Install a roof overlay
Well. Here we are again. BlueBatmobile finally decided to make black roof overlays that many have requested. Again, a subtle but effective mod and it’s not permanent. That’s probably the best thing about vinyl overlays; you can always revert back if and when you feel like it. I will have to say though, this install really should be done with TWO people. I thought I was going to be a badass and do this all by myself and say that this was a piece of cake and that everyone and their mama can do it with one eye gouged out and the other blinded with fire ants and sugar, but that just wasn’t the case. I got it done, but I really wished I had another body.
And an extra three inches, but that’s another story. On with the install.
It wasn’t the best day today, but it was perfect to wash a car. So start by washing your car normally to get rid of all of the dirt, oil, and grime from the surface.
When you’re done, mix up a bucket of soapy water. I normally use dish washing liquid when I want to completely strip off the wax and oils on the paint surface, but I only had the stuff with “bleach alternative” and fragrance and wasn’t sure if that would be completely safe, so the only thing that I had that didn’t have the additional “stuff” was this. Tide Free. Use sparingly though. Maybe a tablespoon for half a 5 gallon bucket.
I’ve had the car for 2 years now and I have never claybar’d it. So to make sure that I have an absolutely clean surface, I claybar’d it after the wash.
This is the clay before usage.
This is after usage and some kneading. And you thought a wash was just enough.
Now I don’t have a sunroof, so it’s a bit harder to tell which piece is the front and which is the back, so lay it out on your roof before peeling off the backing and make sure you know which piece is which.
Starting with the front piece I peeled back about a fourth of the sheet. When you peel it back, make sure you wet the sticky surface with the soapy water solution. Just sponge a whole rag full of the soapy water. The more the better. You may find that a spray bottle with the soapy solution works better. Make sure it’s soaking wet and definitely make sure that it doesn’t stick to itself. If the sticky sides touch, it’s really hard to pull apart. If it does take your time and pull them apart slowly.
Ok. This is kinda hard to show because I didn’t take enough pics, but what I did here was flip the entire sheet so that the sticky side that is exposed is now on the surface. It’s ok if it sticks to the roof. This would actually help you to pull the rest of the backing off.
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I had a lot of problems pulling the rest of the backing off because I made the surface extremely wet and it wouldn’t hold it enough. I found that no matter how wet you make the overlay it will always stick to glass, so I pulled the overlay down a bit so that I have something holding the overlay still while I peeled the rest of the backing off. Now you see why this really should be a two man install?
As you peel of the backing, make sure you sponge liberally some soapy water on the surface. This will help you slide the overlay into position later.
Remember how the vinyl sticking to the glass helped you pull the backing off? Well, now it’s hindering you from sliding the overlay into place. So to keep it off of the glass I placed 2 wet towels underneath it. This allowed me to slide the overlay into position. NOW YOU SEE WHY THIS SHOULD BE A TWO MAN INSTALL???!?!?!?!??!?!?
Now it slides into place.
The way the overlay was cut, there should be about 1/8 - 1/4 inch of material to play with and should tuck nicely into the crack.
Shot of the passenger side.
Now wrap your highest outstanding balance credit card that you have in your wallet with a wet rag. Start from the center and …
Pull towards you.
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All the way to the edge. This will squeegee out all of the water from underneath. Do this for the rest of the surface.
Take the card out of the towel and squeegee the vinyl from the edge…
Into the crack. This will round the vinyl around the corner and help tuck it into the crack.
BlueBatmobile’s overlays are very precisely cut, but if you find yourself with a little extra overlay at the edge because you wern’t precise or if you stretched it a bit, then just take your card and run it down to the very edge. This will crease the vinyl and from there you can CAREFULLY cut the extra off with a SHARP razorblade. In fact, you really should be using a brand new razor. Even a slightly dull blade could snag the vinyl and pull it off the surface and make you do extra work. Note that I DID NOT cut the extra overlay at this point. At the front of the car is a rubber covering that covers the joint between the windshield and the roof. I simply tucked the overlay underneath that rubber covering. If you have a sunroof, I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing and you can tuck underneath that as well.
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One piece done. On to the next one.
Damn XM antenna.
Using the same process, peel off the backing and move the overlay into place.
Position the second piece right up against the first. You might find that the edge doesn’t butt up snugly. It does. You just have to pull here and there to “stretch” the vinyl to get it snug up to the first piece. Don’t mind that piece of black electrical tape. That was my failed attempt to hold the overlay in place while I pulled the paper backing off earlier.
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Ok. Before you cut the vinyl, make sure that the seam is tight, the driver and passenger side edges are in place, and the majority of wrinkles and bubbles are removed. If you’re not in place and you cut, you may find that you cut too much in one direction.
Smooth out the rest of the surface.
Now start cutting off the excess vinyl.
Getting there.
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Almost done.
DONE!
That’s why I like Diamon Graphite.
I guess this is kind of an artistic photo.
I like it. I like it a lot. I would say that this install is much more difficult than the typical tail light or head light overlay install for one man just because of its sheer size. I will say though that I think I have the most difficult setup: no sunroof and XM antenna. That configuration just means a much bigger seam to match and more time cutting to fit the antenna. If I had a helper, I’m sure I could have done this in about 90 minutes vs. 4 hours doing it by myself. But if you just like to work on your car, you want a subtle yet effective change, and want a change that you don’t have to commit to, then BlueBatmobile’s roof overlay is a really good choice. And cheap!
If you like to see my tail light overlay install, go to my How-To section. You’ll find it there.