DIY Center Hood Stamp

[gofastdan]

I feel like I'm almost done with my build but I keep finding things to do. Today's little project is a case in point. I've had some matt black vinyl laying around from another ill-fated project from long ago so I decided to see if I could add a center hood stamp. I have no clue what I'm doing so thank goodness for no compound curves. I was prepared to pull it off and throw the whole thing in the trash but I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out...

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[TacoFreak]

That looks great!

 

[Ray T]

Nice job!

 

[Goriders]

Looks cool

 

[goin2drt]

Too each his own I guess. Every time we bought my wife a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk for my wife that was the first thing (well second after the dealership stickers) that we removed.

 

[Trunkstaco]

I really like it, good work!

 

[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

I really like it, good work!

Any tips or tricks for working with? the vinyl? Were there any problems?

 

[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

Any tips or tricks for working with? the vinyl? Were there any problems?

I've been thinking about adding the same thing to the hood of mine. And or completely wrapping it

 

[Sancheesy]

Been contemplating this myself because of my truck being white i was worried about the sun.

 

[gofastdan]

Any tips or tricks for working with? the vinyl? Were there any problems?

It's a flat surface so it's pretty easy. I washed the whole hood and used a clay bar on it to really clean it, and then used alcohol where the cutting tape needed to lay so it would stick better. I wanted to get it as symmetrical as possible so the prep and laying out the tape was really the hardest part.

It's a dry install so once you get a center lined smoothed down you can lift and reposition the rest as you go. I was afraid I would lift the tape off when pulling up the vinyl but it stayed down. The two biggest tricks are to get the air out as you go and to not allow creases. It would have helped to have two people working on it but that's not how we roll in my house...

Once I was done I had two little issues to fix. One was a pretty visible half inch crease that looked almost like I had hit it from the back side. I used a heat gun to warm the vinyl and worked the crease out. That left a little bubble that I punctured with a knife. I was concerned but an hour later when I tried to show my wife the spot we couldn't even find it. I was pretty shocked because I thought I was going to have an ugly spot to stare at for all time.

The other issue was a few sections where the tape didn't cleanly cut the vinyl and it looked (and felt) a little jagged. I'm assuming maybe I didn't have the vinyl pressed down firmly enough on the tape. Same solution though. I used the heat gun and went all along the edge with my rubber blade and worked it down. It laid down pretty well and you'd really have to look hard to spot those spots (and you can't feel them at all now).

 

[gofastdan]

Been contemplating this myself because of my truck being white i was worried about the sun.

The matt surface should reduce glare as well, especially when using the hood lights at night.

 

[Sancheesy]

The matt surface should reduce glare as well, especially when using the hood lights at night.

This is exactly what I was thinking

 

[25TacomaTRDSport]

That looks awesome, love it.

 

[Rubi2Trailhunter]

Turned out well. Thanks for sharing. My wife and I have been discussing options for things we want to do on ours.

 

[newtruckwhothis]

Too each his own I guess. Every time we bought my wife a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk for my wife that was the first thing (well second after the dealership stickers) that we removed.

Best way to remove those dealership plaques/stickers?

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