Duhh..What did I just buy??651 vinyl for car racing stripes?

[stratotak 0]

I bought  a roll of 24" by 10 yd's of 651 .I thought It was also for car stripes  use.I thought It was the stuff where you spray a solution of water and dish detergent for lubrication and squeegeed it out and let it dry??

Is this what this stuff is??Did I by wrong products??If not how do I apply this to car ??

 

[Wildgoose 4,200]

651 is calendared rather than the more desirable (for your application) Cast vinyl. It will probably work but will not like compound curves very much. If it's your car vs a clients would be the question to ask. I also would use proper application fluid rather than some witches brew you read about on the internet. It's not that expensive. 

 

The theory behind wet app is to use the fluid to suspend the vinyl slightly above the surface and squeegee the fluid out so you have to pay attention not to trap it in there or it will never "dry". Wet app, while potentially more forgiving for large applications, is not the end-all application method and comes with risks. Be sure to use paper app tape regardless of manufacturers claims that some clear can be used wet I think you will have better luck with paper. You have to be proficient enough to get something like a racing stripe on fairly quickly because the app tape will get soaked if it sits too long or too many pull ups and end up coming apart on you ruining your day. After you have gotten the stripe positioned and squeegee'd down you may want to spray the top of the app tape to aid in removal. You really don't want to let the whole thing just set there for a super long time before removing the tape but also have to allow the adhesive time to get a bite on the car. Kind of a timing thing. 

 

I only use wet app when I absolutely have to. Dry is much faster if the surfaces are relatively simple although potentials for bubbles may be more prevalent for the hapless newbie thus making many go the wet app route. Just don't be surprised if you have some surprises during the install dry or wet. That's all part of learning the craft though.   

[stratotak 0]

OK..this was my first time trying this.I gave up after 5 attempt.I watched youtube videos  and they made it look simple and to to the point,

All I wanted was a simple 24" wide stripe down the hood.No crazy wrapping,

Cut out lenght and taped middle down to creat a fold.Carefully peeled of backing and folded sticky side down on car and   for the life of me it just lays down all wrinkled and bubbled.I have seen videos and it lays down flat.It sticks as soon as it touchs body and no squeegeeing doesnt  gets rid of the wrinkles or bubbles.I have tried it dry and with wet spray.I gave up and tossed the rest of the roll in trash..lol..Lucky it was only like $21 for roll of 24"x10 yds'.I have used Plastidip and had fair results.A little to much texture but I cant get this stuff laid down.I dont know If IM doing it wrong.And you need to do something else with this product .I dont have the patience to set there and spend a bunch of money wasting  more money on materials till I get the knack off it.Plastidip.Here I come again.

I did it exactly like this guy did in thisYou Tube  video.Went to lay down the first side and it wrinkled all to hell and no amount of squeeging 

got rid of the wrinkles or bubbles,It was sticking to car to much.I did one attempt at 11 PM at night when car was cool  as hell. it still stuck to car like crazy.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

1. Are you using app tape? Almost sounds like you're not. Even with something so simple I think I would unless you happen to have some of the thicker wrap style vinyl.

 

2. Don't let the vinyl touch the car. Especially with something wide, even if it lays reasonably flat you'll get massive air trapped. 

 

A center hinge is ok but being new you will end up with bubbles at the point you are trying to hinge. Get a second set of hands and tape the END of the decal and have your helper hold the vinyl taunt and just off the car while you start at the taped end and squeegee it down to the car. Start about the center of the 24" wide stripe and squeegee up then come back to that point and squeegee down. Try to go in a straight line up and down then move over and repeat until the end. Your helper will continue to keep the rest of the vinyl up off the car so you don't get an accidental touch. MOST of the time if you get a light touch you can POP the vinyl back up off the car (your helper would be the one popping, cause you are the one with the squeegee) This process would be basically the same wet or dry. Since it's that wide wet would be appropriate. When you first said racing stripes I was thinking 4" to 6" wide. You might look for some air release vinyl (wrap vinyl) if you can find it int he color you are wanting. It is more forgiving but the same principal still applies and personally I would still use app tape. 

 

You are tackling a fairly advanced application with zero experience. It's not rocket science but it does require some skills that you weren't born with. You might want to go grab the rest of that roll and play around with it. 

[Sue2 920]

Yup...that guy does make it look like a piece of cake!

 

LOL

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

OK..this was my first time trying this.I gave up after 5 attempt.I watched youtube videos  and they made it look simple and to to the point,

All I wanted was a simple 24" wide stripe down the hood.No crazy wrapping,

Cut out lenght and taped middle down to creat a fold.Carefully peeled of backing and folded sticky side down on car and   for the life of me it just lays down all wrinkled and bubbled.I have seen videos and it lays down flat.It sticks as soon as it touchs body and no squeegeeing doesnt  gets rid of the wrinkles or bubbles.I have tried it dry and with wet spray.I gave up and tossed the rest of the roll in trash..lol..Lucky it was only like $21 for roll of 24"x10 yds'.I have used Plastidip and had fair results.A little to much texture but I cant get this stuff laid down.I dont know If IM doing it wrong.And you need to do something else with this product .I dont have the patience to set there and spend a bunch of money wasting  more money on materials till I get the knack off it.Plastidip.Here I come again.

I did it exactly like this guy did in thisYou Tube  video.Went to lay down the first side and it wrinkled all to hell and no amount of squeeging 

got rid of the wrinkles or bubbles,It was sticking to car to much.I did one attempt at 11 PM at night when car was cool  as hell. it still stuck to car like crazy.

did you happen to notice he is using a 3m Cast with controltac - it is wrap vinyl like mentioned above - it has micro channels in the adhesive to help get air out when applying.  the cast as mentioned above also conforms to compound curves on the car = where calendared will not stretch easily like that.  the right material is going to cost you considerably more than the 651 

[stratotak 0]

Like I said I tried it 5 times with failed results.The material as soon as it touchs body sticks and wrinkles up and no amount of squeezing gets the bubbles and wrinkles.I used water and soap mixture but its like the soapy mixture neutralizes the sticky adhesive and it wont ever stick.I have enough material let  to try a few more attempts.What If i just used straight water and not mix in the 2-3 drops of detergent?Would that allow me to move material around and squeegy out water and not effect adhesive and once it dries it would stick to bod. Because honestly I dont see how the hell you put down the material like hat and have it just lay flat and squeegy out wrinkles and bubbles when it sticks to car o strong.Just seems you would have to have some water solution for it to actually be able to squeegee out bubbles and wrinkles.I dont see how in the world it is possible to squugy out wrinkles and air bubbles when material sticks at slightest contact.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

Use a product, that's made for the job. like RapidTac..or similar product.  Not soap and water. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4oz-Rapid-Tac-Vinyl-Sticker-Application-Fluid-Bottle-with-Premium-Squeegee-/160986266428?hash=item257b877b3c:g:-TAAAMXQw8hRa7gT&vxp=mtr

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

bueller, bueller, did you miss the part about the person in the video is using a wrap material with micro channels for air egress and the adhesive doesn't grab like the material you are using  for a day - the solution that skeeter posted will help with positioning but it still will not be easy to apply like you are thinking without lots of practice AND THE RIGHT MATERIAL.  Wildgoose and skeeter are helping but you are trying to use a calendared material more suited for windows than a cast as mentioned above for body panels with curves.  calendared vinyl will not stretch like cast will for those even subtle curves on the car and even with the right product it takes practice - first side stripes I did on a RAM truck I did 3 times to get it right even using CAST vinyl as you should be using.  

You can use house paint to paint your car but don't expect the results to be good . . . 

[Command 97]

Wide area "trap" application like this is a disaster without someplace for the air to go or air-egress vinyl.

 

Solid areas over 6" wide tend to be rough and you need impeccable technique. Compounded with using home brew and no application tape, it's probably not going to be a successful endeavor. 

 

Aside from that, I'd substitute the dish detergent with baby shampoo and use part 90% iso-alcohol.