When Tony brought his S2000 to us, he felt like it needed an update. He was considering a full paint job in a colour similar to one of Audi’s Flat Greys… well, luck would have it that we have a wrapping vinyl that closely resembles that colour.
Here is the finished project:
Seems like the automotive season’s in full gear! We had 3 full colour change wraps on the go this week: a 2011 MINI Cooper S Convertible (Pepper White to Variochrome White Pearl), a 2002 Honda S2000 (Sebring Silver to Flat Dark Grey), and a 2005 Acura RSX (Vogue Silver to Flat Dark Grey). We’ll post up the finished products in a few days, but for now enjoy some of these teaser photos:
ShinzoWRAP GTR
Here are a couple “in progress” photos:
ShinzoWRAP
We get a lot of inquiries for full vehicle wraps, but there seems to be a lot of confusion around them. Here are a few common misconceptions about wraps:
1) A complete job DOES NOT cost $600. We get many phone calls where people are appalled when we tell them how much a job can cost. The internet is a scary place, don’t believe everything you’ve been told. We at Shinzo, and any other good wrapping company for that matter, will take the time to prep and disassemble your vehicle before working on it. We treat your colour change as if it were a paint job, our lead installer has a body shop background and we want to ensure everything is properly prepped before starting. Just for reference – To fully wrap a typical sedan or coupe, we would need approx. 4 days from start to finish. This includes approx. 35-40 man hours, depending on the vehicle. We would always have 2 highly experienced installers working on the car and we’re sometimes able to throw a 3rd on the job if there’s no other installs on the go. Calculate that out at any shop’s hourly rate and you’ll see what kind of value goes into this type of work.
2) Vinyl is NOT a paint alternative if your car actually needs a paint job. If you have an older car that needs body work and a new paint job, vinyl is not the solution. Vinyl is very thin so every rock chip, ding, dent, sanding mark, bondo work, etc. will show through the vinyl. Lastly, vinyl does not stick to rust and can not harden like bondo. Vinyl IS the solution if you want to go back to the original colour at some point.
3) Just like anything in life… you get what you PAY & WAIT for. There are companies out there who are offering full wraps for very cheap these days, it’s your choice. As for time, why rush? If we’re feeling rushed, it’ll probably show in your wrap and no one wants to see that. There are ways to cut corners when doing full wraps, here are a few things some companies might do:
– Use low quality materials that will not last long or will be very hard to remove when you’re sick of the colour.
– Quickly prepping your car, which leads to dust and debris getting trapped under the vinyl or the adhesive failing and vinyl coming up from the body.
– Cutting vinyl short to avoid wrapping around edges, but allowing the paint colour underneath to show at certain angles
– Not offering you any sort of warranty, so when you have an issue a week, a month, or a year down the road you’re left high and dry.
– Not telling you the TRUTH about wraps and what to expect when the job is complete. We can’t emphasize this enough… there have been too many cases where customers have been sold a full wrap job only to be left disappointed and aggravated. Then, they’re just too upset and don’t believe anyone can do a good job so they decide to take the vinyl off and not do it again.
4) We are only human and vinyl comes in sheets. Just like how an aftermarket paint job is bound to have flaws, so are wraps. We try our best and take every precaution possible to ensure your wrap job is excellent, but there’s bound to be some trouble areas. Remember, we get the vinyl in flat sheets, these aren’t pre-formed and cut to each car. As we’re stretching the material to conform to your car, the vinyl’s tendency is always to go back to its original shape – Flat. So, with the sun beating down on the car, there’s always a chance certain areas will shrink or change over time… it’s something we all have to accept. Please know that We are very stubborn at Shinzo and want to do a seamless wrap every time, but some bumpers are just harder than others. If we do need to make some sort of join/seam in the vinyl, we’ll do our best to do it in a very concealed area, somewhere that’s out of sight to the average person walking by.
5) Once the car’s done and out of our hands… its up to you to take care of it. The road is a harsh place, thousands of tiny rocks, dirt and dust particles are flying at your car every time you drive so some of it is bound to find its way under the vinyl. Seasons change (they change A LOT in Canada) and having a car wrapped entirely in vinyl doesn’t mean you can neglect it and not wash it. How your wrap looks like after a year or 2 is up to you.
So why wrap you ask? I’ll tell you!
1) Change the colour of a car that has a perfectly good paint job. We all get bored of our cars, so instead of selling and taking a loss on a car, just change the colour and fight the boredom for another few years.
2) Vinyl is available in so many cool new colours and textures. We carry wrapping materials from top manufacturers such as: 3M, Hexis, and OraCal. Between these 3 brands, we have access to most popular colours (Gloss or Matte) and specialty ones like Carbon Fiber (Black, Brown, Silver, White, Pearl White, Gold), “Variochrome” Pearls that flip between 2 different colours… these are like the famous Japanese Maziora Paints (Green-Pink, White-Pink, Blue-Green), Brushed Aluminum (Silver, Grey, Gold), and other crazy textures like Alligator and Sequin.
3) Protect your paint with the vinyl. Wrapping a car leaves no permanent damage to the paint surface. This means you can remove the vinyl after 5 years and find your original paint in the same condition as when you wrapped it.
4) Since vinyl is manufactured in a vinyl, the finish is pretty consistent. If you’re really considering a matte or pearl paint job, know that it’s hard to get that perfect paint consistency at a shop so maybe consider what’s available with vinyl/
If you’re interested in getting a car wrapped, feel free to come by and speak with one of our staff. We will go over the entire process with you, explain what you can expect, and do a walk-around of your car with you to point out any possible problem areas.
Look how happy these people are to be holding a sign made by Shinzo
Okay, scrap the idea of going month-by-month to catch up. I need to get with the NOW!
I’m also starting to slack again, the time between posts is getting longer and longer haha. I’ll continue to post older content, but mostly just as filler.
Did I mention that… WE MOVED!
Shinzo was in dire need of some new diggs, the location on Bur Oak was pretty tiny and let’s face it… Markham East is SO FAR. We’re in the middle of the world now, Silicon Valley North, Prime Time – Markham Central. Yes, drive a full 15.9 kms west from our old location and you’ll find our new headquarters.
250 Shields Court
Unit #26
Markham, ON.
L3R 9W7
(905) 604-0263 <– NEW PHONE NUMBER TOO!
(Thanks Google Maps, you are super cool, but kinda creepy)
Although this unit isn’t a whole lot bigger than the old one, it’s a heck of alot more usable space. Inside you’ll find a new attitude, a new atmosphere, a new vision, and a fresh start. Yes, some might miss the homey feel of our old location, but that only takes you so far… we’re on to bigger and better things now, we got some bigger fish to fry.
We got the place in December, moved in mid-January and we’re still working on the final touches, but it’s getting there. In the meantime, feel free to drop by and say hi!
PLEASE NOTE: We do not have the funny decals at the new office yet, we’re still working on a way to properly display them. So, if you’re reading this blog and want stickers, take a look on the webstore and e-mail us your order. Someone will get back to you regarding pick-up, we would just need a few days to prepare the order. I will make another announcement on the blog once we have the decals at the office.
“BE MINI” was an event held by MINI Canada back in August 2010. This event was essentially a big meet for any/all MINI owners held by head office and the GTA MINI Retailers. BE MINI is actually a follow-up to the successful “MINI 50th” celebration in 2009.
We’re pretty lucky to be involved with these yearly events. We get to work with each retailer to help them make their visions a reality. We’re excited to see this event grow over the next few years, then the car builds will get crazier and crazier.
Here are some shots of the 2010 contestants, photos taken by Stephen Ho of Ste Ho Photography (http://www.shutterlit.com/).
Come check out our booth at Performance World this weekend.
http://www.performanceworldcarshow.com/
We have new decal designs available that aren’t even on the website yet. See you there!
Check out this MINI Canada promotion for roof decals…
This promo kept us pretty busy in June, basically turning the office into a sweat shop.
Oh yeah, did I mention I (vince) was on my honeymoon for most of the month? HAHA suckers. While they were working into the wee hours of the morning and sleeping on work tables, I was 10,000 miles away in Bali eating fresh mangos that fell onto the ground in front of my private villa HAHAHA, good times.
June was crazy… for everyone except me hahaha.
We’ll start off with a PINK MINI in support of Breast Cancer and Markham Stouffville Hospital, car donated by MINI Markham. When wrapping a vehicle, we usually tell clients to bring us a black car… MINI Markham brought us a teal blue one argh. We managed to pull it off and by the end of summer when it came back for vinyl removal, we all pretty much forgot what colour was underneath.
The beginning on June also involved a call from Ferrari of Ontario, asking if we could come down and help them with some stuff. We were hesitant at first, but… HAHA yeah right, I jumped on the 407 and got there as fast as I could. The dealership actually builds some of the locally owned Ferrari Challenge of North America race cars, so they needed to redo some graphics. Here’s the finished product:
It was even cooler when we found the car in the Ferrari Challenge video game oh yeeaahhh
Shinzo! 