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I drive a 2013 Spark and I wanted to make my wheels a bit more customized.

I ended up deciding to add vinyl instead of changing the rims out.

I will try to keep this post updated as I continue this project. I don't mean to be a tease, but I will not be posting the final design until I am finished and satisfied.

So far, I'm close to finishing the first Vinyl Prototype.
Here has been my progress so far:
Step 1, I took some paper, put it against my wheel and tried carving the paper to get a basic idea of what the design will look like with very general sizes and very general shapes.
I edited some images on Adobe Photoshop to what I had believed the project would look like when I had finished.
tumblr_o2lpljbidZ1s65lqso1_540.png
tumblr_o2lpljbidZ1s65lqso2_540.png
Step 2, this step was mostly just on Adobe Illustrator, trying to get a finer shape and size down. It was summed up into Design, Print, Cut, Spray Glue, Edit, Repeat. I now had a new idea on the final project. It consisted of 5-6 pieces (this part is still to be determined.)

tumblr_o2lq6pnKp61s65lqso1_1280.png
Step 3, with my currently finalized prototype, I printed it out on cardstock and started drafting on actual vinyl pieces. I'm in the process of cutting them out to see how they fit before I make final vinyl cuts. More updates to come.

(Side note, if anyone can tell me how to scale these image sizes down a bit for better reading, that'd be nice.)

Edit: February 17th, 2016:

I've applied the test vinyls. One wheel is the control, I did nothing to it. Wheel 2 is Spray glued-over. Wheel 3 saw 5 minutes of a hair dryer. Wheel 4 got spray glued, then 5 minutes of a hair dryer. I'll keep it on for a week and see which one stands up the best.

I will not be going through with my original idea of putting vinyl on my car. I have been suggested to use Plasti-Dip. I guess this information can be for whomever really wants to use vinyl on their wheels or someone who needs to put vinyl on steel. Either way, the test will proceed and I will post results.

Edited by TwinkieBattleship
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Great project! Looks pretty good, but maybe consider going a little less area of the black since the wheels will appear all black when in motion. Not sure about the gluing the vinyl as they may come loose at the edges in time..maybe paint? I definitely like the red trim.

As far as Ai image rescale, try saving them in EPS,PNG, PDF etc so you can open them in Photoshop for a cleanup and rescale to 640x 480. Be sure to flatten the layers before exporting from Adobe Ai so they can be properly rasterized in PS that way you can go to work on a touch up and edge cleanup to get a better idea of appearance and post them to fit. I always like a good mod project, but i really think the paint would be easier and more durable. Maybe at the same time, do the calipers in bright red? OK..enough advise..have fun with this one!

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Maybe working with that all would work better, but I am a minimum wage teenager with intro knowledge to car mods. I feel like a good melt with a hairdryer will help the vinyl stick. If not, id like to try just a layer of Spray Adhesive. (Probably my favorite tool Ive ever used).

Ill keep yall posted, just waitin for clear weather (and free time) to test the pieces ive cut so far. I guess ill do different tests on each wheel and see what works best.

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