Advice on Flame Kits

[ptgeebee]

I had and the optimum word is HAD the same ones on my PT. After about 6 months they started to shrink and the car color showed around the forward edges of the doors, wheelwells and headlights so when you install make sure you bring them slightly forward to allow for the shrinkage problem. Also after 2 years they started to ridge up in the middle and I couldn't get them to lay flat again so I now have painted flames. Good luck.

[2_2COOL]

Around edges we take the vinyl (wet application) & apply it, then use the squeege to press the vinyl into the indent some. This puts just a little extra material into the edges so they fully wrap around! Don't forget to clean those inner edges (91% isopropyl alcohol & q tips work well). This is a great time to have a brand new exacto blade for those cut edges.
If you have OC tendencies I am SURE you'll do fine. I know I am totally OC when it comes to my PT...and it helps when tasks like this pop up.

Can you find "Rapid Tac" fluid where you are? It's a million times better than self made application fluid. It dries quickly & you get a nice bond. I have used the joy/water combo myself & it does work...but the vinyl failed after 2 years. The ones I've used with Rapic Tac have never failed. Maybe just coincidence?? Who knows? But...still.
As for the heat gun...you probably wouldn't even need that if the vinyl is just old but not damaged. I just wait for a hot day & pull them off. They come up easy enough. Once damaged NOTHING helped remove the vinyl. I tried everything under the sun. What it boiled down to was tons of elbow grease, Goop Off, sore sore fingers, crying, cussing & lots & lots of time (my original flames were so damaged they had cracked & all the color layer had come off in places. They came off in pieces the size of ground pepper. Tiny little specs. I wanted to die. ).

[Robinh]

Rach, as OC as I am, I'm stopping by my friends shop (I do have friends, I pay them a lot to admit it) to pick up some Rapid Tac... after reading up on it, it seems to keep the vinyl in place better over time, reducing shrinkage (all guys will agree, shrinkage is not what you want), and extending the life of the decal...

[Dreamin2]

Originally Posted by Robinh

Rach, as OC as I am, I'm stopping by my friends shop (I do have friends, I pay them a lot to admit it) to pick up some Rapid Tac... after reading up on it, it seems to keep the vinyl in place better over time, reducing shrinkage (all guys will agree, shrinkage is not what you want), and extending the life of the decal...

yes shrinkage is not good, lol
Can't wait to see it in person

[Robinh]

Originally Posted by Dreamin2

yes shrinkage is not good, lol
Can't wait to see it in person

What, the PT or the Shrinkage??? lol

by the way, gorgeous PT!! If you're going to be at the AutoFair I might be showing there, depending on whether or not I get in (31 out of 30 that are registered, so someone has to back out or cancel for me to get in...figures...).

[GOLDMEMBER]

I love flames pass another helping of flames

[PTPreacher]

Hey goldmember,
A PT friend of mine was just bitten by the new Journey, I was telling him how much you liked yours...He drove one today, and they gave him a quote on it...
He couldn't stop talking about it....he said that it has the same tranny as the Pt.
He was facinated by the controls one the steering wheel and the Built in GPS..
What kind of milage do you get around town? They told him he should get 22
around town....

[Robinh]

Washed the car tonight, if the weather stays solid tomorrow I'll claybar and start the flames... wish me luck, never done this before...

[phatdad]

Use a break away blade razor knife . Use a pro wax remover like prep-sol bought at a body supply store clay bars do not remove all wax and if u have used a wax with silicone in it u will be screwed when u get bubbles 2 mths down the road . I owned a Trim=Line shop and did all kinds vinyl and wet application graphics. Take your time and no beer till u are done .

[Robinh]

Okay, followed all the good suggestions plus the vendor's... washed it twice, second time with a Mother's wax remover, clay barred the car, then washed each decal area with alcohol (vendor suggestion), toweled down between each cleaning with microfiber towels, so the car is cleaner than it's ever been since the day it was made.

Started my project tonight, and am totally exhausted, but thought I'd post one pic shot from the front of the car. Started at the back, did the easiest decal first, that was the gas cap, that was easy. Then the rear fenders, PITA, then the sports bar, getting better, then the headlights, and those look like a professional did them, then I made some hood flames just because I had extra and could modify them. All turned out great, still have front fenders and the windows to do tomorrow. I'd never suggest a decal virgin to do something like this as your first project - I'd say buy some cheap ones and cut them in different shapes, play around with putting them on your car, vertical and horizontal surfaces, and you'll find out how easy it is to screw them up pretty fast. They slide around almost too much when wet... anyway, by the time I was hitting my stride I felt like I knew what the heck I was doing. If I had it to do over again, I'd do the test decals as I suggest, because it takes just a bit of getting used to. Lining them up, and cutting around openings and seams is a PITA, but after doing the fourth one you're pretty much cruising...

So, here's a shot head on, too dark to take any others and I'm too tired. The blue at the top of the hood is painter's tape on new chrome windshield sprayers, and you can't really see the flames I put around those either.