I wanted to try a new look with my hatch, so I thought I would try my hand at vinyl wrapping. Truth be told, my wife wants her 69 Chevelle wrapped, so I said 'lemme experiment on my civic first, and if I don't mess it up too bad, I'll do the Chevelle next'. So after I received my crash course Youtube education on how to wrap a car, I ordered a roll and got started. I've always been a fan of the 99-00 Civic Si Electron Blue Pearl, and this wrap seemed like a close match so I went with it. So far I got the fenders and passenger door done. I figure if I wrap a piece or two a day, I'll have it fully wrapped in a week or two. I'm not in a rush, just taking my good ol time when I have some spare time after work. So far I'd have to say it's turning out very well, hard to tell it's a vinyl wrap unless you look real close; looks just like paint when you're standing next to it. Granted a EF is probably one of the easier cars to learn wrapping on, not too many curves and contours, mostly relatively flat surfaces (until it's time for the bumpers, kinda not looking forward to those).

One thing is for sure, the better your car's paint/body work, the better the wrap will turn out. My hatch is all original paint, and despite my best efforts to address the blemishes, some of the deep scratches, nicks, and other imperfections show beneath the vinyl. Still better than looking at 30+ year old tired paint I suppose.

Will post more pics as I make progress, but here's where it stands for now:

 

That’s a nice blue. What vinyl brand did you use and which color is that called. It’s hard to find decent colors resembling oem colors in vinyl.

 

Thanks. It's Avery brand, the color I believe is called Bright Blue Metallic.

 

looking good

 

Got the roof done today. The color is called brushed titanium; it has a textured look/feel to it.

Anyone know where to get new roof gutter moldings?

 

Wow, it looks really good man. I'm almost at a point where I need to decide if I paint or wrap...my OEM paint is not going to make it another 5 years. I want to stay with the OEM color though (Camellia Red Pearl), so I'd have to find a wrap that matches.

I was going to ask how you got your roof gutters out without damaging them, but I'm guessing they broke when you pulled them out?

 

Surprisingly my gutter trims both came out in one piece. Prior to removal, I sprayed the channels down with silicone lubricant spray, and gently started pushing them towards the back of the car. Push/pull for a bit, little more spray here and there, and they eventually slid out. However, they are badly faded, and have little missing chips in the rubber along the edges in spots.

They could be reusable as a last resort, but I'd really like to find new replacements if at all possible. I see new CRX gutter trims can be obtained, and I may buy a pair to see of they can be worked to fit a civic. That or they sell generic trim with a self adhesive back that might look acceptable.

 

any issues on stretching the vinyl? Ive considered doing this but not too sure just yet because scared the stretch may discolor it

 

That brand has great colors. I never heard of it. I’ll eventually I’ll wrap my daily gold it should accent the blue interior kinda nice

 

Havent really had to test the limits on stretching it, for the most part it lays up pretty flat even on curved/recessed areas, but in those spots where you do have to apply pressure to get a little stretch, it seems to hold up just fine with no visible discoloration.

 

Good luck, post pics if you do wrap it.

I went with blue not just because I like the color, but to also cheat on the door jams a bit. I dont plan on wrapping my door jams, so I'm hoping my original light blue paint wont look too out of place against the bright blue wrap when the door is open. My interior is also blue, so I'm hoping it all kinda flows together when its all done.

 

Hopefully this year I will. My hood and roof Have hella oxidation. so that stuff shows right through the vinyl wrap. I know bc I had some samples on and I was like wtf lol. so I got everything I need from harbor freight to take it off and started on the roof. I didn’t like what I was seeing and stopped before it was too late.

 

Starting to look like something. I think now I need a new set of wheels, or powdercoat these Si wheels maybe gunmetal gray.

 

Getting the passenger side back together. I questioned whether or not I should use the NOS door/window seal trim, as I was originally going to keep those aside for when I do a proper paint job on it; but decided to throw them on now.

 

How many feet have you used and what’s your total cost so far for vinyl

 

I ordered 5x35 feet of blue, 5x8 feet of the brushed titanium, a roll of knifeless-tape (which sucks by the way, either this vinyl is hard to use it with, or I just suck at using it) and an application kit which consisted of various razor knifes and squeegees. All that was just under $500, $485 if I recall correctly.

 

but what was the cost for vinyl alone

 

Blue was $322, black was $137; $459 for just the vinyl. If I didnt do the roof in black and got another 10 feet of blue, it could have been as cheap as $409 (I bought it off a website called metrorestyling.com).

 

That’s pretty good pricing
better than the vinyl warehouse near me. They want $12 a foot. I did the math you paid under $11 a foot

 

could you possible show how to change the window/door sill trim. I plan to do what you did, going to sand the paint really smooth and attempt to wrap. Would like to also know how you remove the rear glass window if you dont mind sharing.

Thank you

 

The window trim is held on by some simple clips. If you work a plastic shim up under the trim and slowly work it from one side to the other it will eventually just pop off.

The rear side window glass was pretty easy. Just remove the screws holding the hinge at the back, then remove the black trim between the windows and doors and that will reveal more screws/hinges for the window.

 

Looks awesome!

 

This is the mostly finished product. I did run out of blue for the bumpers, so I would like to finish those one of these days, I can live with it like it is for now (I do plan on putting the side moldings back on after I repaint them).

 

it looks great man!

 

Thank you, still a ways to go yet but getting there.