Interior/Exterior Roof graphic installation (with installation photos)
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2nd Gear
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 68
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From: Oceanside, CA
Roof graphic installation (with installation photos)
I finally got my roof graphic installed today! 
I decided to document what I went through so those wanting to get their roofs done can know what to expect.
First I got my friend to create a design for me. Leonard does fantastic work and we went back and forth with design ideas until this final product came out:
He can create designs for your MINI too! Check out his other sketches on his Facebook page.
Next I sent the graphic to CooperFlags.com. Since I have no sunroof, it cost me $260. Check out the full price list to see how much a custom print job is for your MINI. The finished product is beautiful, shiny, and on durable, genuine 3M vinyl.
Finally, and probably the most important part, installation! I found Backstreet Graphics in Huntington Beach, CA who quoted me $160 to install. Extremely reasonable, considering dealers will charge $400 and another installer I called wanted $300. He was also willing to drive down to Oceanside to do the install for an extra $40, which I thought was fair.
He prefers the car to be either in a garage or covered carport to reduce the amount of debris and sun during installation. First step was the lay the graphics out onto the car.
Next the backing is removed and the center is attached to the roof. There was a lot of pulling to prevent wrinkles and assure proper alignment.
He then set out smoothing and continuously aligning using a flat tool. A lot of painstaking time and effort goes into this part. He had his wife help with the beginning part of this. He said that a lot of people who attempt this themselves mess up this part because they don't have another person help with the pulling/straightening during this part of installation.
A hole was initially cut before the backing was removed, to fit over the antenna bump. He said you could remove the bump altogether to install the vinyl under it, but it would require dismantling the roof (and would likely result in higher installation cost). You would do that to avoid having a small seam from cutting the vinyl. After most of of the smoothing was done, he started to cut around the antenna more precisely using a sharp exacto blade.
Things really started to shape up when the edges started being trimmed and tucked in.
A lot of care is taken on precision cutting to avoid damaging paint or rubber. No air bubbles and tucking it into the trim is what makes the difference between it looking like a sticker or looking like it was painted on.
Final touches are applied all around.
The whole process took about 90 minutes. And this is how it looks from start to finish! Isn't it beautiful? I love it!!
Other Notes:
The gentleman was very friendly and full of helpful information. He said that California and other parts of the southwest experience something called "fallout", which is some kind of environmental buildup on the car's exterior. Unprotected, the vinyl may start to have red dots appearing here and there. He said to regularly spray this stuff called Quick Detail onto it to help debris and fallout from collecting on it.
Finally, he also said it would take about 48 hours for the vinyl to "cure". During this time tiny wrinkles or distortions may appear around the edges, but will disappear as the curing process finishes.
Overall, very positive experience! If you're in Southern California, I highly recommend Brian of Backstreet Graphics. He does Coopers all the time and really knows his stuff!
I decided to document what I went through so those wanting to get their roofs done can know what to expect.
First I got my friend to create a design for me. Leonard does fantastic work and we went back and forth with design ideas until this final product came out:
He can create designs for your MINI too! Check out his other sketches on his Facebook page.
Next I sent the graphic to CooperFlags.com. Since I have no sunroof, it cost me $260. Check out the full price list to see how much a custom print job is for your MINI. The finished product is beautiful, shiny, and on durable, genuine 3M vinyl.
Finally, and probably the most important part, installation! I found Backstreet Graphics in Huntington Beach, CA who quoted me $160 to install. Extremely reasonable, considering dealers will charge $400 and another installer I called wanted $300. He was also willing to drive down to Oceanside to do the install for an extra $40, which I thought was fair.
He prefers the car to be either in a garage or covered carport to reduce the amount of debris and sun during installation. First step was the lay the graphics out onto the car.
Next the backing is removed and the center is attached to the roof. There was a lot of pulling to prevent wrinkles and assure proper alignment.
He then set out smoothing and continuously aligning using a flat tool. A lot of painstaking time and effort goes into this part. He had his wife help with the beginning part of this. He said that a lot of people who attempt this themselves mess up this part because they don't have another person help with the pulling/straightening during this part of installation.
A hole was initially cut before the backing was removed, to fit over the antenna bump. He said you could remove the bump altogether to install the vinyl under it, but it would require dismantling the roof (and would likely result in higher installation cost). You would do that to avoid having a small seam from cutting the vinyl. After most of of the smoothing was done, he started to cut around the antenna more precisely using a sharp exacto blade.
Things really started to shape up when the edges started being trimmed and tucked in.
A lot of care is taken on precision cutting to avoid damaging paint or rubber. No air bubbles and tucking it into the trim is what makes the difference between it looking like a sticker or looking like it was painted on.
Final touches are applied all around.
The whole process took about 90 minutes. And this is how it looks from start to finish! Isn't it beautiful? I love it!!
Other Notes:
The gentleman was very friendly and full of helpful information. He said that California and other parts of the southwest experience something called "fallout", which is some kind of environmental buildup on the car's exterior. Unprotected, the vinyl may start to have red dots appearing here and there. He said to regularly spray this stuff called Quick Detail onto it to help debris and fallout from collecting on it.
Finally, he also said it would take about 48 hours for the vinyl to "cure". During this time tiny wrinkles or distortions may appear around the edges, but will disappear as the curing process finishes.
Overall, very positive experience! If you're in Southern California, I highly recommend Brian of Backstreet Graphics. He does Coopers all the time and really knows his stuff!
Last edited by zoedragon; Jul 10, 2010 at 01:11 PM. Reason: Added details
2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
You can't see all of it in this pic, but it was this monster with a huge tongue hanging out, holding a steering wheel and eating a bird. The fly is just another bonus of the whole thing. Tacky and tasteless IMHO
I kept a plain white roof for a year but just put this up:
I kept a plain white roof for a year but just put this up:
2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
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