Instructions
Installation
Tools and Materials:
- Hair Dryer/Heat gun (Use low heat for heat guns)
- Soft clean diaper cloth/ microfiber towel (Use a new towel)
- Spray bottle, water, & mild soap (A few drops of Baby shampoo is best)
- Vinyl squeegee wrapped in soft towel
Preparation:
Inspect the overlays for any possible damage from shipping. Many of our overlays kits are rolled and shipped in a tube. Our recommendation is that you lay the overlays out flat on a clean table. To keep them flat, place books on top of them. Leave these for a day to allow the vinyl to flatten out.
Add a few drops of baby shampoo to a clean spray bottle. Fill the bottle with room temperature water. Depending on the size of spray bottle you may want to adjust the amount of soap used. The key is to not use a lot of soap. Do not use Windex or any alcohol/ammonia based spray for overlay application. Alcohol and Ammonia damages adhesive. We also recommend using a professional installation spray called "Rapid Tac Application Fluid" which is great for installing overlays.
We recommend that you dry fit the overlays to make sure they look correct. Dry fitting means to place the overlay over the light with its paper backing still attached. Please take note that you will be applying these overlays to a curved surface and that when dry fitting the overlay it will not perfectly match up but will give you the idea of how it fits.
Vinyl Application:
It is important that the area you are applying the overlays to is clean. Use the spray to clean the area. Wipe the area down with a clean towel. Inspect the light lens for imperfections and possible debris. Once the lens has been inspected you may proceed with installation.
The spray will be used to soak the light lens. Spray the lens thoroughly so that every spot is wet. At this time you may carefully remove the backing of the overlay. Place the overlay directly onto the wet lens surface. The spray solution should let you move the overlay around to position it correctly. You may remove the overlay and spray again if needed. (Cutouts: Overlays with cutouts should be positioned so that the cut outs match up first and then the rest of the overlay can be worked with.)
At this point the vinyl is ready to be smoothed. You should take your time with this and be aware that smoothing too fast or pushing too hard can crease the vinyl. Briefly warm up the whole overlay and light lens with the hair dryer. Working from the middle, use the vinyl squeegee wrapped in a soft towel to push all water and air bubbles out. Many lights have curves to them and this is where you need to use the heat from a hair dryer. Once the overlay has been placed on the light and smoothed a little you can heat and lightly stretch the vinyl over the light lens so that it conforms to the curves of the light. You can alternate between the squeegee and heating and stretching to make sure all air bubbles are removed.
Warning: If you stretch the vinyl too much it can rip and the overlay may be unusable. Once the overlay has been smoothed completely the edges need to be finished. Heating the edges and smoothing them over the edge of the lens will create a finished look. Use a towel to rub the edges while heating. Be careful not the crease the vinyl at this time.
If trimming is needed you can use an Exacto knife. The best way is to carefully run the blade through the seam that the light lens and body of the car create. This technique should leave you with enough vinyl to curve over the edge of the lens. Once trimming and edge smoothing is accomplished your overlay should have a finished look. There may be some small air bubbles but all you need to do is pop them with a small needle and smooth them out. Over time the sun will dry the rest out. If for any reason you need to remove your overlays, heat the overlay and slowly peel the vinyl away.
Lastly, mistakes can happen and we are happy to help! Unfortunately we can not be responsible for these mistakes but we will offer replacement overlays at a reasonable, discounted cost.