Project Resurrection "The (W)rapper

So the 337 is almost concluded (for now) but there are several loose ends to tie up here. The biggest being it's appearance. I'm sure it's no longer a mystery to anyone who knows me what I did with it but the process is still pretty fantastic to me.

You see, I have a friend Josh, who has a business making signs but is really really making a go at vinyl wrapping cars. He has put in the time to be trained and certified by companies the likes of 3M and Avery Dennison, and has had several fantastic projects that you can see driving around as well as a multitude of branded vehicles around town and elswhere as he travels to do this also. His business is called Art City Wraps And when you walk in, there is a definite vibe of coolness. Being an art major this is a natural fit for him. The 337 is a perfect example of what a creator does. The before and after of this car are mind numbing. This has been by far the most effective and outstanding modification I've done to this car yet. Everything else was in the nether regions, rarely seen but made it worth doing this.

The top picture is what it looked like in pure hoopty status on my way to the vinyl shop on day 1 of the install. Haha, this car was rough. Here's a couple more "pre show" photos.....

We had wrapped the driver fender the night before to see how the vinyl looked against the paint......

As you can see, it would be tough to describe this as anything other than a straight up hoopty. Luckily I know people like Josh. These were taken right before I rolled it into his shop and began. Josh has assisted in other cars of mine, see here the last time I had one in his shop here:winter camo golf
Although just a small portion of a vehicle I was impressed enough to decide to go full boat on another one. This was decided by me as I looked at the photos of the car before I even purchased it. I knew what this car was going to look like before money changed hands!

So the process of wrapping seems pretty straight forward right? Just throw a big sticker on the car? Easy. I cannot name one person who I saw make that decision and statement on some online forum that wasn't back recommending having a professional do it after trying it themselves.

Ultimately it is a craft. It is details, it is a study of patience, and a huge practice of applied techniques both learned and discovered while doing it. Josh is a prime example of this. Since the camo wrap on my white car, he had a whole new bag of tricks when he did this one.

I'm not going to give away his techniques or trade, I am just going to post a bunch of photos of this wrap and let those speak for me. 85% of people prefer photos anyway (100% of statistics are made up on the spot).

This process really is a study in patience and detail. The corners of my car really do look like paint.

This is where I really started to get excited.....

Everybody be like "why did you wrap a silver car flat silver?" I say, "because I can!" look at how close that is though. Dang. BTW, 337's only came in silver which was a huge factor in my decision on color

This is where it starts getting hairy. The edges and corners, details details details......

All the tedious waiting and trimming and anticipation are totally worth it when you get a real look at what is coming though.

I'll say it again, and you say it with me. Details.....

Whoooooooodaaaaaang! Here we go!

Speaking of details, I did take the liberty of doing some little stuff through this, For instance, painting the intercooler black so it doesn't stand out so much........

So another wrap. Awesome stuff. This did not take one day either. This was done over the course of several days, and many hours each of them. Why wrap? Well, if need be, the car is not totally disabled. I drove it home and back to the shop through this process. If I had painted it, to do it right the windows would have been out, panels off, etc. Maybe not an ideal situation to be driving it through this either, but entirely possible. And the cost. Dang, easilly a third the cost of a good paint job, totally reversible and very durable. If it scratches or is damaged, redo a panel. Maybe a hundred bucks? Repaint something for that! How about some after photos?

I've of course had the car out to some places and drive it every day, but remember where we started?

And where did we go?

I have many big thanks to hand out for this project to get as far as it has. Of course Josh at Art City Wraps, My friend and local hero Kris of Beckett's and Ski's fame for Doing a sweet job powdercoating the wheels (a very multi talented person, spend a minute talking to him and you will realize why he's rad) My friends at Further Performance in MPLS for assistance with some parts, and endless advice when doing different things on this (see them at DIV, they have a pretty kickass booth setup every year and can do anything you need done with a vehicle. Raddest group of people with tools ever) And many many others for lending hands when I needed it. This car is far from done, but chapter one is in the books, some touch ups here and there and on to chapter 2 ;).

I used as many local resources as I could with this. And the best parts of this thus far were homegrown in Oshkosh. I like it here.......

Till next time I can't sleep.........