Who does Vinyl Wrapping Here? Need Advice

I want to wrap a piece of vinyl trim on the Molvo. The plan is to use a burl wrap over the center crashpad on the Miata dash.

My concern is that there is a texture on the part and I am thinking this will come through the wrap. Any suggestions on how to approach this? The crashpad does come off the dash.

Pete

Hi Pete,

My brother is in the business. I’ll send him an email and see what he thinks. His shop is in Perth, ON. 

Paul

Hi Pete,

Here’s my brother Dave’s contact info:

https://www.signdesignperth.com/

He says that as long as the dash pad is solid, there should be no problem and you’d get good results that will last.

However if it’s padded it would likely not last very long. Feel free to call him. 

Thanks, Paul 

You mean the "tombstone" as I think this is usually called in MX-5 circles?  That central stack of stuff made of black plastic?

I've got a vinyl plotter and I've done wrapping.  It will be challenging to get vinyl to stick to that textured soft-touch surface and last.

If it was hard plastic or smooth, it would be easier.  

If you clean it really good and prep the surface with some spray adhesive and use a thick vinyl, it will look good for a while.  Or if you can get an extra pad and scrape all the soft touch stuff off to bare plastic, it will work better.

Thanks all, I think the message is that is is not going to work because of both the soft nature of the part and the raised grain pattern.

Have to give it some thought. Maybe glass over the whole thing or just forget about it for now.

Curious about where to set expectations for wraps to last on interior applications? I have heard that 3 years is about all you should plan for with body-wraps.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

Before you give up, try making a fiberglass mold of the whole dash. Then you can make a fiberglass part ( or carbon fiber )  and if you still want to wrap it.  Making a mold wouldn’t be that hard. For me about a weekends worth of work. 

If interested I’ll walk you through the process 

In reply to NOHOME :

Pete, feel free to call Dave: his number is in the link above. He’s been in the business for a long time and is a huge car guy. He’s seen your build thread and loves what you’re building. He might be able to offer suggestions. 

In reply to eastpark :

that sounds like a good idea.

As hard as it might be for some people to believe, I am trying to minimize the need for more epic fabrication projects before I can drive the Molvo. I COULD just stab the factory dash in there, but if it is not a huge deal I would like to retro-ize it a bit. The wrap sounded like the easy button till now.

Seriously Jonesing for the thing to come back from the paint shop. Supposed to be painted today and then sit for at least a week-end eaning that soonest I can get me and tow vehicle there is next week-end! Arrrggghhh!

Pete

What's underneath the crash pad - is there a flat piece of metal, or is it just open?  I'm wondering if it could simply be removed, and then replaced with a piece of plywood or something that could be veneered with burl.  It would be a project, but not necessarily a big one.

In reply to stuart in mn :

It's molded plastic, not flat. I think maybe a honey comb type of pattern but it's been awhile since I've had one off.