Video: Water Transfer Printing / Hydrographics

Josh over at Streetwerkz has the very same tank...

The artwork is made specifically for hydro dipping....

Basically you float the artwork on the water and then spray a liquid that preps the surface that faces up. It softens the artwork and turns it almost to a liquid....

The trick is the angle the part is dipped and steady hands....

The parts can then be powder coated with a protective layer or spray painted with a clear....

 

I just had a set of Mini S-Lite wheels done, they turned out amazing, here is a photo of the BEFORE CLEAR COAT:



I will post more later of the finished project.

 

How durable is this?

 

Only got a chance to watch a half of the video but two questions.

How much and how long does it last?

 

If done with a clear protective powder coat over the top, it's as durable as any powder coated wheel....

Here's a NOX tank with clear powder coat right out of the oven...

Without the clear coating it's pretty much a thin decal that wouldn't hold up to scratches very well...

 

They did this to a bunch of parts on an episode of Wheeler Dealers. It's UK, of course, but they did all of the interior dash trim for way less than 1/3 of the real thing. Wish I could remember which car it was. It was fun to watch. Durability? No idea.

 

The guys that did mine have been doing it for years, they have customer that they did the wheels for almost 3 years ago, except for the curb rash the guy claims the wife did they are fine.

I will be able to tell you first hand soon as mine get installed today.

Also I have a set for sale if anyone is interested.

 

how much does it cost to have a set of wheels done?

 

Pretty slick process.

 

OK here is the finished Product:

 

Nice wheels, I like how they turned out. How much does it cost to have done? or give me the number to the place so I can find out.

 

Thanks Nathan. I will give them a ring tomorrow and post back my findings unless someone posts a price before that. Just trying to get a ball park figure.

 

Here is some more finished product:

 

The dash looks better than the wheels since MINI did make CF dashes. I have them with a set of down tubes.

The wheels on the other hand....... ehhh not my thing / style since everyone knows MINI has never made CF wheels, but hey if you like it that all that matters.

 

Was not sure I wanted to do the Downtubes. Gf says to do them, IF I do I am also thinking about the steering wheel inserts.

 

I was thinking the downtubes & wheel inserts myself.

 

I have the JCW alcantara wheel with the cruse control on one side and radio buttons on the other and I only installed the lower center JCW CF insert and it looks good.

I did not want to add too much CF because then it would look cheesy, ricer, APC Ghetto.
Be very careful with CF you can over do it. :lol:

For me I like how aesthetically pleasing the control spokes that are silver / gray go with the steering center ring, the tachometer ring, and the turn signal / wiper arms.

I like things to look subtly different so when people look at it they know something is different and they have to look at it to figure it out.

Clean and understated is more my desired "look" for my car but it is definitely not my personality.:lol::devil:

 

I like that idea of only the bottom spoke of the steering wheel, as the buttons would still need to be silver.

I am not doing anymore Cf stuff, the first reason is the Gf is going to kill me in my sleep if I don't get to work on her car! 2nd you are totally right, Cf can get out of hand fast and not look so good.

Did you see the A-pillar/Gauge mount?