26 Reply by Jeff G 78 (edited by Jeff G 78 2010-12-17 09:56 AM)

  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: Vinyl car wrap or paint

Pat, yes there is a USB cable connection on the Cricut.  As for the vinyl, I bought mine off ebay.  I got three colors - red, white, and black.  The deal was 12" wide by 50' total length divided up however I wanted for about $26 shipped.  I ordered a 20 foot roll of white, a 20 foot roll of black, and a 10 foot roll of red.  Depending on what you need, you can find a dealer that sells that combination.  They also sell layout paper, but I didn't use it.  We applied all of our vinyl using a soapy water spray so they could be slid into position.

Here is a closeup of a few of the decals I made.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i256/jeffg78/Lemons/IMG_4620.jpg

For the Valvoline logo, I cut it in red, black, and blue and pieced the colors together on the car.  Same with the Chumpion decal.  I started with a logo and modified the letters and then cut it in black and red.

The decals stayed on the car really well, even under the gas cap where fuel dripped down over the vinyl at every fuel stop.

EDIT:  One more thing.  When we raced at NL last year, our decals were done on a vinyl printer.  Each sticker was printed on a background.  They didn't stay on well, the white backgrounds yellowed within hours and the color peeled off the vinyl easily.  Solid vinyl colors work much better and last longer.

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php … 2559430584

Jeff G 78's Website

  • Mulry
  • Mulry
  • Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah
  • Offline
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 4,607

Re: Vinyl car wrap or paint

Jeff, they look great. I think I'm going to try to pick one of those up. I could have way way way too much fun with this. smile

PS Not to be a total retard, but how does layout paper work? Is that the masking tape stuff that goes over the top? Whenever I buy vinyl numbers they are usually scotchcal which has an adhesive backing and then the masking paper on the front, so to apply you peel off the adhesive back first, apply to the car (with soapy water so you can slide it around and work out the bubbles) and then remove the masking paper on the front. At least that's how I think it worked last time, it's been the better part of a year since I vinyled the clown car...

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.
  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: Vinyl car wrap or paint

Mulry wrote:

Jeff, they look great. I think I'm going to try to pick one of those up. I could have way way way too much fun with this. smile

PS Not to be a total retard, but how does layout paper work? Is that the masking tape stuff that goes over the top? Whenever I buy vinyl numbers they are usually scotchcal which has an adhesive backing and then the masking paper on the front, so to apply you peel off the adhesive back first, apply to the car (with soapy water so you can slide it around and work out the bubbles) and then remove the masking paper on the front. At least that's how I think it worked last time, it's been the better part of a year since I vinyled the clown car...

Yes, that's how the layout paper works, but I really don't think you need it when soapy water is used.  For the Valvoline decals because they had so many tiny pieces, we used blue painters tape in a similar manner rather than buying the layout paper.  The paper isn't cheap and painters tape worked great.

The Cricut Expression runs about $200 - $250 and the Sure Cuts A Lot program is another $70.  In the big scheme of things, it's cheap.  We can redo numbers and graphics as often as we like for next to nothing.

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php … 2559430584

Jeff G 78's Website

29 Reply by vizlvr (edited by vizlvr 2010-12-17 09:07 PM)

  • vizlvr
  • vizlvr
  • Ripened Lemon
  • Offline
  • From: San Mateo, CA
  • Registered: 2009-11-21
  • Posts: 128

Re: Vinyl car wrap or paint

Yes, USB connection to the computer.  Cricut sells vinyl for their machines but its very expensive and nothing special.  You can buy vinyl (and transfer paper) on ebay or from any number of online sources.  I've even heard of people getting large quantities of scrap for free or near free from sign/graphics shops.

Here's how I do it:
-put sheet of adhesive backed vinyl in the machine. 
-Set machine to appropriate depth and pressure setting for 'kiss and cut' (where it cuts the vinyl but not the paper backing)
-Send design to machine
- Once machine is done, remove 'negative' portion of vinyl from design (that you don't want to apply to the car)
- Cut transfer paper (sometimes also called transfer tape) to approximate size of your graphic and apply to face of graphic
-Remove backing from vinyl and apply vinyl to car
-After making sure that vinyl is well adhered to car (or other surface), carefully remove transfer paper from front and you're done

One thing to keep in mind if you're thinking of buying a cricut is that they're widely available used BUT some of the older machines don't have the USB port and may also have firmware which cannot be upgraded to work with Make the Cut or Sure Cuts a Lot. 

Convince your wife (if you have one) she needs a Cricut for scrapbooking and other crafts and you won't even get much flak for it wink  (hey- I'm a wife, I can make these suggestions.  Though I don't scrapbook....just use it for vinyl for the car)

Hmmm...sorry... I thought I had updated the thread but I guess I hadn't so I missed all those other replys saying the same thing I did.  Sorry!

Import Alloy Racing
The Little Red Poorvette
  • Mulry
  • Mulry
  • Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah
  • Offline
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 4,607

Re: Vinyl car wrap or paint

Awesome advice y'all. Although my wife's not a scrapbooker, but she'll see the value in using it with stuff for the kids too. I'm going to try to pick one up on eBay cheap after Christmas.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.