And it’s a wrap! Let the S2K’s transformation commence….
Vehicle wraps have been a game-changer on the car scene this last few years. And with very good reason. They’re bloody awesome. Years ago a full car colour change would take weeks, but not anymore. Nope, it takes days. Not only that, but the choice of finishes and colours is expanding every day, as are the companies that offer vinyl. However, one thing remains the same. The world leaders in wraps, is, was and will always be, 3M car wraps.
So what makes 3M vinyl different? Some very clever technology, that’s what. You see 3M’s sticky stuff (the 3M 1080 Series Wrap Film in particular) has been developed specifically for ease of positioning and application. There are even a couple of patented advancements built in.
The first is a Controltac adhesive, which allows the film to glide over the paint surface minimising sticking until you apply pressure. Forget any stickers you’ve ever applied – this stuff really is nothing like you think it will be. The second is Comply technology, namely microscopic channels in the sticky-side which help you push out air bubbles. In other words, not all films are equal. In fact they don’t even come close! So as you can probably guess, when it came to choosing the right wrap material for our S2000, the decision wasn’t hard.
Now it’s all good having amazing materials, but you also need the fitters with the right skill set. Trust us. There are a lot of cowboy wrappers about, so choose carefully. Thankfully 3M also have that covered, with their 3M AVW (Authorised Vehicle Wrappers) programme, a scheme that awards only the best of the best and makes it a lot easier to find the true diamonds in amongst the rocks.
There’s some great 3M AVWs in the UK. But as we do like to be beside the seaside and it’s summer, we thought we’d leave our S2000 in the very capable hands of It’s A Wrap UK, in sunny Worthing.
Within minutes of dropping the car off, production manager Charlie Boutwood talked to us about the plan of action and explained they would do their best to get rid of as many imperfections in the bodywork before the wrap. He explained the importance of prep in a good wrap, and that quite often as much time goes into the prep as the actual wrap. In his words: “No decent wrap can be done in a day.”
So, what colour did we go for? Well, with 3M’s super new range of eleven 1080 colours and ten 1380 colours, it was a pretty hard choice. But, we went for Satin Thundercloud, a kind of bluey grey colour.
But you will have to wait until next month for the full reveal. Well unless you’ve already seen the car at the Fast Car Festival, Japfest Donington or have seen the awesome 3M Wraps UK Facebook video.
You haven’t? Oh well. Looks like you will be waiting till our next projects update then, caveman.
Spent this month:
3M 1080 car wrap £TBC
It’s A Wrap UK labour £TBC
Total: £TBC
Total car and build spend so far: £8,526
**WIN THIS CAR**
For your chance to get your hands on this car look out for the Competition Station tent in the main paddock area of the following shows; Ultimate Street Car – Santa Pod 4th-6th August, TRAX – Silverstone 1st October. The winner will be drawn at TRAX at Silverstone on 1st October 2017.
