Working with vinyl.

[ci5ic]

Hey all, got a few questions about working with vinyl...

I'm working on a "floor" for my hatchback to cover where the back-seat used to be, and also for the hatch area. My plan is to cover these pieces of MDF with a grey vinyl. I've never worked with vinyl before, so I have no idea how to do it. I think it should be easy since the pieces are flat, but the edges have alot of curves... I've got the vinyl, and some 3M-90 adhesive spray (super strength), and a heat-gun. I'm just not sure that I got the right kind of vinyl... The stuff I got has a knit pattern on the backside, like a herringbone pattern, but I've also seen vinyl with the fuzzy backing on it... which do I use?

Here's a pic of one of the pieces I want to cover. I'm curious about how to get it to wrap around the edges, especially in the center hole.

[ci5ic]

Yooo hooo! Anybody?

[-=BOOMER=-]

Vinyl is hard to work with. Flat is ok but when you start getting round parts then you have to do relief cuts in it. You should be able to cover the top and have it look ok, it will be the sides and inside the round part the tire is in that will be harder. I usually use a roller and contact cement that you get at home dept. its like 5$ for a small can or $15 for a gallon.
What I do that works well is roll the cement onto the wood and while its drying roll it on the vinyl. it has to be dry(10-20 minutes) then be really careful and stick them together. Do it only a small area to start then slowly put more in contact with it. Do it slow cause once it’s on it wont come off without having to redo the glue, and its a pain to get off.
Hope this helps some, let me know if I am not clear enough in the instructions.

Good luck and show us pics when you’re done. Also what’s going on with the sub boxes?

[ci5ic]

Thanks Boomer.

I've used contact cement before when I was making some custom drum triggers. I'll probably give that a shot. Then, I was thinking just making some relief cuts around the curved parts (but stopping about an inch or more from the edge). Then using the heat-gun, stretch it down over the edges... I'll let you know if this works.

As far as the sub-pod goes, I worked on it a little bit this weekend, just put a layer of 'glass on the outside, but I ran out of resin, and I'm low on funds so I couldn't get some more to do the inside.

Anyways, here's the most recent pic: