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Items Needed:
- Spray Bottle with water/dishwashing soap mixture (only use 1-2 drops of soap for every 32oz of water)
- Heat Gun or Blow Dryer
- Plastic Squeegee or Credit Cards
- Clean Rags
- Tape
- Razor Blade and Scissors
- 2-4 hours of adequate time for installation
- A friend to help
Step 1:
Spread out the vinyl over the roof
and tape it down on all four corners.
Cut off any excess
vinyl from the
front, side, back.
Leave about 2 inches
of overhang. The
more overhang you
have, the safer you
are. Just, too much
becomes a bit
annoying to handle.
(ONLY FOR CARS WITH XM FIN ATENNAS!)
Cut a four inch slit from front to back where your antennae fin is
and fit it in there and make additional cuts to make it fit.
Do not over cut as you will adjust this later and tuck the
excess in under the fin.
Step 2:
Once you got a general size and slit for the fin(if you
have a fin antenna), you want to peel off the vinyl, from
front to back. This is where you could use an extra set of
hands. As you pull off the vinyl and bend it back towards
the trunk a few inches at a time, you take the spray bottle of soap
water and generously spray soap water onto the
bottom of the vinyl (the sticky part). Keeping it moist
prevents the vinyl from sticking, but still be careful about
the vinyl sticky parts sticking together. Only spray the
bottom of the vinyl and not the backing paper. The
backing paper will not remove from the vinyl if it gets
wet!
Your trash should look like this image with the backing
paper and excess vinyl cut that are no longer needed.
Step 3:
Once you have peeled the vinyl, you and your helping hand want to stretch the vinyl down onto your roof. Stretch it enough so that it matches the curvature of the roof. Generally, stretching will leave stretch marks where your hands were, but that is why you have excess along the sides. Throughout this stretching and roughly fitting process, you want to spray under the vinyl and on top of the roof so that it remains slippery so you can make adjustments. Also, do not apply to much pressure as you could rip the vinyl. You and your partner managed to get as close to a stretched curve to the roof, set it down and tape down the sides (It might be a little tough since it might be wet). Dont worry too much about the bubbles at this point, they will be removed using the heat gun.
Flatten things out and push out the bubbles with a credit card covered by a towel. Using a heat gun on the bubbles will allow the vinyl to shrink and remove any stubborn bubbles. Start with the middle and work your way to the corners. Its kind of like using the credit card as a squeegee to remove the air pockets. Cover it with a layer of towel/rag so that the credit card doesnt scratch the vinyl. Do a rough job of it, and adjust the taping/stretching as you see fit. Dont forget to continue to spray along the edges to allow you to make adjustments. Be careful of creasing the vinyl where air pockets are rather large
Step 4:
Once you have got a general nice application and tuck, you want to take a brand new razor (new so that its sharp and wont snag on the vinyl) and cut until theres only 1 inch excess around the rims. In order to avoid cutting into the paint, use an old credit card under the vinyl and cut onto the credit card. Make sure you keep an excess of at least 1 inch of vinyl, and at the corners even more to be safe. You should end up with something like this:
Step 5:
(only if you have a fin antenna)
Work on the fin now by tucking in the excess with your credit card. Creases and bubbles will form. Its a simple matter of patience and applying pressure to get rid of them while using the heat gun. If you didnt stretch the vinyl over enough, you will end up with excess vinyl in the middle that creates one big crease. In that case, use time and patience with the heat gun to work out the air pocket.
Step 6:
(only if you have a sunroof)
Using the razor blade cut out the sunroof area by making a small incision along the indent of the sunroof around the edges. You want to leave again about 1 inch excess so you would cut a smaller rectangle than what the sunroof forms. After the first incision, use the credit card cutting technique so you dont cut your sunroof or molding. Tuck in the edges using a heat gun and credit card.
Step 7:
Now to work on the finishing touches! Repeat step 3 using a heat gun to work out any excess bubbles around the edges. Using the credit card, tuck in any excess vinyl under the moldings to get a clean look. Cut off any excess vinyl as needed to tuck in the edges. Continue using the heat gun on any bubbles that form during this process. Any tiny bubbles will disappear in a few days from the heat of the sunlight. The small air bubbles will exhaust themselves through the vinyl from the heat.
Your finished project should look like this:
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