Trophy Dimension Needed

Would want to see a vinyl wrap how to :yesnod:

I'll have a go at it.
There are some good ones on Youtube
including one by 3M that shows them doing
bits on a Mini.
3m Di-Noc Demo
They make it look easy, but i'll let you know how
easy it really is! :bust:

Rich, that is going to look really smart :thumbsup: i too think that the Trophy spoiler looks good on an F :yesnod:

well done rich i have just bought one of fleabay and will study how you do yours :broon:

Rich - I've seen those utube videos and I know they always make it look easy but I would rather go by someone's actual experience. :yesnod:

its not hard, i have used di noc on a friends focus and on my laptop hardest part is curves. good luck :broon:

rayb wrote: its not hard, i have used di noc on a friends focus and on my laptop hardest part is curves. good luck :broon:

Ray...You are right when you say it's not hard, and you are also right when you say the hardest part is curves.
Fortunately a Trophy spoiler has a nice flattish surface on top which turned out to be quite straightforward to cover with the 3M Carbon Fibre pattern vinyl.... but...It also has curves, lots of em, some compound to boot!
This will explain why my photos stop at the point where I started wrapping the curved edges of the spoiler. I do have photos of the beginning, and of the finished product but I was way too busy when it came to the curved portion. I couldn't even ask my wife to take pics as she was pressed into service holding the spoiler steady while I wrapped it.
Here we go!

The 3x5 foot piece of vinyl came in a sealed bag from Sticker City (US supplier) along with a complimentary set of installation tools which included a razor knife, a felt covered squeegee, and a bubble pricker.


I had hoped to "bookmatch" the vinyl by cutting the sheet in half and rotating one half 180 degrees to give the pattern a "V" shape meeting in the center. Unfortunately I discovered that the sheet would only have to be rotated 90 degrees to get the V. The result being that the material was now not wide enough to cover the spoiler end to end. :pinch: I made the decision to give up on the V idea and live with the seam across the middle....sigh*


As I now had to install the covering in two pieces I had to mark a centerline on the spoiler, not an easy thing on a part with no straight lines! I used the edge of the table as a reference line and squared the spoiler up with that by measure.
The tape measure locates the center line which is squared with the refernce table edge using the large builder's square.
The small square is stood on edge to transfer the line to the spoiler which due to it's mounting studs is sitting a couple of inches above the table.


Once I had my center line marked it was time to start installing the film. I followed the 3M instructions and taped one half of the film complete with it's backing to the spoiler, and confirmed that it would cover the spoiler.


At this point I flipped the piece using the tape as a hinge and peeled back the first couple of inches of backing. I smoothed the film onto the spoiler using the felt edged squeegee and gradually pulled out the backing while working the film onto the spoiler. It was quite easy to avoid bubbles and creases on the top surface. With the top stuck down I worked the film around the edges. On areas with a convex surface it was quite easy to stretch the film to cover, however the really challenging part was on concave surfaces as the film is much happier stretching than shrinking!
This is the part without photos!
My plan was to wrap the film around the spoiler, leaving just one seam across the middle of the underside. This may de doable for a seasoned pro but the underside of my spoiler looked like Frankenstein when I was finished. Sure it doesn't show but I know the mess is there, and of course people at meets and car shows will be checking it out. I have installed it as is for now, but next weekend I will get the spoiler back on the table and clean up the underside, patching it with a piece of film I originally reserved to cover my windshield frame.
The cunning plan is to cut the film off the bottom leaving a neat edge about an inch in from the edges then make up a template to cut a piece of film to fit. with the piece in place I will trim the seam to match.
A couple of other point to note; A heat gun is very helpful when stretching the film to cover curves. It is important to use a gun with a low setting...unlike the cheap heat gun that I bought that only worked on high. It's going back tomorrow!.
too high a heat is difficult to control and makes the film too soft to work with. It can actually melt a hole in the film if you linger on one spot for too long.


Here is a pic of the spoiler at this point. For a first effort I think it looks pretty good. As you can see the outer stanchions are a bit proud of the surface. One side has 1/8" gap, the other 1/4". I will make up rubber gaskets to take up most of the gap and bond rivnuts into the bottom of the stanchions so they can be bolted to the boot lid. That will be the project for the coming weekend along with covering the mirrors with the same film-Wish Me Luck!

more to follow soon!

Wow! Looks fantastic! :thumbsup:

How long did the process take?

The first half took me about 2 hours. The second took an hour.

Looking good Rich.

I found that an old hairdryer was perfect for moulding the material around curves. :yesnod:

David, You are right, a hairdryer would have worked better than my $15. (10 pound) POS heat gun!
You really don't need a lot of heat to motivate the film, and too much can cause damage to the stuff.