Evora DIY Sill Wrapping

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As it was sunny this weekend, I decided to wrap the sills. The garage isn't quite wide enough to do it comfortably, so the fact there's almost no wind outside really helps.

I did get a quote to have the sills professionally wrapped @£80 /side, which is reasonable, but I wanted to try myself first - and see how hard it was.

Drivers side took 3 attempts, first attempt I cooked the film with the heat gun (newbie mistake I'm sure), the second went on OK, but the rear looked cropped, so went for a longer stretch towards the rear wheel on the third attempt... and frankly I'm well chuffed with the results.

If you're interested - here's how I did it. (NB, I’m not saying that this is how it should be done, but this is what I found worked for me.) Note that if using a heat gun, keep your exposure to less than 3 seconds - that's plenty to work the vinyl if needed.

Take one Evora.

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Clean and apply cutting tape

Clean the sill using isopropyl alchohol.

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Apply cutting tape to the body contours.

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Cut out a length of vinyl approx' 175cm by 22cm.

Applying Vinyl

This is KPMF 190 Micron Textured FF stone chip vinyl and is charcoal black.
Obtained from MDP supplies for about £9/m (you need 2 meters but this will allow 5 strips to be cut- so you have some to play with)

Note also that this has no air release, so any bubbles will need to be pricked out with a pin using a bit of heat.
The reason I chose it was it's stone chip resistant and looks similar in colour and texture to what is fitted to the 400.

It also covers existing stone chip film rather well - the odd line shows through, I didn't want to risk paint peeling if removing the clear film and there's nothing wrong with it so it's still there...

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Peel the backing paper and hang loosely from the top of the sill, then gently straighten the top edge leaving no creases.

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Using a plastic card, start to work the vinyl down in a horizontal line (don't concentrate on one bit - it'll crease / bubble)

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Make a relief cut on the corner edge here.

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Then tuck / smooth the remaining vinyl towards the rear wheel

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Working the vinyl around the bottom curve - again try to do the whole thing and keep the crease straight as this will help with air release and prevent bubbles.

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Cutting the vinyl

My favourite bit - pulling the wire through the vinyl to cut it to shape - very satisfying..

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Peel away the surplus vinyl

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Remove / peel out traces of the cutting tape - then apply a little heat to seal the top edge - press down firmly.

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Cut the vinyl away from the leading edge of the sill - giving you a little to wrap around the front edge of the sill gap

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Apply a bit of heat and tuck in

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Underneath - simply run a knife gently along the sill between the under tray and the sill - to trim off excess overlapping film.

Apply cutting tape to the A-Post - keeping the tape in line with the previous vinyl edge - then simply take your off cut from the end of the strip and apply - tucking / folding the front edge behind the mudflap.

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Result

A quick clean and the end result..

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Not bad for £35 eh? (including cutting tape) - and it's a lot tougher than gloss vinyl, so should last a few years.

One happy bunny.