Plastic don't rust

 

How about a vinyl wrap that makes a rust bucket look like a new car?

 

They did that last nite on Leepoo (sp?) and Pitbull. History Channel. Built a customized olds cutlass and wrapped it in vinyl rather than paint it.
This is my good friend Mike Janis's ProMod:

It's a complete vinyl wrap, no paint no decals/stickers, carbon fiber body. Racers are doing it to save weight, Mike says it is about 10# lighter than paint, can be rewrapped in same or different design in a few hours. All the Nascar Sprint cup cars are vinyl wraps now, can change schemes, sponsors, even team/driver #s in a couple hours.

 

Hope to see them for my trucks soon! I wonder how expensive it is for those of us that aren't sponsored? And who is doing it and how is it done?

 

It's not vehicle specific unless it's a printed wrap, then there are templates for many vehicles or templates can be custom created (such as for Mike's car), then reused. Fill in the graphics as needed on the computer, print it out and apply. It's getting fairly common today as the large format printers, weatherproof inks come down in price. look around, you'll see examples almost any/every where, 18 wheeler trailers, tour buses (and city buses that sell advertising) rolling billboard vehicles, service vehicles, etc etc. Shouldn't be difficult to find an installer in most any major metro area, search vinyl wraps, advertising, sign makers. Cost is going to vary a lot depends on quality/color vinyl, printed/unprinted, installer's skill/experience/workload. Want a flame job? no problem! Tired of color/graphics? No problem, strip it off and redo.
I am not in the business so don't quote me, but I've heard numbers like 1500.00 for a single color wrap to 2500. for full color custom graphics tossed about. Still a lot less expensive than even a basic 1K paint job, and it's finished and ready to go in an afternoon.
I think it a safe bet there are more than a couple installation videos on youtube, try searching.

 

Anyone here done a rustbucket vinyl wrap on their pickup? Love to see that!
Got ME thinking now!
I think this topic deserves its own special thread. Mind you, there could already be one. Haven't checked, hafta say.

 

Started on the running boards today.
First thing is to make a die for the ribs. 1 half is done, other one will be for tomorrow. Made it out of a scrap piece i had laying around.

 

Great job! I bought an old running board, cut out the pieces I needed, and welded them in.

 

Finished the second half of the die today after work.
Made a quick test plate and I either made correct measurements and calculations or I have just been lucky.
Either way I'm happy that it's so close to original.

 

I've been conjuring just such a die to replicate the ribs on my COE steps.

seems like years ago I saw on here where someone made a draw where they pulled the profile using a come-a-long. Anybody else vouch for me on this?

JML

 

I guess I'm being picky but I'll make another, narrower bottom die tomorrow as the bottom width is 1mm (3/64") too wide. Hope this will give me the perfect form to replace the bad pieces

 

Might want to radius the top corners and taper the sides of the male die slightly to better match the profile shape as well, otherwise when you put in the patch the change in profile, not just the width, will be very difficult to blend, making the patch obvious. If you look closely you can see the whole top of the rib has a low crown with radiused upper corners, it's not square. This was likely a deliberate choice of shape to counter the metal's natural spring tendency to concave both across and lengthwise if stamped to a sharp square.

 

Thanks for your input.
I haven't rounded them yet as I want to see how it forms with the correct bottom width first.

Since the male die is 1/4" narrower than the female one I don't think it has to be angled to get the correct shape.
Only had time to fabricate the female die today so I'll know more after the next test tomorrow.

 

Got 1 of the running boards done.
Also king pins, brakes and shocks are all done.

Working on the engine, electricity and glass still to go.

Also found someone to paint the hood, won't be airbrushed but painted by an art painter with a love for cars, his work looks awesome.

All I need, to be able to finish it are 15x8 steel wheels.

Anyone know where one can get 15x8 Wheels with hubcaps and trim rings?

 

Wheel Vintiques You can try this place for your wheels.