badtziscool.com - Automotive

I got these vinyl overlays from a G35Driver.com forum member, but you can get them from another G35Driver.com member named BlueBatmobile. He makes vinyl overlays for various vehicles. You can find them here. I chose the tGTR 6/10 (darker) style for the G35 coupe. Looks the best in my opinion. Here’s how I installed them.

 

Here’s how the car looks like before the overlays.

 

These are the overlays.

 

Peel the vinyl overlays off of its paper backing and drop them in a bucket of soapy water. I just filled up the bucket half way and put one or two squirts of Joy dishwashing soap. You’ll want to do only one at a time. Make sure it doesn’t stick to itself.

 

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Before you slap on the overlay, be sure to wash the surface clean but leave it wet. I washed it with the same soapy solution I had in the bucket. The dishswashing liquid will ensure that any wax or oily residue on the surface will be removed.

 

After you have a clean surface, take the overlay out of the bucket and just slap them on the lens.

 

Then start aligning the overlays. Don’t worry if you have bubbles and wrinkles. Just make sure the majority of it is where you want it to be.

 

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Then take a plastic card (preferrably one that you don’t use), wrap it in a cloth and start scraping the bubbles out. Use light pressure and work from the inside to the outside. When you start to do this, you’ll find that on the flat and relatively flat surfaces, the vinyl lays smooth, but towards the edge and around tight corners and curves it’s hard to get smooth. Don’t worry, this is where the next step comes in. Also, don’t be afraid to peel off the vinyl and re-wet and start over. Sometimes it just easier to do that if certain parts are already starting to dry and become hard to slide.

 

As you can see, when I came around this tight corner, wrinkes appeared. It’s nearly impossible to get these out without using a hair dryer or a heat gun. Be sure that everything is where you want it to be. Once you heat up the vinyl and shape it to the lens, it tends to take that shape, making repositioning a bit more difficult, although not impossible. If you use a heat gun, be EXTRA careful. Those things put out tremendous heat and will EASILY melt the overlay and damage the bumper, lens, etc. When you start heating up the surface, you can see the vinyl sort of “relax” and become more compliant. Take the hair dryer away, and work the wrinkle smooth with the card. Go slow and use light pressure. The vinyl at this point is very soft and can easily crease. Remember, you can always lift up a portion of it, re-wet the area, and do-over if you need to.

 

Once you get it all pretty much smooth, you should have some overhang. Simply slide your card towards the edge and follow the curve into the crevice. Once in the crevice, just lift the card. This will apply pressure and let the vinyl adhere to the lens. Remember, this is also a tight curve, so you’ll have to apply some heat with the hair dryer to make it comply.

 

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One side done. I know. It’s slightly misaligned. The camera angle makes it appear worse than it really is. Don’t worry if you notice small bubbles. They’ll disappear once it completely dries. For larger bubbles, you can use a pin and poke a small hole in it and squeeze out the fluid. Just like when you pop a zit!!!

 

Repeat for the other side.

 

Step back and admire.

 

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Comparison shot.

 

This is my very first time installing any type of vinyl material and it took me a total of 1.5 hours, and the majority of it on the first lens. I’m sure if I had to do it again it would take me about 45min to an hour. This is definitely a DIY and it’s such a subtle but effective mod.

If you like to see my roof overlay install, go to my How-To section.  You’ll find it there

Enjoy!