Today I went ahead and installed my hood wrap. I was quoted almost $240 for a decal and thought that I could do it myself using a vinyl wrap. I found a 4' x 5' piece of 3M 1080 matte black vinyl on Amazon for around $50. I also purchased a roll of knifeless tape (a must for this job) and a heat gun (I needed one of these anyway). The overall cost was $100 plus I would still have over 150' of knife less tape left as well as a heat gun when all was said and done.
I watched a few videos so it didn't seem all that bad. I taped off along the raised seam of the hood:
I had my wife help me lay the vinyl down at the beginning. The vinyl is good quality stuff that is very easy to work with. It felt like there was no end to your ability to lay it down, lift it up, heat it up. Towards the bottom it was a bit difficult as the curve of the hood started to create creases. I once again called on the help of my wife who became my third hand; heating the vinyl when I needed it as I squeegee'd and pulled little by little:
With the aide of the knifeless tape (again, GREAT stuff) and a scalpel, the wrap was complete. I had a few small areas where I couldn't remove the bubbles (most likely a speck of dirt/debris). I also didn't notice a somewhat large air bubble I did not squeegee away. I was able to cut a hole in the bubble and heat it away into a single small crease/blemish.
Overall, for about 2 hours of my time and really only $50 worth of vinyl, this was my finished product:
Pics just don't do it justice. I've always thought the decals on the Raptor just looked badass and I didn't want to be left out. IMO, the Raptor needs this contrast. The glare reduction off the hood is a nice bonus as well.
