Here is the DIY report for the transformation from Fiat Punto Sport 90HP to Abarth Punto SuperSport
:
My Precondition - never alter the OEM's specifications. Any modification done should be strippable at any point, and never do I support permanent modifications like painting the roof, etc which cannot be reversed easily. All the vinyls and roof films I have applied can be stripped from my car before anyone can say 'Jack Robinson', and the car can be returned to OEM specs.
Just to refresh your memory, I ordered the Abarth vinyls from this link :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-Punto...50908245663%26
Yesterday morning, as soon as I opened the parcel, it was a cardboard roll cylinder, similar to shuttle cock cases. There were 4 things inside this roll box:
- Abarth Decal roll. Both left and right side vinyls were combined into a single large roll close to 2 metres in length.
- Abarth letters (2 sets) on another roll
- Instructions' sheet with pictures
- hard rubber Squeegee to remove the air bubbles during vinyl application
The instructions were quite vague and useless so I ended up NOT following the steps mentioned there.
I made a mental note of the flow of events:
- paste the side decals above the running board first
- paste the front bumper stripes in the same line
- align and paste the letters above the black stripes
- while allowing these to dry up, attend to the roof film application
I couldn't capture stage-wise pictures since my portico isn't big enough to allow room to focus with the camera, moreover it was raining yesterday morning (weirdly in December!!) so I couldn't do this outdoors.
The decals looked like these when I unboxed the parcel :
The big vinyl (on the white roll) consisted of all 4 vinyl parts on the same strip.
- First, I cut the entire roll in half, along the length of the strip. This separated the left side from the right side.
- Next, I cut the front bumper parts away from the main Abarth stripes. This way, I can focus on the 4 parts independently.
The Abarth Stripes :
Each vinyl part had a backing tape, actual vinyl and a transfer tape. Effectively, the stickers had 3 layers. Taking the help of a friend, we measured and started sticking the longer piece first, so that the smaller bumper portion could be done later. This took quite a bit of time.
We used the shampoo water spraying method used by sunfilm shops, since it becomes easy to move around the stickers and correct any alignment mistakes. The backing tape was removed and the vinyl was stuck onto the car body, right above the running board, allowing an inch of space from the running board. The squeegee was used to remove air bubbles along the entire length of the vinyl. The long stripe is close to 2 metres in length, so it was quite a handful to align properly.
We used a google image picture (on a laptop) of an actual Abarth Punto as reference, to match the alignment and position where the vinyl starts on the body.
As per the instructions' sheet, we had to leave the transfer tape on the vinyl for 1 hour after application and allow it to settle in there, before peeling it off to expose the actual vinyl fully. We repeated the application process for the other side, and then finally matched the front bumper stripes to the same alignment of the longer stripes. After around 2 hours, we stripped off the transfer tape and allowed it to dry up on all 4 vinyls.
The ABARTH letters :
the next job was to paste the ABARTH text on top of the black vinyl stripes. I would have so much liked it if they had designed the vinyls to have the "ABARTH" as a transparent part within the stripe. Anyway, the text portion was stuck carefully, once again with shampoo solution spray and a hair dryer to quickly dry up the vinyl before it became soggy/deformed.
The entire process for vinyl application took around 5-6 hours. The end result was worth every bit of the trouble. Here's a sneak peak before the actual photos :
Roof film :
Next I moved on to the roof film. Sidhu at 3M had still not received the stock of the 3M gloss film inspite of him requesting them for it umpteen number of times. He advised me not to wait for the 3M gloss film, but instead go ahead with some other option. One of my friends who was coming from the US was my target - he gladly obliged and procured one for me from there. The gloss film came with adhesive on one side, so sticking this was again a matter of spraying the shampoo solution, and clearing all the air bubbles.
The entire roof film application process took around 2 hours, but it was easier than the Abarth decal application. I had to cut the film for the roof dimensions of the Punto's roof. Since this was a DIY job, some of the edges are rough and unfinished, but it is largely acceptable by a newbie's standards
, and moreover who is going to notice those minor glitches up there? It truly looks like a panorama sunroof now (pictures to follow).
There was some confusion going around the front antenna, and I had to make a couple of slits in the film to go around that obstruction. I did not want to remove the antenna from inside the roof trim, since I would have difficulty putting back things again into the antenna assembly (cannot run to the A.S.S again for this). The slits I made in the film showed up as gaps when the entire roof film application was done. I later got carbon fibre wraps at 3M car care to cover up these gaps which were exposing the red roof underneath the film.
The entire vinyl + roof work completed by around 8 PM, and the entire saturday was spent here. There were some bits and pieces of work remaining - the exposed paint around the antenna, and I wanted carbon fibre wraps for some matte finish plastics which looked drab on the Punto's A, B and C pillars, and the front plastic panel housing the windscreen washer jets. I headed to 3M today morning and got these done there.
Here are the pictures of the entire work done in this DIY job:
The side profile look
A top view from my house balcony
The Abarth stripe. Note the 2 separate stripes
Another few shots of the same stripe
The front bumper stripe ends at the fog lamp
The side stripe starts at the same level from the front fender and tapers away towards the end. This side stripe measures a whopping 1.8 metres in length!
Now the roof, and the finishing touches of wrapping the antenna in carbon fibre film (done the next day at 3M):
The antenna gets Carbon Fibre treatment
Getting the CF treatment at 3M car care centre (HSR layout)
Every plastic/matt finish panel which was prone to fading, got the same carbon fibre treatment. Thanks to nkrishnap for the idea
Front quarterpanel on the A pillar
On the B pillars
A closer look at the CF wraps on the B pillars
On the C pillar
And the bonnet plastic panel housing the windscreen washer jets got the same treatment too. Goodbye to plastic polish now. Basically, every exposed piece of plastic outside is now carbon fibre wrapped. If you can't beat them (at fading), destroy all evidence that they exist!
The rear of the car is untouched, but you can make out the black roof from the rear too.
A departing picture of the visual DIY jobs from my balcony. The glossy roof literally looks like a panorama sunroof now.
I have allowed the OEM black stripe decals to co-exist with the Abarth stripe for now, but if need be I can strip them off later. I will take that decision next year. Does anything look gawdy? It can always be reversed in a jiffy *smiles*
Funny aftermath of this visual change : I noticed all the bikers keeping a distance from me in dense traffic at BTM layout *lol*. One curious guy at a signal asked me if this was a race car. I replied in the affirmative and said this particular version of Punto is imported from Europe *rotfl*. He was staring in awe and kept a safe distance away from my car even after the signal went green and traffic started moving. If this visual change means more peace of mind in traffic, I am really really happy.