Vinyl shear stripe?

[KMatthews]

Hello (C) Brats.
I have a new-to-me C-Dory 22 with black trim. The relatively new camper canopy is 'teal' in color. I would like to match the boat's accent color to that of the canvas (or at least a close match). Rather than going to all the trouble of prepping the black accents for paint I was wondering if any of you had used high grade vinyl to change the color of the shear and cabin top 'visor-edging' (and then adding 1/4" gold vinyl striping tape to the cabin top vinyl edges). If so, what hassles may be associated with doing so? Comments?

[ssobol]

I have not done vinyl on a C-Dory but I have on other curved things.

On slightly curved surfaces the stretch in the vinyl will accommodate the curves. Highly curved surfaces or corners require cuts in the vinyl to prevent bunching or pre-cutting the shape by mapping the curved face to a flat surface and cutting the vinyl to the mapped shape so it fits well when applied to the curved face.

You can probably get away with the shear stripe and the sides of the cabin top with straight vinyl. A heat gun helps a lot to get the vinyl to lay on a curved surface. The curved part of the brow will be more difficult.

Another option is to apply vinyl sheet and then cut it to the desired shape after it is applied.

Like paint, the vinyl will accentuate any surface flaws and dirt.

[jkidd]

Thought about it more than once the vinyl wrap guys should be able to do it and get the brow to look ok.

[hardee]

I have seen vinyl wraps on full hulls, and they looked good, but they were plenty new. Not sure how they would hold up after some time in the salt chuck, but I would think, a good quality vinyl should hold up well on the shear stripe. The Brow, especially the forward portion, on the other hand, does fade in the sun, more than any other place on the boat. That would be the place where the UV affect will be most noticeable.

Harvey
SleepyC

[KMatthews]

Yes, the shear stripe in vinyl should work well. My main concern is the cabin 'visor'; not only does it get a UV beating (as would any paint, colored gelcoat) but the tight angled turn at the forward edges might prove challenging in wrapping the vinyl. I wonder how overlapping and then double cutting runs of vinyl meeting at the forward curve would work (similar to applying-seaming industrial grade vinyl wall covering). My concern about doing this would be a potential gap at the seams (contraction?).
So, where are you now?

[thataway]

In the Florida professional sport fishing community whole hull wraps are done frequently--they seem to hold up for a number of years. It is certainly cheaper than a quality 2 part LP paint job!

The high quality vinyl is good for about 7 years. (We have some information signs in our neighborhood: I just changed them out a 10 years--several are in direct son most of the day. The ones which were 7 years old, were still OK. If you use any inks or mixed graphics, then it will be less.

A person who is an expert in applying the wraps, can do a job for you which you will not see any seams or overlaps. (At least from a foot or two back).

Buy the best material you can get. Have a professional do the job.

[jbdba01]