|
|
Race Car Decal Wrap - Matters Of StyleA good looking decal wrap on your race car may not make you faster, but a more professional look can help you attract more sponsorship. Here's how to install a wrap yourself From the October, 2011 issue of Circle Track By Jeff Huneycutt Photography by Jeff Huneycutt
|
|
This is the foundation for... This is the foundation for our decal wrap project: a freshly rebodied Dirt Late Model. It’s a Mastersbilt by Stuckey chassis with one of Five Star’s new high-downforce MD3 noses. The common problem that almost all race teams face is that there are never enough hours in the day nor dollars in the bank account. And because of that, we have to make decisions on what needs to be accomplished now and what can be put off for another week (or more). More often than not the pecking order on the racer's to-do list goes something along the lines of: 1. Fix broken items and problem areas. 2. Do whatever you can to make the car faster or more durable. 3. Safety. And coming in last is 4. Looks. With the exception of moving "Safety" up to the top spot, that's probably how it should be. Very few of us are ever going to be racing for a living, so the first priority after making sure you're as safe as possible, should be simply making it to the track and getting in the race so you can have a good time. Here’s the proof that Star... Here’s the proof that Star Graphix sent us for the project. A proof like this will allow you to get an idea of how the finished product will look. This way, any changes can be made now before the final product is printed on the decal material and things start to get expensive. Starnes says that emailing a proof like this allows him to work with race teams anywhere in the country and by being able to quickly make changes digitally he can dial in the design until it fits the team’s wishes perfectly. The square blocks on the righthand side represent (from top to bottom) the rear spoiler, the roof, and the hood. Next, improving your program and scoring better finishes should be every racer's goal—and it's a topic we try to tackle every month in Circle Track. And finally, make yourself and your race car presentable. After all, who doesn't want to have an operation their friends and family can be proud of? But that's not all there is to it. Fans identify with great-looking race cars. You may not have to look fast to be fast, but from the stands it definitely helps. And besides having more people cheering you on, a professional look is a proven factor when potential sponsors are considering joining a particular race team. If you show that you can promote a sponsoring company in an attractive, professional way that will automatically give you a leg up on the team with the raggedy race car that's also talking to the same company. With that in mind, we contacted Justin Starnes, owner of Star Graphix, about current decal technology and what the average racer can do to improve the looks of his race car. Star Graphix owner Justin... Star Graphix owner Justin Starnes wipes down the sheetmetal to remove any grease, oil, or dust that may be on the car. You can wrap a previously raced car, just make sure to clean the panels with a degreaser (Windex will work) thoroughly. You may also notice the Clecos still being used to hold some body panels together. Starnes says its best to wrap the car with as few rivets, brackets, and other accessories that might get in the way as possible. After the decal is fully installed, the rest of the riveting work will be finished. Just a few years ago, decal wraps were in the nearly exclusive territory of NASCAR Cup teams with big budgets and the need to turn around complex designs quickly from week to week. But that technology has become more affordable for Saturday night level racers who want a great look as well as a comprehensive design that carries all the way around the car. Starnes says that advancements in new decal materials are making it easier than ever for teams to install their own wraps. For example, for most race cars Starnes now uses a printable decal material from Arlon called DPF 4560 GTX. The material can be printed on with an ink-jet printer that applies vibrant inks that don't bleed, can be stretched to fit (although there are limits), can be removed and reapplied if you make a mistake, and is generally very forgiving to inexperienced installers. We're sure part of it has to do with Starnes' experienced hand, but it also seems to go down with very few bubbles to be worked out—the bane of every decal installer. The sides of the car use the... The sides of the car use the largest sections of the wrap by far and are definitely a two-person job. Begin by placing the number approximately where you want it and then extending the wrap toward the front and rear of the car. In addition, the newest decal materials use a pressure-sensitive adhesive that doesn't become permanent until you "lock down" the decal with pressure. In the old days, which were just a few years ago, the decal sheets stuck like glue to anything and everything they touched. Even professional installers kept a spray bottle handy filled with water and liquid dish detergent and had to spray down both the race car body and the decal backing just so it could be repositioned if it wasn't applied perfectly the first time. The problem with this is that even with the soapy water applied, the decal material would cling to itself quite vigorously and created wrinkles when you tried to pull it apart, and in general, it was just aggravating. But that's a thing of the past. Today, with the new adhesives the decal material can be applied and removed multiple times as long as you don't apply pressure with the squeegee. So if you've ever considered sprucing up your car without spending a wad of cash, that's easier now than ever. Companies like Star Graphix can provide you a professional design and the materials, and you can save on the labor costs by applying the decal wrap yourself. There are a few tricks to doing it right and making it as easy as possible, however. And that's what we're here to show you.  At the front of the car, Starnes...  At the front of the car, Starnes tests by feel to make sure the contingency size sponsor logos won’t extend into the wheel opening. One trick Star Graphix does that we haven’t seen many other places is it trims the top edge of the wrap. Many other decal shops leave the printed decal as a rectangle, and it can be hard to get the edges to match up to the body lines on the car because the fenders, quarter, and doors can move up and down quite a bit. It’s a bit hard to see here because the backing paper is still in place but the trimmed wrap helps integrate the design into the car much better.  Dirt Late Models usually have...  Dirt Late Models usually have a hard edge which makes it easy to use a tape measure to help level the side wrap, but don’t forget to make sure it also passes the eyeball test. If your car has a significant rake when sitting at ride height, it’s also a good idea to take that into account when you’re trying to place the major portions of the wrap.  Once he has it where he wants...  Once he has it where he wants it, Starnes runs several strips of tape down the center of the wrap to form a hinge.  Now you can work from the...  Now you can work from the middle out and depend on the hinge to keep you stabilized as you work your way to the front or rear of the car. The material Starnes works with is actually so resistant to wrinkles that he’s actually able to shove his hand and arm between the media and the backing paper to create a gap so that the backing paper can be cut away.  Now use a razor blade to cut...  Now use a razor blade to cut the backing paper away from the adhesive side of the decal near the hinge.  Now peel the backing paper...  Now peel the backing paper away a bit at a time as you work your way down the car. If you pull the backing sheet away all at once, you’ll wind up with too much adhesive backing exposed and it can get unwieldy.  With your squeegee, work your...  With your squeegee, work your way down the car using vertical strokes to firmly press the wrap to the car. It’s this pressure that causes the adhesive to lock to the body panels, so make sure to hit every inch of the wrap. Take your time and work slowly to minimize the air bubbles that get trapped behind the decal material. If you do notice a large one, you can try to work it toward an edge with your squeegee. Don’t worry about the small ones right now.  Speaking of the squeegee,...  Speaking of the squeegee, here are two options. On the left is the standard rubber squeegee that you’ll see in body shops being used to spread Bondo body filler. These are a popular option but Starnes says that if you aren’t careful they can scratch the laminate on the decal. He prefers the option on the right that’s a pressed fiber and non-marking. Starnes includes one of these in every wrap kit he ships to his customers.  On most modern Dirt Late Model...  On most modern Dirt Late Model bodies, the driver-side rear quarter kicks in by several degrees. This can make it difficult to keep a large sheet of vinyl square to the body. If you aren’t careful you’ll see the wrap begin to run up- or downhill because of this angle, which will make everything look weird. To compensate for this, Starnes cuts a slit in the material in the wheel opening so that it’s easier to stretch the material slightly so that it follows the bend in the rear quarter correctly.  On the rear quarters, Starnes...  On the rear quarters, Starnes recommends concentrating on the top edge of the wrap. Once you get that where you want it, begin working down to the bottom of the car. This is the most difficult section of the car, but by not activating the adhesive with pressure he’s able to pull bad sections back off the car and keep working the material until he gets it perfect.  This piece of painters tape...  This piece of painters tape was used to hold the section of decal in place while Starnes was trying to get everything located properly. But instead of just pulling it off once he pulls away the backing paper and starts applying the decal, Starnes cuts the tape and matches the two pieces back up while applying the decal to make sure he’s hitting his marks.  If you need to stretch the...  If you need to stretch the material to keep everything aligned, try to do it in an area that doesn’t have any lettering so it’s less likely to show. A quick hit with a heat gun will help shrink any overly stretched areas back into shape.  Once the material is down,...  Once the material is down, you can cut away the extra from the wheel openings with a razor blade.  Don’t forget to cut the vinyl...  Don’t forget to cut the vinyl at the seam between the door and the fender. If you don’t it will come back to bite you at the racetrack when you need to quickly remove the fender to get to the engine and realize the decal is holding everything together.  The hood decal is one large...  The hood decal is one large sheet that covers several panels. Aligning it correctly can be a bit of a trick. To compensate for extreme suspension movement, the nose on a dirt car is never straight, so don’t use that for a guide. Instead, measure to anything square you can find on the car, such as the hood seams, to get this part of the wrap centered.  Make sure to have the hoodscoop,...  Make sure to have the hoodscoop, the hoodpins, and the scuff panels for the hoodpins removed. You’ll want to use tape on the hood to make sure that it doesn’t shift on you. Once you have the decal panel aligned, use a tape hinge on the hood to secure the vinyl’s placement on the hood so that it won’t move. Now you can cut the piece into two sections at the seam between the hood and the nose.  The hood is a lot of real...  The hood is a lot of real estate to be covered by vinyl. The easiest method to get it smooth and straight is to use a tape hinge to help hold it in the correct position and split the job in half.  This is another area where...  This is another area where you almost require a helper. Hold the material loosely and allow the squeegee to guide how the vinyl goes down.  Here’s how it looks when placing...  Here’s how it looks when placing the wrap over a rivet. It may look good now, but sooner or later the wrap will pull loose, so it’s better to go ahead and cut away the portions of the wrap covering any rivets right away while it is still down tight.  Once the nose portion of the...  Once the nose portion of the wrap is pressed down, cut away the material at the seam where the plastic nose starts for a nice, clean look.  You never know exactly how...  You never know exactly how the hood panel is going to fall across the car, so instead of taking a chance that the hood sponsor’s logo will fall across the seam between the hood and nose, Starnes prints it separately. Once the base vinyl is down he measures and places the main sponsor’s logo.  Starnes applies the numbers...  Starnes applies the numbers to the roof. By always working from the center of the decal out, it makes it easier to negotiate such obstacles as the ridges in the molded roof.  As part of the comprehensive...  As part of the comprehensive wrap, Starnes also includes a section for the sides of the nose that integrates with the panel that extends down the side of the car. In order to get a cohesive visual look, use a long straightedge to ensure the stripes match up across the expanse of the wheel opening.  Although it’s all on one backing...  Although it’s all on one backing sheet, there are actually two separate decals here. To make sure the alignment stays consistent, Starnes cuts a hole in the backing so that he can put down tape markers for both sections.  Here you can see the bottom...  Here you can see the bottom section of the graphic going down. For a cleaner look, Starnes trims the decal away from the lower valance, but the section where the valance transitions into the fender flare creates some weird compound curves and getting a straight cut can be tricky. One trick is to lay down a piece of masking tape to help you keep the cut line straight and visualize where you want it to go.  Once the wrap is down, Starnes...  Once the wrap is down, Starnes goes back and cuts out any spots where he laid vinyl over rivets.  Adding items like the hood...  Adding items like the hood pin scuff plates after the wrap has been finished makes for a nice, clean installation with no annoying cut lines in the vinyl visible.  A few graphic elements on...  A few graphic elements on the nose complete the look of the car. This includes a personal logo that Starnes created for the racer of a skull-and-crossed connecting rod, a nod to old-school racing with a decal representing a riveted steel plate over the headlight openings and a fun tweak to the typical branding games by labeling this race car a “Chevette.”  By using a wrap to print almost...  By using a wrap to print almost all of the graphic elements on one sheet, the contingency level sponsors are also printed directly on the vinyl so that they are properly spaced and all the same size for a good look. But if you want to add another sponsor decal later, it will stick to the vinyl with no problems.  One quirk of current wrap...  One quirk of current wrap printing technology is that it can’t print neon colors. Starnes will design with lots of high-contrast neon because he says it looks good on the racetrack, but that requires cutting the neon colors from a separate piece of vinyl and applying it to the wrap after it’s printed. Once the neon vinyl is applied, Starnes laminates it all (he uses Arlon 3420 Gloss) that creates a clear protective layer that protects the design from scratches and helps it last longer.  One size does not fit all....  One size does not fit all. For local customers, Starnes says he often travels to their shops to measure their race cars himself. But when that’s not possible because of distance he sends customers this simple measurement chart. By using these measurements Starnes is able to ensure that the decals are cut to the right size, but that all the critical logos are properly placed and sized so that the finished product looks as good as possible. When filling out a chart like this, it’s also a good idea to indicate the color of each body panel so that your designer can help integrate the colors on the wrap properly.  The finished product ready...  The finished product ready to hit the track.  Lots of wrap companies specialize...  Lots of wrap companies specialize in only Dirt or Asphalt Late Models, but one of the more interesting things we learned about Star Graphix is that it regularly works with lower level cars. This is Starnes’s brother’s Street Stock, for example. You can see how a simple decal wrap can really dress up a race car. CT
|
|
|
|
Why You Should Wear a Head-and-Neck Restraint
“By all accounts it was the most spectacular wreck of the Mid American Stock Car Series’ 2012 season. It happened shortly before the halfway point of the 75 lap event during the Short Track National...
more
|
|
|
NASCAR GEN-6 for 2013
There was quite a bit of fanfare when NASCAR introduced their new Sprint Cup Series cars earlier this year. They called them their GEN-6 cars and said the new car "puts the 'stock' back in stock car...
more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The 2012 AMSOIL Great American CT Tour
Our next two stops on our Tour, after our long week previously spent traversing all of the state of Wisconsin, takes us first out of Wisconsin to Iowa and Hawkeye Downs Speedway for a Friday night...
more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|