My Z has looked rough since the day I bought it. Clear coat was peeling and cracking, the bumper was destroyed, etc. I would’ve loved to paint the car properly but I don’t have a garage to work in, so I had to do a driveway-friendly paint job. That’s why I decided on vinyl.
Overall this project required 5 ft × 42 ft of vinyl which cost about $370. I also bought a $15 application kit on Amazon. It took maybe 5–6 hours of prep (sanding clear coat down, removing trim and adhesive, etc.) and then about 18 hours of wrapping.
Wrapping vinyl is tough. I think a boxy car like this may be even tougher than modern cars. Watching YouTube barely helped. I did get a little better over time but I still haven’t figured out how to do boxy corners well. By the end I embraced seams for the bumpers — cutting the vinyl and butting it up against a new piece looks way better than wrinkles.
Overall the vinyl looks awesome. From 5 feet away it looks great; up close is where it starts to show issues.
Before
After Swapping Bumper and Some Prep
The Finished Wrap
Showing Off Some Defects
Up close is where it gets less pretty.
