3M Di-Noc Roof Wrap

[xerox445]

So today I decided to dive right into wrapping my roof in 3M Di-Noc matte carbon fiber vinyl. This was my first real attempt at working with vinyl at any sort, so it took me quite awhile to get it right. Because of the way this material is, you can't just heat it up and stretch the shit out of it, as the weave gets all dull and wacky. This job is WAY easier with 2 people, so if you go to do it yourself get ready to reposition the vinyl about a million times.

I didn't take pictures of everything as I was doing it, but I went back and took some more pics after the job was done to give you a basic run down of how I did it. Please excuse the quality of the pictures, I took them with my cell phone, as my DSLR is getting fixed at Nikon

Here is most of the tools and materials I used:


Basicly a few squeegees, some 3M #94 adhesion promoter, rapid-tac, razor blades, a heat gun, and a plastic scraper.

I started by first using the Quick Detailer on the hood to remove some of the gunk just sitting on the car, as it was parked under a tree the night before. Then I took a large common screwdriver, and used it to pry the roof trim up on each side, from the back of the car to the front.



The trims popped off very easy and I didn't break any of the clips. I read that these clips break very easy, so I had purchased 10 of them from Dan@United at like .63 cents a “pop”, but ended up not having to use them.

After the roof trims were off, there was a lot of gunk and wax in the channels, so I used the Quick Detailer to clean them out with a micro-fiber cloth.

Next I opened the sunroof up, pushed down the air diffuser, and locked it in place with 2 small machine screws I had laying around. One on each side.



Finally I needed to remove the antenna cover, and antenna. I got some strong nylon string, and threaded it in between the roof and the cover. Working it back and forth, basicly "cutting" the adhesive that holds the cover on. Starting from the front you can only go about a inch and a half down till you hit the antenna inside it, so go at it from all angles with the string. I use this string instead of floss as the floss seems to break all the time, this stuff is much more durable. It actually seems to get more of the adhesive off the car itself, instead of leaving a bunch of gummed up crap on the roof.



Now that you have the cover off, you need to remove the antenna module. It requires a T30 torx, and comes off with relative ease. You then slide the antenna back a bit and it will release, allowing you to pull it out. It has 4 wires, with some pretty heavy duty clips on them. Remove all 4 (they are color coded), and set the antenna aside. I pushed the wires back inside the roof, and with the red plastic scraper I removed the rest of the adhesive on the roof. You don't have to go to crazy here, as its going to be covered by the Di-Noc, but its good to get it flat at least.

At this point I used the Rapid Tac on the entire roof, and wiped it down again with a micro-fiber cloth. You can leave the rapid tac on, and do a wet install also. I did a dry install as once you have the piece positioned you don’t need to move the entire piece much, more just stretching it to get the seams out.

I measured the roof and needed about 5 feet of the material to cover and have plenty left to work with. I laid the vinyl down, with the backing still on it, and got it positioned as strait as I could manage.

Next, from the middle I cut half of the white backer off and peeled it from the middle towards the front of the car. With the back half still attached to the white wax backer paper, I started applying the material. After that was done, removed the other half and worked on the back half. The back half was the hardest part and required me to pull it back up a million times and work it with the heat gun. Make sure you use a squeegee with a felt side, otherwise you will scratch the weave. This took the longest, go slow and do small portions at a time. If you have 2 people this is way easier, as one person and pull and heat the Di-Noc, while the other person uses the squeegee.

Now that it was all down, I had to trim and tuck the edges. I started with the left and right side. This is when I applied the 3M #94 adhesion promoter, in the channels. Then I just wrapped it down into the channel then cut the excess out with a exacto knife.

Next was the back, again I applied the 3M #94, then I heated the vinyl up, and used the squeegee to push it under the molding, stretching it from both sides. I trimmed again, under the rubber molding of the rear window this time. I noticed the vinyl was not as tight as I would like and wasn’t sticking good in that gap. So... right at the edge of the roof, is another very fine body line, where the metal transitions. I heated up the vinyl again and used the plastic end of the squeegee to run "a line" down the back, from left to right. This tightened it right up, and after a little more time with the heat gun, it came out great.



Working to the front window, I did the same thing, except this time I used 2 squeegees. One to lift the window molding up and the other one to push the vinyl underneath it.

Upon completion of the front, I got into the car and applied the 3M #94 to the edge of the sunroof, I used a small disposable paint brush to do this. I heat gunned the sunroof hole and stretched the vinyl around tightly, and trimmed. Went ahead and also removed the bolts from the wind diffuser at this point.





Finally I cut out the hole for the antenna, and screw that holds it in. You also need to make 2 more holes for the dowels on the cover so it can be aligned. After reattaching the antenna wires, I tightened it down, and used 3M double sided tape to secure the cover. There is almost no gap, as you can see.





The roof trim just snaps back in place, and your all set! Try the sunroof out a couple of times to make sure its not getting caught on anything you missed while trimming, and your good to go. Hope you enjoyed!

I also did this the other day for practice, but mostly just to cover up the scratches the asshole gas station attendants put on the cover, trying to pry it open, instead of just pushing it....

[Chris_B]

I've worked with vinyl materials for over a year now.
It's fairly simple but if you overheat its just unforgiving.

I have to say you did a GREAT job with it. It looks super clean, specially the sunroof portion and antenna.

From the looks of it, it seems you didn't have to stretch it too much, only for the curves of the sunroof, but still looks great! It definitely flows nicely with your car.

Also good idea with the gas tank cover, but hold on?
You don't fill up your own car with gas? Lol!

Anyway. Major Props for DIY, and congratulations mate!

[xerox445]

Originally Posted by Chris_B

I've worked with vinyl materials for over a year now.
It's fairly simple but if you overheat its just unforgiving.

I have to say you did a GREAT job with it. It looks super clean, specially the sunroof portion and antenna.

From the looks of it, it seems you didn't have to stretch it too much, only for the curves of the sunroof, but still looks great! It definitely flows nicely with your car.

Also good idea with the gas tank cover, but hold on?
You don't fill up your own car with gas? Lol!

Anyway. Major Props for DIY, and congratulations mate!

I live in Jersey. We pump our fists, not our gas.

[Sylon]

Great write-up, I've really been thinking about doing this on my car. I'll be referring to this write-up if I do.

[RaihaX]

looks good definitely i would love to do when I have some time but probably with gloss black wrap

[BMW86]

Excellent write up. Best one I've seen so far. Any reason why you didn't wrap the trims and would it be easy?

[HISI808]

Looks good. How long did this take?

[xerox445]

Originally Posted by BMW86

Excellent write up. Best one I've seen so far. Any reason why you didn't wrap the trims and would it be easy?

Thanks. I thought about it, but decided against it for now. To wrap them, it would be pretty easy, you could probly even do it with them on the car.

It also is going to cover the latches if you want to use a roof rack.

Originally Posted by HISI808

Looks good. How long did this take?

Total time took me about 2 1/2 hours. I could probly bang it out in like an hour now that I did one already.

[BMW86]

Is the 3M #94 needed? Also, I'm a bit confused as to how you folded and tucked the edges in, especially around the front and in and around the sunroof. Yours looks really neat and tidy.

[xerox445]

Originally Posted by BMW86

Is the 3M #94 needed? Also, I'm a bit confused as to how you folded and tucked the edges in, especially around the front and in and around the sunroof. Yours looks really neat and tidy.

You could probably do without the #94, but if you use it, you never have to worry about a edge rolling up. You don't cover the whole roof, you just apply it around the edges.

For the edges, you have to use the heat gun to strech the material around the sunroof. Then you trim it and just fold it around.

For the Front and the rear you just trim it and push it under the moldings with your squegee.

[DTNJNQ]

Is this the 3M Di-Noc CA421 Carbon Fibre vinyl or the newer 3M 1080-series Carbon Fibre vinyl ?

I read that the new 1080 series is better for exterior use

[xerox445]

This is Di-Noc.

[sardius]

this looks great, job well done