Not bad for an OEM front fascia!

[Mr.HacKeR]

Hey guys, so I have a really hard time getting parts for my AC in Dubai. I figured it is best to put some "temporary" aesthetic stuff to make my AC one of a kind until I have enough $$ to ship a stillen front fascia!
Everything you see is a vinyl wrap, no paint whatsoever!



Please let me know what you think!

I think the headlights need painting... (possibly a color-matched azure blue? )

[Altimacoupe501]

Any side shots? I am contemplating doing this on my front fascia cause of the previous owner let bugs melt into it. How hard was it and ay tips?

[Mr.HacKeR]

This is the closest to a side shot I have right now



I don't recommend doing it yourself if you don't have enough experience in dealing with vinyls. But if you want to do the mustache yourself then it is quite easy, just take off the mustache from the grill (yes just pull or use a thin screwdriver to separate the mustache from the grill) and wrap them!
As for the front lip, it actually took a lot of time to get it right. It is still not perfect but I am happy with the way it is right now. I recommend you start doing one side first, finish that side completely (no bubbles) then keep moving forward.

[funkee]

Be careful removing the mustache with a screwdriver. I left some dents in the honeycomb grille. They're not noticeable unless up close, but still. After noticing what happened after removing the first, I put in a microfiber washcloth between the screwdriver and grille. The grille still took some damage because of how soft it is.

Just a warning.

To the OP, very nice job. I like it a lot. I think what you can do with the headlights is change out the orange turn signal light bulb for a blue LED bulb. If you want, you can also bake them, paint the inside black and reseal them; but it's quite a bit of work.

What kind of eyelids do you have? They seem to cover the amber part nicely; better than some others I've seen. Is it just plain vinyl, or something under it?

Also, how does the vinyl wash? Does dirt come off easily, and does it tend to scratch? I've also heard some stories of the vinyl eating away at the clearcoat and paint under it. Any issues with that?

[Mr.HacKeR]

Thanks!
Ya i took of the mustache carefully.. Still left some dent on the bumper, but i can live with it... I think i'm going to bake the headlight, they will look better if i paint them IMO
The eyelids are from ebay, i did some minor modification to one of the eyelids to get a perfect fit, and i wrapped them with 2 layers of vinyl (no specific reason, i didn't like the first layer and i was too lazy to re-install them).
The washing part isn't a big concern, i wash the whole car with water and soap. Done it a couple of times without problems. Sometimes you have to rub the vinyl with a smooth cloth or fabric to remove any dry dirt (bird stuff).
The vinyl won't damage the OEM paint, but if your car was painted, then it would be damaged.. It is true that it gets scratched a lot, but that shouldn't be a problem because you can fix the scratches by heating the scratched part!

[Mr.HacKeR]

Forgot to mention that i removed the vinyl from the trunk, the paint wasn't damaged, but i had to apply somekind of polish to it, i used water and diesel to clean the trunk and it was shining like new!

[DJ_B_Easy]

I am doing the EXACT same thing to my bumper/lip as you did around the fog lights and down to the bottom, I approved the quote from my installer yesterday morning! Glad to see its going to look as good as I imagined. Nice work.

[Mr.HacKeR]

thanks DJBeasy!
Let's see the results! what color is your AC?

[DJ_B_Easy]

I have Dark Slate.

Install wont be for a few weeks. My shop is currently wrapping a Grand Prix Audi R8! Or Grand Am? Im not even sure which, I just know the thing is like $400K and he is pushing all other jobs off until its done. Im also doing the rear diffuser in matte black.

[Mr.HacKeR]

hmmm.. should be interesting to see matte black lip on a Dark Slate AC!
How much is the shop charging you for the wrap? I paid about $27 for the lip, and about $80 for each CF wrap on each part (hood, roof and trunk).
I don't really know how anyone would wrap an R8! I don't really trust these shops to take my car apart!
BTW, isn't the rear diffuser matte black already?! the 2010+ models have painted rear diffusers..

[DJ_B_Easy]

Im actually not at liberty to share the price he gave me. He is a personal friend of mine and has quoted other members here.
Are you saying those are prices you paid for material alone? I thought you installed these yourself?
As far as rear diffuser, I have an '08. It actually matches the body color for the most part, but it is NOT painted. It will definitely darken up quite a bit with the vinyl.

And the R8 is a touring race car. Like you would see Nascar with all of the sponsors on the car, that is what he is doing to the R8. He definitely knows what he is doing.

[Mr.HacKeR]

Yes I did the lip myself, but the other parts were done by a shop.
Would love to see the results!