DIY Wrapping your Bow Ties with Carbon Fiber Film

[Speedforhire]

Gonna try the sample on something! Order number 16908 submitted but wouldn't create an account.

Do you accept Paypal payments for new orders? How much wrap do I need to do the bow-ties? Price? Does it match the oem CF insert on the ZL1? How much to stripe the top and rear deck lid to match the CF insert and to do the area around the license plate?

[HeadlightArmor]

Originally Posted by SixCyl

I will definitely refer to this when I do mine. I ordered the free sample first, will that work on the rear bow tie? Also, I suggest unmounting the emblems for us FL people, that first part of get it up to 80-90 deg made me laugh. If I did it outside, I'd have to ice it down! lol

LOL, hot in TX most of the time too. Though we do have customers all over
with the sample you can try applying it on something, though not big enough to do the whole bow tie.

Originally Posted by Speedforhire

Gonna try the sample on something! Order number 16908 submitted but wouldn't create an account.

Do you accept Paypal payments for new orders? How much wrap do I need to do the bow-ties? Price? Does it match the oem CF insert on the ZL1? How much to stripe the top and rear deck lid to match the CF insert and to do the area around the license plate?

we used a 6.75" x 8" sheet for this tutorial (added the info to the first post.) The material has a dry look (not a heavy gelcoat look). For the rest I'll reply to the PM you sent. This thread is specifically for the tutorial.

[Speedforhire]

Just got my order in! It should look great on the black car with the CF hood insert.

Thx for this tutorial!

[PlainEnvelopes]

Did a search and found this thread. Very help full. Even tho it is super old.

[HeadlightArmor]

Glad you found it helpful!

[Adrian97c]

Originally Posted by LRS.2SS

Helpful hint for all the DIY-ers out there. Have a VERY SHARP razor. Half way through my installation I didn't catch this early enough but the tip of my new razor blade broke. As I kept "cutting" the vinyl caught and bunched. Learn from my mistake and check your razor.

That's why my front & back badges both came out like trash :(
I used a brand new carpet utility knife!

I'm gonna order more vinyl & this time try with an 'exacto' knife instead.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HeadlightArmor]

Yes, the sharper the knife the better! We use these:

[goinggone14]

Any tips on what angle to cut with the razor?

My first attempt on the rear bowtie (basically flat) left some gold visible around the edges. My angle of my blade was perpendicular to the bowtie inside the gaps to avoid cutting up into the chrome or down into the gold section.

Would it make more sense to angle it towards the inside of the chrome section to allow for more material to wrap around into those grooves?

[HeadlightArmor]

Originally Posted by goinggone14

Any tips on what angle to cut with the razor?

My first attempt on the rear bowtie (basically flat) left some gold visible around the edges. My angle of my blade was perpendicular to the bowtie inside the gaps to avoid cutting up into the chrome or down into the gold section.

Would it make more sense to angle it towards the inside of the chrome section to allow for more material to wrap around into those grooves?

This part should be helpful: We cut generallt straight down into the profile of the channel (from above this will look biased going toward the chrome part). The material should be sund as deeply and as smoothly as possible into the grove - a smooth rounded finger nail did the trick for us.

Originally Posted by HeadlightArmor

It is now on. Warm again ~ 104-122 degrees and go over with either your hand or you hands wrapped in a suede microfiber towel to make sure you didn’t leave any bubbles. The adhesive has air release channels so you should be bubble free. Go around the edge with the back of your fingernail (preferably wrapped in the suede microfiber towel) and set the material into the channel between the center bowtie and the chrome surround.

Now it is time to trim. Get your sharp razor knife with a new blade and trim the excess away – using the channel where the center meets the boarder as a guide. This is the important step as you can’t uncut it if you somehow miss… We have found the cleanest way to accomplish this is to make two cuts per profile. For each section start somewhere other than a corner and make two cuts – one going in one direction across and into a corner and the other going the other direction into the opposite corner.



Getting there



Almost done.

Hope that helps.

[Bigdog@Reno,NV]

Sorry if this is re-opening an old thread but maybe it will be valuable to 2014 owners.
I too wanted to wrap my front bowtie (rear bowtie deleted) and especially the steering wheel bowtie (scroll down to H P Turbine to see wrapped steering wheel bowtie). So I order the wrap and the super sharp knife ($10.95). When I reiceved it I ask my main sales guy if he could help me do this. He said, I have a friend that had worked for the largest wrapping company in Reno... Graphics Unlimited for five years. They do city buses, all the casino airport shuttles, etc.
He shows up, takes a look at the front bowtie and say's I'll get my tools. I said, I have this brand new knife, he say's thats OK I have my tools.
He walks back in with a few tools in one hand and a TORCH in the other! My guy say's... yea, when he did my new Subaru STI to completely debadge it he brings out this torch and my guy say's what the *%#@* are you going to do with that? He say's don't worry it's much faster.
I went to answer a quick phone call and when I returned the front bowtie was already done and he is sitting in the drivers seat. He calls me around to him and say's you can't wrap this steering wheel bowtie, it's not smooth, it's very textured.
This will be at least the fourth mod that I had pre-planned while waiting on my 2014 car to come in that either didn't fit right, didn't work as explained, or in this case is not possible (according to a pro). He even said, I can cut you a template to paint it but wrap is not going to stick to that.
So, did GM actually change the frigging steering wheel bowtie gold texture for 2014?

[Adrian97c]

2014 Textured = All bowties except the ones on the wheels.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KaBoom1701]

Just bought some of this CF wrap.

Hopefully I don't screw it up. lol

Such a cost effective mod I can't believe I waited this long.