Color Change Wraps

When you wrap instead of paint, every inch needs to be covered.

Article Author:

Dustin Shelley

Publication Name:

Sign & Digital Graphics

Publication Date:

02/01/2010

A growing segment of the ever popular vehicle wrap industry is color change wraps. I’m sure we have all seen or had customers inquire about changing the color of their vehicle, as opposed to wrapping it with graphics. There are a few things that I think are important to understand about this process before jumping in head first. I will discuss each of these in detail.


Wrapping a vehicle with a solid colored vinylⁱ is a growing segment of the wraps industry. Here you canⁱ see a before and after shot which demonstrates the dramatic change.

EDUCATION

The first order of business is educating the customer. Many customers that request these types of wraps have little or no experience with wraps. Often their perception of vehicle wraps is paint replacement. This notion can be challenging to overcome, and later I will discuss some installation tips and techniques that will help. But before that we must explain to a customer what a wrap is and its limitations.

It’s always better to give customers something better than they expected. But they need to understand that vinyl is not paint. You will take every step possible to cover all visible surfaces with vinyl, but there are places that could potentially show the original color, i.e. doorjambs, as well as trunk and hood openings. Seams are another area that can potentially turn off a customer.

Customers don’t like to see seams, but with limitations make it impossible to eliminate seams on complex surfaces like mirrors.

It would be great to be able to wrap complex surfaces like mirrors and bumpers with one piece, but limitations in material make it difficult or impossible. Show a customer what a seam looks like and point out the areas where seams are likely to occur. Remember that it’s always better to make a seam than to stretch the vinyl past its limitations and have it come back a month later because of a failure.

Now that we have discussed the problem areas we can discuss the advantages. Wraps should be looked at as a form of paint protection. If you have a customer with an exotic sports car that he wants to wants to stand out from the crowd, he can do that and protect his $20K-plus paintjob at the same time. A color change wrap is also great for leased vehicles. When the lease is up the client can simply call a professional (which is you) to remove the vinyl, and then they can turn the vehicle in without any paint damage. That is a win-win for both the leaser and lessee.

MATERIALS
There are a lot of options for materials when tackling these type of jobs. A couple of questions with help you narrow down the right material for the job. First, do they want a solid color or a design? If they want a design you know you will have to print or purchase preprinted materials. If they only want a color change wrap then you can buy pigmented vinyl. Next is laminateⁱ. Do they want a glossy paint look or something different like a matte finish? Also the type of vehicle can mean a lot also. If the vehicle has a hood that is 58” wide and the maximum with of the pigmented vinyl is 48” you might have to print the wrap anyway. The only seams I want are caused by limitations of the vinyl’s stretch densityⁱ, not its size.

INSTALLATION

Installation is very most important aspect of any wrap, but with color change wraps I think it is the most important. Now that you have educated the customer and decided on a material you can get started on installation. First, study the vehicle and come up with an attack strategy. Assess any problem areas and work on a resolutionⁱ.

Most common problem areas are door handles, lights, mirrors, spoilers, gaskets, and bumpers. My theory is if it comes off within reason and without damage, take it off. Time spent fiddling with plastic clips, losing screws; losing tools and pulling hair are well worth it in the end.

I remove the door handles and wrap them off of the vehicle. That way I can cover the whole surface to get a nice painted, finished look.

When setting up panels I like to have an individual panel for each panel of the vehicle. This might seem like a lot of wasted material but it guarantees that there is enough material to wrap around and behind all panels. This is especially important when changing to a contrasting color.

I also wrap accessories like spoilers and door handles after they have been removed from the vehicle. Once every inch of paint is covered, then it is time for reassembly. Take every precaution not to scratch the wrap during reassembly. Most all body shops detail the vehicle after paint or body work. Spend the extra time to clean the vehicle and make sure it is show quality before it leaves the shop. Like I said it is always better to give them better than they expected.

When you’re finished, take the extra time to clean and detail the vehicle to make sure it is show quality before it leaves the shop. It’s always better to give a little more than they expected.

Comments

by Arun | Fri, 07/02/2010 - 4:57pm

I like to be supportive of

I like to be supportive of industry innovation, but as an "old car guy", this just seems tacky to me. Somewhat akin to the "fuzzy dice" of yesteryear, or the silly undercarriage neonⁱ lighting.

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