Author Topic: Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?  (Read 1936 times)

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Offline scartail

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Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?
« on: March 04, 2009, 06:48:42 PM »
I have a fiberglass solo seat. Has anyone wrap them with vinyl stick? (decal material) Anyone got some tips? Thanks.
'89 Hawk GT, newly acquired, daily beater...
'76 CB550, was my daily beater... my cafe project...
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'67 Suzuki T20, still working on her too... Currently in pieces...

Offline greenjeans

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Re: Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2009, 05:51:05 AM »
Depending on the shape...it could be done, but would likely need seams.  Certain vinyls can be conformed to compound curves (cast 2mil high performance)
But, after they are stretched and shrank, they will lose much of their durability...good thing is, it could be changed and replaced fairly easily and cheaply.
The surface will need to be very smooth or you WILL see the imperfections underneath.
Yep, I'm the kid that figured out how to put things back together...eventually.

Offline volkswagendan

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Re: Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2009, 08:27:51 AM »
vinyl can backfire on you.
i had vinyl circles with #61 put on the doors of my old porsche 356. a year later it started to shrink and crack.
i'd go with paint if i was you.
if money is an issue you can tape and spray-can it.  with several coats, wet sanding, and polish you can make it look almost as good as automotive paint.  thats what i did and i love it. 
google rattle can paint jobs and you'll be amazed.
don't take me too seriously.

Offline bradweingartner

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Re: Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2009, 09:12:16 AM »
Just like anything else, there is good quality vinyl and poor quality.

If it shrunk and cracked after a year, that was a poor quality product.

A good 7 or 9 year rated vinyl won't do that for quite a while. Even out in the sun.

Depending on the shape, vinyl can be stretched quite a bit but it's not always easy and the film would suffer - ESPECIALLY a poor quality film. (though the cheap ones will tear way before they even pretend to stretch). Go with a good 3M film and you'd be fine.

Offline scartail

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Re: Vinyl wrap instead of painting fiberglass seats?
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2009, 02:31:49 PM »
Thanks for all your input. I'm still weighing the benefits of it.
'89 Hawk GT, newly acquired, daily beater...
'76 CB550, was my daily beater... my cafe project...
'72 Yamaha R5, newly acquired project... donated to my buddy...
'67 Suzuki T20, still working on her too... Currently in pieces...