2011, use coupon code VINYL1111 and we'll give you 25% off of the delivery of your order. You must have a vinyl graphics kit (FPZ P/N 9264500 through 9264900) in your order to be eligable.

How to Install Vinyl Stipes

In addition to showing off the new stripes, we at Fast Partz (FPZ) want to illustrate the  installation process used to install them. We used this same installation process for the stripes on the spoiler and hood and they came out perfect. For this write-up, we are using FPZ P/N 9264692.

Here are the items that you will need for the install:

Vinyl Graphic (FPZ P/N 9264500 through 9264900)
Clay bar kit (FPZ P/N 9564128)
3M blue painters tape (FPZ P/N 9456234)
Spray bottle (FPZ P/N 9564123)
Razor blade (FPZ P/N 9678240) or box cutter (FPZ P/N 9678241)
Rubber Squeegy (FPZ P/N 9781423). 
Distilled water
Dishwashing gel

Install Time: 6-8 hours

First, prep the car by clay-barring (FPZ P/N 9564128) the area that the vinyl is to be placed on. If you're not sure how to clay bar a vehicle, check out the Fast Partz blog on auto detailing. Next, clean the area with alcohol. This might be overkill, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

There are two sides to the stripes. The sticky side has the 3M backing, and the non-sticky side that has a heavy-duty paper. The cool thing about these is that the manufacturer allows you to get have any script added to them at no charge. So I went ahead and got this Camaro's build number to go one step further in making the SS a bit more unique.

The outline of the decal disappears on the car when the paper backing is wet, so take a sharpie and trace the outline of the vinyl graphic on the paper side. You'll be able to see it in a later picture. Make sure to use a sharpie, because a regular pen will just smear when you apply the water.

Next, lay out all three peices (rear fender, door, front fender) on one side of the car and position them to make sure that you like where they will be placed. Use 3M blue painters tape (FPZ P/N 9456234). The cheap stuff doesn't hold up very well.

Notice the outline?




Place tape along the top and bottom of the graphic all along the car. Then place hash marks with a sharpie (half on the tape and half on the graphic backing paper) so that you can line it up once the sticky side is exposed.





Remove the graphic and the tape holding it on so that the only thing left on the car is the tape with the hash marks.





Take the graphic and placed a light underneath it with the sticky side up so that the vinyl would be easier to see. This step will be much easier if you have a glass table to use.


Cut off a small width of a strip off of the top of the graphic (sticky side) with a razor (FPZ P/N 9678240 or 9678241), making sure only to cut the 3M backing layer.

Here's a close up of the cut.

Slowly peeled off the strip you just cut.



Take the graphic back to the car and lined it up with the hash marks. The strip that was removed exposed the sticky side of the paper that will now allow you to stick it to the car and line it up with the hash marks easier.



Line up the graphic with the hash marks, and peel off the 3M backing. Spray both the car and vinyl with the soapy solution. For the soapy solution, use a spray bottle (FPZ P/N 9564123) full of distilled water with a drop, (maybe two) of dishwashing liquid. Make sure to use warm water to warm up the vinyl and keep it plyable. See how the graphic is starting to disappear? That's where the sharpie outline comes in handy. Now you know exactly where the vinyl is.



Squeeze out all the water with a squeegy. A hard plastic squeegy such as a bondo or spackle applicator would be too abrasive, especially since you'll be rubbing it on a car. You must use a rubber one (FPZ P/N 9781423). The best method is to squeegy at an angle. From the middle then out at a 45deg angle, not straight up and down. Bend the excess in the door jam over.


When you have all of the water out, spray the paper surface of the graphic to act as a lubricant and go over it a few more times. This also helped the paper separate from the vinyl a bit easier.


When you can feel that it is dry enough, peel the paper off slowly. This is the result. No bubbles.
Use the same strategy on the door and front fender. Follow these instructions on the other side of the vehicle.



Some pics of the finished product...



You can also see the flat black hood scoop in this pic. I love how subtle everything is. Almost ghosted.






Overall, installation took a total of about 8 hours to install these stripes, but that's only because we here at Fast Partz like to take our time and make sure everything is perfect. It's definately not very hard, but I guess that's all relative. So what do you guys think? Post up your comments and you could be one of the lucky people we pick out to give a 25% coupon code to.