Does anyone know the estimated length needed to wrap a c5z06? Will I need 15, 20, 25, 30, etc feet of it?

 

Unsure but, your nearest wrap shop should have an indication if they've already done a C5? It may be possible to "guesstimate" by taking length and width measurements, such as 15 feet x 8 feet to get a good idea what you may require. little extra won't hurt in case one of the panels gets damaged, you have extra wrap readily available and on hand. perhaps wrap the front fascia twice? After a while, the front may get damaged by rock chips. Just peel it off and you have a brand new fascia waiting underneath.

 

Since I'm doing it myself I doubt a shop will spill the beans but I'll try that. According to just a little math I should need like 200sq/ft but that seems like a **** ton

 

Break it down by panel and not sq feet. You will most likely wrap as follows.

Front bumper
Hood
Front fender/door/rear fender (rolling up to trunk lid)
Roof
Trunklid
Rear bumper.

I'm planning to wrap the back face of my rear bumper and I estimate at a 4ft x 6ft piece...so there is 24 sq ft. They come in varying sizes but typically they are standard 5ft wide rolls cut to whatever length they offer.

 

To do it right there is a ton of waste too.

 

that's really not a ton... considering that it is 10Ft X 20 ft.. if you measure the car from one lower rocker panel, up and across the top and down the other side.. it will be about ten ft. if you measure from the bottom of the rear fascia up the fascia across the hatch and top, and down the hood and further down the front fascia, its going to be close to 20 ft. = 200 sq. ft.

 

I would say whatever the length of the car is x4. And that is if you don't mess anything up.

 

This website provides a formula -- https://www.carwrapsupplier.com/faq/...y-wrap-my-car/

 

Just did the measuring. Was almost spot on with this. Its 59.x so 60+ft it is

 

I have a buddy locally that does wraps. He suggested I get 75-80 linear feet of 5 foot wide vinyl. You are going to have a significant amount of waste...it's the nature of the beast.
There are a couple of good threads if you search the forum from members that have wrapped their car previously. Good luck.

 

Yea I found several threads but not one that mentioned the amount for the c5. I'll probably post a write up on it. My plan will be to take as many of the panels off as possible to maximize product and do it right. Especially because I've never done this before. All the fenders will be coming off for sure

 

I did my car in 45 ft, VERY strategically, and I left the rear bumper black like the C5R. If you're talking about entire car, 55ft is the minimum and no real margin for error. I didn't do the entire side of the car, as one either. I did the quarter, door, fender separately, and was strategic about my use of material for each fender and used as much waste as possible. If you're doing the full side as a slab, you may need to go 60. Once you've bought 60, there's almost no point in buying anything less than a full roll, in order to have repair material. I did indeed, do my car in 3m satin white pearl in 45 though....car below. I also did the top in one piece with only one seam in the back centered behind the window. I've seen shops do it in two...essentially the shaped top part, then the base, with the seams, where the base meets the top and goes upward.

If you've never wrapped before, you're picking a tough car to start with...the front bumper is tough, the top is tough, and the fender coves can make you overstretch the material. Talk about a tough front bumper though...that stupid challenger I did below...whew...what a *****...

 

Man you did the challenger in on gigantic piece that's crazy. I'm actually more concerned about the top than the front bumper. I wont be doing the back and I'm using Averys white pearl. I'm hoping it will be a little more forgiving than the 3m.

I have a set of wide body fenders I'm going to start with. They have been sitting in my closest for 2.5 years

 

I would advise AGAINST taking panels off the car. You need to be able to pull the material at times and stretch it while adding heat and if a panel is on the table it will move. I removed a Fbody Z28 spoiler (since it is so low to the trunklid) and it was a PITA to wrap it since it would move.

I don't see a need/reason to remove panels. There are techniques to trim material properly and roll it around the edges to create the finished look. Youtube will be your friend.

Find more videos from the following guys, they have nice step by step videos explaining the process.

Again, go panel by panel. Square off each piece then add them together to see how much total you need adding at least 6" to each perimeter edge. Yes you will have a lot of waste doing a whole car.

 

If you're doing the rear like me, you MUST use knifeless tape if you want a good result. Be sure to lay down the knifeless, then really squeegie and heat the wrap to conform exactly to the knifeless...some guys leave a small air gap then get pissy if it cuts sloppy. If you use knifeless tape properly, it's the godsend.

Top was a *****, but I had about 10 cars under my belt by the time I did the Z. You REALLY need to get a feel for how the wrap wants to be manipulated, and your first car is going to be overstretching, some failures possibly, etc. If its your first car, I say you MUST buy a 75ft roll, no less, because something is gonna go bad...either during the initial install, or a failure not long after your done. Wrap takes a feel that is just very hard to become instinctive with until you've done a couple cars.

3m vs Avery.....well...honestly, I'm going to say, for a beginner, I think 3m is more forgiving. Avery is great, but I've had more failures with Avery, simply because it stretches so damn good and cleanly, that I felt like I was able to over yield the material and thought it was good to go. Avery slides around easier, but frankly I never felt married to that feature...3m you just learn the tugs and pulls to get it up, and it doesn't really tack down hard until there is pressure. Satin's in 3m feel heavy duty and tough compared to Avery's satins...that's a good and a bad thing. Frankly, 3m and Avery are quite the competitor because it's crazy how the product can be so different in a way, but yet both so good in their own right. It's really tough. The Challenger has 3m Plum Explosion, but the mirrors are Avery Satin Pearl Nero (the next color for my C5Z).

Like stated above, wrapping with panels removed will quickly become a nightmare, because you need both hands to wrap and having a panel move around just makes things extremely difficult. You can certainly do it...I've done bumpers off the car, but...the sh*t can get real tricky.

I did the whole side as one on the Challenger just simply to avoid seams anywhere, as the quarter, B and A pillar are all one metal piece, so seams compromise the look. Naturally then the door gets done in the process. I have done cars without doing this, and frankly the seam doesn't offend me and no one generally cares. If you seam things, then replacement becomes less of an issue and you're over it.

I seamed my gf's old BMW right at the rocker/B pillar and no one ever knew the difference

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm also going with avery because I like their gloss pearl white better. I'm gonna start with the sides and the hood/trunk I may leave the roof and side black depending on how it looks after I do the bottom half. I'm gonna save it for last. I watched a video using that tape and had planned on using it! It looked like it helped the guy out tremendously on the c6 he was wrapping.

Is there anyway to tell I've over stretched the material or is it just a wait and find out kind of deal?

 

KITT ... your cars look great !!

Question - Have you tried applying wrap to wheels with any success?

 

There is also Vivvid vinyl that also has "air release" technology making it easy to avoid air bubbles.

 

You have to experiment with it...you can feel the tension in it, but there is also an aspect of really controlling your heat. It can get away from you. Take a bucket, put a piece over the bucket, sealed around the edges...heat it up, then push your fist into a little. Heat it, let it spring back...do it again, etc...pushing harder and harder. You see the point where it won't reflex entirely back, and discoloration occurs. Luckily, white will mask errors versus say...that damn plum explosion I did...*****....had to be very careful because that wasn't very tolerant vs other colors.

Thanks. I have done wheels, it's tedious of course, but it holds up depending on where you live, and how much rain you see. Hard part is trimming and dealing with the complexity and not razor marking the wheel. There are methods to using vinyl line tape beneath, to just cut the vinyl, etc. I try to use the knifeless tape anywhere and everywhere possible

Technically they all have that, just looks a little different on each brand. They all have "escape" technology though, versus the old world vinyls that once they stuck together, or had bubbles...it was game over. This stuff is mega tolerant...like unbelievable tolerant.

 

K.I.T.T -- How did you handle the coves on the front fenders on your Z? I have seen where some people will actually use a smaller piece to fill that area then lay a whole sheet and cut out the cove and hide the seam. Or were you able to do that as a single piece?

I was looking at using something like this but not sure if I'm ready for that challenge...yet. lol
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GEOMETRIC-W...nV6VSFTk9ybaZA