I did it...color changed a KRL with a Wrap

[Spudland_Dave]

Happy to say its done and I'm happy!
Was never too fond of the original color...but now I've done the "color change" I'm very happy with it...not hard to do at all. Added bonus of its easily removed and adds a layer of protection. MUCH harder to scratch/scrape the vinyl accidentally then paint.

If it weren't rainy/crappy out today I'd pull it outside for some better pics with my real camera.. :-( hard to get the correct color and highlight the carbon fiber Snappy Decals.

 

[softailgarage]

Can you be a little more specific? Where did you get the wrap? Did you have to design the color & layout or is there a kit available? Cost?

 

[firecracker]

Cracking job Spud I like a lot.

 

[sbyrne92]

she's beautiful...

 

[rmsg0040]

very cool!

saw this one on youtube:

 

[Zrexxer]

Looks great! Glad you're happy after going through "the change."

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Can you be a little more specific? Where did you get the wrap? Did you have to design the color & layout or is there a kit available? Cost?

Sure Thing! And if I miss anything or you have any other Q's...feel free to ask or PM me.

I got the wrap vinyl from http://www.metrorestyling.com/ but you can get MANY brands from many places, eBay, Amazon, Etc. No kit...no instructions. What I did was educate myself in all things vinyl in the last month or so, watched videos, surfed forums, etc.. The longest part was I ordered & requested TONS of various lime green vinyl samples to find the perfect one. I just ordered a 5'x4' sheet of it and to make it easier to apply, I sectioned it out a bit larger then each drawer...so if a drawer was 54"x6" for example, I cut out a 60" x 7" piece...giving me plenty of forgiveness when applying. I had cut all 11 drawer pieces out. The MAC Video above is another idea, but doing it my way made it easy to apply and I didn't need to remove any trim.

Cost..hard to say, technically to do the green itself, 50ish bucks. The Carbon Fiber SO Logos I put on I cant easily say..I bought a roll of stock cause my buddy has a vinyl plotter so I cut them out myself.

Ultimately why I pulled the trigger and what I would say to anybody here is don't be afraid, the vinyl is not super expensive, buy some and try, you aren't gonna learn by thinking about it...its removable, and super forgiving. The only thing I could see going wrong is if you were using a knife on your box to cut the vinyl and scored the paint...I did not get a knife anywhere near my paint.

Looks great! Glad you're happy after going through "the change."

Thanks! Yeah I got that box back in the fall of 2013...was never really happy with it looks wise, not what I had been shopping for but they price was much LESS then I had budgeted so it was stupid not to buy it....honestly its been sitting in my shop with only a couple New In Box tools in it...not used at all cause I was always hoping to trade it in on a Green Macsimizer or maybe an Extreme Green KRL.. now I'm happy with it, I'm planning my move into it

 

[tjmonsen5]

I like it!

 

[jes_si]

looks great!!

 

[Nermal43]

Great color!

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Spud,

Maybe I missed it...so you cut the sizes a little larger than the faces, but did not get a knife near the paint. How did you cut it to size?

 

[PugetDude]

I can see it now..
GJ thread on "Easy way to make a HF 44 look like a 5 grand box"...

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Maybe I missed it...so you cut the sizes a little larger than the faces, but did not get a knife near the paint. How did you cut it to size?

So, what I did was remove the Lock-n-Roll latches, which allowed me to use a pre-cut edge up along the top, the top edge is tucked up behind the pull, but not high enough to interfere with the lock-n-roll latch. After getting the vinyl on the drawer front, I then used my knife and "Air-Cut" the vinyl about 1/4" Larger then the face...its not straight or pretty, but after tucking it back behind the face on the 2 sides and bottom, you would need to be TRYING to find the edge to see it.

I can see it now..
GJ thread on "Easy way to make a HF 44 look like a 5 grand box"...

Just a matter of time...
In the end though, its still an HF 44"

 

[chruler]

So,......are you a Kawasaki guy? John Deere? Monster Energy? LOL! Love the color!

I'm a Kawboy from way back!

 

[FJ 432]

Cool idea and it totally changed the look of the box.

 

[rmmiller]

I would never have thought of this, looks great and what a solution to your problem!

 

[Mopar-Scooby-Doo]

Great job. I would have to say you did one heck of a nice job.

 

[lilcraigford]

Not my first choice in color but pretty nonetheless! As you mentioned this is a great option for personalization and noncommittal/inexpensive color change.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

So,......are you a Kawasaki guy? John Deere? Monster Energy? LOL! Love the color!

I'm a Kawboy from way back!

Not a Kawa-Boy, I do love JD...but honestly Green has been a favorite color of mine for as long as I can remember. I Really did debate going with a John Deere Green shade, but decided against it only because I have seen a few MAC & Matco boxes done up similar to this and I liked it. Yes I do chase after the SO Green tools as they come up.

Not my first choice in color but pretty nonetheless! As you mentioned this is a great option for personalization and noncommittal/inexpensive color change.

That's exactly the beauty of this solution...if I want to change, its real easy to go to Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, etc.. if anything, this exercise has changed my thought process on getting future boxes. I was debating an Extreme Green KRSC Cart, but now I really am leaning towards going with a black one and just wrapping the drawer faces like this.

When you start looking around, it really amazes me how & what people are wrapping these days, its not just for advertising anymore...people are wrapping entire Corvettes, etc..

 

[Mohawk Dave]

SNIP...

When you start looking around, it really amazes me how & what people are wrapping these days, its not just for advertising anymore...people are wrapping entire Corvettes, etc..

I've been saying it for a year plus. When we build our kitchen, it will be Lista modules.

Wrapped in 3M Truewood...whatever she wants...oak, cherry, birdseye maple...

Or hell, if she wants pastels, green, lavender, whatever. The kitchen is hers and it can change color in a weekend. Even patterns are possible.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I've been saying it for a year plus. When we build our kitchen, it will be Lista modules.

Wrapped in 3M Truewood...whatever she wants...oak, cherry, birdseye maple...

Or hell, if she wants pastels, green, lavender, whatever. The kitchen is hers and it can change color in a weekend. Even patterns are possible.

Yes! I've seen pics of some faux wood vinyl which looks very good. That's another thing that has come a long ways. I remember the first carbon fiber vinyls looking very cheezy & cheap...you could tell it was fake a mile away. The new stuff is IMPRESSIVELY Legit..