It was my first ever mod. In hindsight it probably wasn't a good decision to do the stripes...

Here are the pictures. There are lots of bubbles trapped. I used a credit card to roll out the air but evidently that didn't work.

Worst of all the stripes aren't parallel to each other. They are about .5 cm narrower on the end than in the middle. What should I do?

Can I:

1) lift the stripes and reapply them? Will it damage my paint?
2) if not then how to drive the bubbles out? I poked one with a needle but didn't seem to work.
3) just leave them be? Maybe nobody will notice?

Any suggestions? TIA.

 

From the vantage points you gave us, it really is hard to detect parallel defects with the untrained eye. Maybe a more zoomed out picture from the front? You may not be able to live with it knowing you messed up but 3) seems like a viable option.

 

Doesn't look too bad. The hood's slight contour throws off the angle a bit which is why you are off .5 cm. Don't worry, it's very tricky to correct the angle.

The air bubbles look small so they should dissipate over a few weeks. Let it sit out in the sun over the next few days (if you can find some sun in rainy WA).

Lifting them will cause the stripes to shrink (width), and distort, so that's not really an option for ya.
To pop the air bubbles, be sure to use a sharp/brand new blade. Pop the edge of an air bubble and work the air our toward the hole.

OR...you could fly me out and we can wrap your MINI hot pink


Good luck!

 

It'll be raining for the coming weeks! Can I blow hot air using my hair dryer maybe that'll help?

What did I do wrong if I were to do this all over again?

 

I'm no expert but that doesn't look too bad to me. Let us know if the bubbles disappear over time....GOOD LUCK!

 

I would be worried about screwing up your paint, which could get very expensive. I'd take it to a pro and see waht they can do for you. May not be cheap, but much cheaper than a new paint job.

 

I stopped by my local MINI dealer today. The girl in Service told me there is nothing I could do at this moment. The bubbles won't go away and my only option is to peel them off and get new ones... She said they'd apply soap water on the hood first and then adjust the position, use a squeegee to drive out the air, and let it dry. I wish I had known that earlier.

 

When applying tint on windows for example, which is what I did on my sons car, there is a solution that can be bought at an auto parts store or can be mixed yourself that makes the film slippery so that it can be slid for repositioning for several minutes. It also makes it so that bubbles can be worked out. There is an application kit available that has a teflon squeege for working out bubbles. The kit runs under $10.00. Good luck! bubbles do work themselves out in warm weather and after approximately two weeks. By the way....it actually looks like you did a good job.

 

There are two different ways to apply stripes - Dry and wet. I suspect you did it dry. The advantage of dry installation is that you can stretch the stripe over rounds surfaces, bumps, etc. and keep a straight line on the stripe. The disadvantage is it is really tough to keep air bubbles out. With a wet installation, you use soapy water to install the stripe. You float the stripe of a thin film of water, then squeegie out the water below the stripe for the installation. It is pretty easy to remove all trapped air that way because the water displaces the air when you lay the stripe down, and then the squeege action acts as a vacuum and keeps air from entering under the stripe. The dissadvantage of a wet installation is that you have no way to stretch the vinyl. So if you have curves or humps in your hood, a la the Mini, you can end up with a distorted line on your stripe.

All that said, not all stripes can be applied wet. You need to know what type of stripe you bought to see if it can be installed wet.

Back to your problem. An earlier person mentioned using an exacto knife to cut small slits in the stripe and then smooth down. That will work, but be very very careful. It is very easy to cut into your paint finish. And you may be able to see the cuts after you are done.

My other suggestion is to buy a stripe with a pattern, such as a carbon fiber look. The pattern does two things - hides air bubbles, and hides exacto cut marks.