DIY-Vinyl Bowties and SS/RS Inserts!!!

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Another easy mod brought to you by the Bad Karma!

Here goes:

Tired of trying to buy a set that looks good and fits right?? Well here we are, let's do it ourselves and make it right!


Items needed:
Vinyl (color of your choice)
Razor blade or X-Acto Knife(the sharper the better)
Qtips

Now, if you want to continue along the lines of "Grassroots" and "Ghetto" and "on the cheap" this tip might be of worth to you.

*Disclaimer-I have or had no intention of actually doing this but wanted to initiate some small talk to get what I needed here. So understand why I did it.

What I did was roll up into a vinyl shop and asked em a couple of basic questions about making vinyl banners. After talking "business" about the potential banner I might need him to make me for the Car Club, I asked "hey, by the way, would you happen to have some samples of the vinyl that you would use for the banner?" Of course he did and asked if there was a particular color or size. Knowing exactly what I wanted, I asked if he had any nice blue or orange. Of course he did and he was glad to "donate" a few 18" x 12" cutoff pieces for me.

Now, you can prolly get this stuff for a few bucks so follow your heart.....

Once you get your vinyl it's pretty cut and dry. I started out with the bowtie on the rear since it was a little bigger and seemed to be at the perfect working hieght of my shop stool.

Make sure your working surface is clean and free of debris. Same goes for your hands Holmes. Wash that lotion off!

Note: If you are paranoid about razor blades and your car getting together, go ahead and take this time to tape off the areas around where you intend to apply the vinyl. That way if you "slip" with the blade, the surface is protected somewhat. Not required, but if it makes you feel warm inside, knock it out now.

First thing is to take some scissors and cut a rectangle that will be large enough to cover the entire Bowtie. Once you cut the piece out, go ahead and peel the backing off of the vinyl and start by sticking it to the middle apex of the Bowtie. Meaning, we're going to start attaching it to the middle peak and work the vinyl out and down the slopes of the Bowtie. Once you have it attached to the Bowtie, gently work the Vinyl using a thumb in an outward motion to the edges of the Bowtie. If you get a bubble or crease, don't sweat it. Just pull the Vinyl up and try again. Believe me, you can do this a good ten times before the stuff starts going to crap. If you washed your hands like I asked earlier, then you don't have to worry as much about crap getting under the vinyl.

Moving on...

Once you have the vinyl situated over your bowtie, you can take a wet QTip and really get the edges down and stuck in a good fashion. Note:This works particularly well when doing the SS/RS emblems. Once you have the Vinyl completely adhered to the surface, whip out the razor. It's showtime.

Take your time!! Make gentle cuts in the edges of where the gold Bowtie once was.

One of the reasons to start on the rear Bowtie first is so that you can easily trim the vinyl. If you look at the Bowtie, there is actually a small creavas/crease between the emblem and the chrome trim piece. Perfect for your sharp razor to follow.

Now is the time for the naysayers to pipe up...go ahead. Sacrelige to put a razor on the whip....

Moving on....

Once you trim the excess, then you can slowly start to pull it away from your emblem. If you go slow when doing this, you canrecognize any areas that still need to be cut before you pull the vinyl completely away from the emblem.

Once the excess is away, double check the vinyl's perimeter to assure adhesion. You can just use that wet QTip again if need be to reapply it down. If you have a bubble that just won't go away, you can use a small needle to "pop" the bubble and it will go down some. Or you could just redo the whole dame thing over...no sweat.

The front is about the same, little smaller.

Id recommend doing the rear, front then do the rear SS or RS emblem and finally the front grill SS or RS emblem.

The Smaller and tighter SS/RS emblems take some practice. No lie. They might take you a couple tries but you hardly use any vinyl.

Have fun, post up finished pics and as always Make it yours!!

Enjoy all!,
Ivan

[ron10]

looks good.nice job.

[johndawg]

Cool write up... I did my bowties a while back... The back went smooth, but that front one was a pain in the ole' butt. Finally got it after 3 tries.

I think I am going to to try the SS emblems tonight.

[Camaro21]

Well done. Looks very Nice !!

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I think that using a Qtip or even your fingernail if you have one can help a little on the SS emblems. Trial and error plays into it, but if you got extra material, have at it!

Enjoy and thanks again!
Ivan

[marsfive]

just a tip, if you spray a water/ soap solution u can move the vinyl around without it actually sticking the first time. then u just squeege the remaining water out to the edges of the bowtie. kind of like if you were laying the tint on your window. hope it makes it easier

[2010 SSRS]

nice

[Onereign]

Great write-up. I would add that when I did mine, I used a heat gun on low setting as the final step in the process to really suck the vinyl down on the bowtie, made it look a bit tighter and crisper. Dont hold the heat on it too long though, a little does the trick.

[camarowa]

Did the same as the OP just with matte balck vinyl from wallmart. Think the roll was $9. Front bow tie took a few tries.

[themossman]

You can buy colored Vinyl at a craft store for a couple of bucks....

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Great tips guys! Way to contribute to the thread!

Any pics to add fellas??? How did yours come out??

-Ivan

[xpanda305x]

i went to autozone or advanceautozone and picked up a 6ft roll of carbon fiber vinyl and did it myself. for like 10$

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Originally Posted by xpanda305x

i went to autozone or advanceautozone and picked up a 6ft roll of carbon fiber vinyl and did it myself. for like 10$

picspicspicspicspics guys!!

Let's see some finished products!
-Ivan

[TAG UR IT]

D@mn...that would have been a heck of a lot less expensive than my $200 painted emblems and SS's!