Wrapping Verses Painting

[oldmansax]

My Bird will need exterior painting. While I am not ready for that yet, I am looking at options. I have heard lots of the Nashville crowd are wrapping thier busses with vinyl instead of painting. The info I have so far is it look good, doesn't need waxing, will stand pressure washing, and lasts about 12 years. Supposedly it is about 1/3 the price.

Has anyone seen a wrapped bus? What did you think? Anyone know anyone who does it?

And last but not least, IS THIS SOMEHOW SACRILEGIOUS?

TOM

[Rick]

Originally Posted by oldmansax

My Bird will need exterior painting. While I am not ready for that yet, I am looking at options. I have heard lots of the Nashville crowd are wrapping thier busses with vinyl instead of painting. The info I have so far is it look good, doesn't need waxing, will stand pressure washing, and lasts about 12 years. Supposedly it is about 1/3 the price.

Has anyone seen a wrapped bus? What did you think? Anyone know anyone who does it?

And last but not least, IS THIS SOMEHOW SACRILEGIOUS?

TOM

Heck if you can wrap a hot dog in bacon I don't see why you couldn't wrap a BB in something.

Saw a large express bus today. Solid Red wrap for some Alabama politation. It looked good.

The Wraps I've seen on commercial truck so not look all that good up close. Overlaps show, uneven lines, air pockets under vinyl.

[markusfmeyer]

Tom - depends what 1/3 the price is. When I was going to buy your bus, I got quoted 6K to paint the whole thing top to bottom. Can you get it wrapped for 2K?

Originally Posted by oldmansax

And last but not least, IS THIS SOMEHOW SACRILEGIOUS?

TOM

Nope.

[thomas_sorrentino]

Tom,

There was a wanderlodge owning couple at the NYC Area rally that own and operate a graphic wrapping company in Danbury, Ct. I pm'd them to try to get some answers for you.

[Mathew Reichert]

I just recieved a quote to paint my BB last month and it was $7-9K, three colors similar to the original paint. This quote was with replacing two of the rusted metal pannels.

I plan to have it done next month. I considered the wrap but was told it was more $$ from a friend of mine. I never really looked into it.

Has anyone ever had one of these metal panels replaced due to rust? I am concerned about how they remove these with the insulation stuck to the back. I would be interetsed to hear any advice on this.

[iamflagman]

Most if not all of the NASCAR race cars and trailers are covered in a Vinyl Wrap, the picture of my race car on the back ramp/door on my trailer is also a Vinyl Wrap with a clear laminated layer on top to help prolong the life and like has been already mentioned the wrap does have some small air bubbles over the top of the screws that it covers.

http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/119456260

The dark spot in the middle of the grill and windshield is actually a reflection of an object behind the trailer.

[iamflagman]

Here is a 'Bird that was wrapped sitting at the factory in August 2007.

http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/84425918



http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/84425919

[oldmansax]

Marcus, who quoted 6K? I had a very good friend in the business say I was looking at 12K to 14K retail (he was going to give me a big discount) to have it done right in a similar design as the original. Granted he restores classic cars but that's a lot of difference. The local wrap guy quoted me 8K. He said there would be no bubbles or overlaps.

Tom, Let me know what the folks from CT say.

John, your rig looks good. I see you are selling decals. You wanna do a wrap? LOL

TOM

[markusfmeyer]

Tom,

Starjet in Ohio quoted me $6K, and I sent him pictures of "your" coach, so he had seen what he was going to be working on. It was a discount price from a normal price in the 8-9K range. Repainting it in the same colors or a newer paint scheme didn't affect the price. Granted, once I saw it up close with the rust and bubbling I wondered if the price might actually be higher, but I never found out since I obviously didn't buy it!

Dan from Ohio (aka buckeye bird here on the forum) highly recommended them as he had his bus painted there as well. I had previously gotten other estimates in the 10-12K range from various other shops I had talked to.

http://www.starjetbuspainting.com/