Stock Car Body Wrap - Wrap It Up

With the decal facing down, Matt peels the backing away.

He then sprays a liberal amount of the solution on the back surface of the decal.

A wrap this large requires two sets of hands to do it right. Take a close look-the end of the wrap that's on the table has been taped down.

Working from the inside out, Matt uses a felt-padded squeegee to push the excess application fluid out the sides of the wrap.

Our fearless graphic gurus repeat the process for the other half of the roof wrap.

With the roof wrap complete, Matt applies Bobby's name dry. Smaller decals can easily be put on dry. The big black blob on the roof is the drop shadow for our number.

The number is positioned on the roof prior to peeling and wetting the surface. This is a critical step to get it straight. Our body wrap has a two-stage application process. The numbers are hand-cut from fluorescent vinyl, while the main wrap is white vinyl that has been run through a color printer specifically designed for that purpose. You can't combine fluorescents and "regular" colors in a print like this, consequently it has to be a two-stage process. It's definitely more labor intensive, but also definitely worth it.

Matt sprays the two decal surfaces with the application fluid but this time uses a paper towel to wipe away a good amount of excess. Because he's mating vinyl to vinyl, he wants the two surfaces almost dry before they touch. This allows him to still be able to reposition the decals if needed but eliminates the potential of bubbles.

It takes a buddy's help to get it down straight the first time.

A little patience with the squeegee yields a great result.

The protective film is peeled away.

Matt uses a hairdryer to heat up the vinyl that wraps underneath the front lip of the roof. Heating the vinyl makes it more pliable and allows him to stretch and curve it around corners and intricate body contours. Some installers use heat guns, but Matt says that a heat gun can get too hot and melt the vinyl. He prefers a nice, hot hairdryer.

One more pass with the felt-padded squeegee, and the number really pops.

The final step is to put the roof in the sun to allow the vinyl to stretch and cure, for a seamless and bubbleless finish.