Dashboard Film Help, Trying to install dashboard film myself, 's a bitch! Options

[se99jmk]

Hi guys,

I picked up some dashboard styling film from a company named Folia Tec, it's a metallic flip-flop green/purple.
I went with film because I wanted a non-permanent solution, otherwise spray is probably the way ahead.

I've done one small section so far (will post a pic soon), but it's not easy, ended up with a couple of bumps and jagged edges.

Can anyone help me out with some tips/suggestions? step-by-step process with pictures pretty please?

Went on a web hunt for instructions and got Folia Tec's own stuff, but it wasn;t too helpfull.

thanks guys,

jamie

[blu94gt]

hmmm I've never heard of it, but my guess is it would apply in a similar method as window tint? Maybe look up some tips and tricks for tinting windows to help with this film

[djultimate]

Although I'm a DJ full time, I have a 2nd job at a vinyl grpahics shop so I work with this stuff all day. Here's what I would do:
use a wet application fluid. you can use a mixture of 2 parts rubbing alcohol and 1 part water. Spray a mist this fluid onto the surface and then another light mist onto the film. This will allow you to move the film after it is applied. Once you get it into the position you want it, use a squeegee to remove excess fluid from between the surface and the film. Once it dries completely it will become sticky. Also to get the film to conform a little more around the tricky spots (and to help the fluid dry a little faster), use a heat gun and SLIGHTLY heat the film as you apply it. DO NOT USE TOO MUCH HEAT or it will make the film shrink and it will look like crap. GOOD LUCK. Let me know if you need more help.

[se99jmk]

Thanks guys!

That wet surface mist thing sounds like a great trick, haven't heard that one before!

I think my main problem stems from the fact I'm trying to apply it to car parts (internal, the plastic sections), which tend to have round corners both on the edges and in the middle of the piece.
Also it arrives as one large piece of film and has to be cut to specific size for the part, so cutting around things like the grill can be tricky.

When i tried to pull it around the corners of the plastic piece, I ended up with folded areas on the external corners where there was too much material (as will happen when you place a flat piece of film on a rounded corner). Also on internal corners like grills, I had to make a cut in all four corners to be able to get the material to stretch around it. after that it doesn't lay flat particularly well...

djultimate, with that mist surface, how long do I have before the stickiness sets in? seconds/minutes etc?

Thanks again for you help guys, seriously, I'll get you some pictures to show off my first attempt.. (not pretty I can tell you!)

in the mean time, here are the instrucitons provided:
http://foliatec.de/pflege/_e/montage/index...s_id=95&search=
and a product link
http://v2-en.foliatec.de/shu_cms/index.php?kid=17 (mine's the flip-flop film in the bottom left)

any more suggestions you guys have, especially for corners, are most appreciated!

[djultimate]

Heat will be your best bet for the corners. If you are having trouble getting it to stick to those parts take a soft new paint brush (like you would use to paint your house) and cut the bristles so that they are about 1.5 inches long (this will make them more firm) and you can use the brush to press the film down into little crevaces you can't get into with a squeegee.

[se99jmk]

As I said, here's some pics of my first attempt:
(sorry for the size, haven;t had time to resize them yet..)


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As you can see it didn;t fit terribly well around the wheel, and cutting around that buttom at the top is a biatch.
other than that, as a first attempt, not too bad ;-p