2018 CX-9 GT wrapped in Avery Dennison Carmine Red Vinyl - Progress Journal

Yes I'm planning to leave it debadged, the wife loves the look. We're in maumelle, right outside of little Rock. Thanks!

Agree debadged looks so nice. The Mazda logo in the back breaks up the sleek lines. Without the badge it looks very sleek and European. I was going to leave mine debadged but didn’t want to have water deep into the tailgate from the two exposed holes and didn’t want to get it filled and repainted so I replaced it with a blacked out evil M which is lower profile than the chrome Mazda logo
 
Wow, great work. Looks fantastic (I'm not a red guy, but my wife would LOVE it, she's always owned red cars before her current Mazda). I cannot fathom the time it took to complete the project. How many man hours do you think you have in it?
 
Wow, great work. Looks fantastic (I'm not a red guy, but my wife would LOVE it, she's always owned red cars before her current Mazda). I cannot fathom the time it took to complete the project. How many man hours do you think you have in it?

Thanks! I worked from about 5:00pm to 12:30am every work day from last Friday, to this past Monday, working from about 730am to 730pm on the weekends, so I estimated about 70-80 hours or so.
 
Thanks! I worked from about 5:00pm to 12:30am every work day from last Friday, to this past Monday, working from about 730am to 730pm on the weekends, so I estimated about 70-80 hours or so.

WOW! great job Captain !! whoa that is dedication, looks great, 70-80 hours ? you saved a lot of money doing it yourself, say an indy shop charges $75 for labor , you are talking about $75 * 80 hours = $6000 just in labor cost.

I don't think I have that dedication, after all the hard work , I be so pissed if there's a tiny scratch or ding from someone parking too close.

I wonder how Dept of Motor Vehicles handles color changes, doesn't the color have to match the registration color ? just in case police pulls you over and the color doesn't match your registration.
 
That's a wicked good job man! Looks nice too. I love Mazda's pearl red, but this is really nice too. Are you going to black out the wheels still?
 
Wow, great work. Looks fantastic (I'm not a red guy, but my wife would LOVE it, she's always owned red cars before her current Mazda). I cannot fathom the time it took to complete the project. How many man hours do you think you have in it?

How come she didn't get Soul Red?
 
How come she didn't get Soul Red?
Mainly because her "new" Mazda is my old CX-5. I chose the color when I got it, then she decided she wanted it, so I paid it off and gave it to her and got myself the CX-9. So basically she's stuck with my color choices. (peep) It would make a nice birthday gift to have it wrapped "soul red" for her.

Thanks! I worked from about 5:00pm to 12:30am every work day from last Friday, to this past Monday, working from about 730am to 730pm on the weekends, so I estimated about 70-80 hours or so.
Wow, labor of love I'm sure. Nice!
 
Last edited:
WOW! great job Captain !! whoa that is dedication, looks great, 70-80 hours ? you saved a lot of money doing it yourself, say an indy shop charges $75 for labor , you are talking about $75 * 80 hours = $6000 just in labor cost.

I don't think I have that dedication, after all the hard work , I be so pissed if there's a tiny scratch or ding from someone parking too close.

I wonder how Dept of Motor Vehicles handles color changes, doesn't the color have to match the registration color ? just in case police pulls you over and the color doesn't match your registration.
Thanks! Shouldn't have any problems with the DMV -- the vehicle is still white technically. Everything i've red, it's no issues at all. I was quoted $4,000 by a local shop to do this job, so I saved about $3500 minus my time doing it myself.


That's a wicked good job man! Looks nice too. I love Mazda's pearl red, but this is really nice too. Are you going to black out the wheels still?

Yes, still planning on doing the wheels gloss black, that'll be this weekend's project

How come she didn't get Soul Red?

Becuase Soul Red is a more metallic maroon red, she wanted the bright non-metallic red, like the mercedes offers. this is the closest to it. if you saw the two in person, they're totally different.
 
Thanks! Shouldn't have any problems with the DMV -- the vehicle is still white technically. Everything i've red, it's no issues at all. I was quoted $4,000 by a local shop to do this job, so I saved about $3500 minus my time doing it myself.



Yes, still planning on doing the wheels gloss black, that'll be this weekend's project

Really excited to see the wheels get done. I want to do my wheels in black too. Are you going to dip them or wrap them?
 
Really excited to see the wheels get done. I want to do my wheels in black too. Are you going to dip them or wrap them?

My plan is to dip them -- they're a bit to intricate to wrap them in my opinion. i've dipped many sets of wheels and when you do them correctly, they look great and hold up for as long as you want them to. I should have photos towards the beginning of next week!
 
Thanks! I worked from about 5:00pm to 12:30am every work day from last Friday, to this past Monday, working from about 730am to 730pm on the weekends, so I estimated about 70-80 hours or so.

Damn! She's got her work cut out to repay you for all those hours!!

6e95bab7cfd7f666ac8c22269df9ffed.jpg
 
So a little background -- My wife owns a 2018 CX-9 GT. This car is incredible, WAY better than I honestly expected a Mazda SUV to be. The car is genuinely a blast to drive, and I own a Hellcat Charger with 707hp, so that means alot coming from me! Anyways, my wife has always been OBSESSED with the bright red color that Mercedes has on their SUVs, but every car she purchases, they dont offer this color. Well I finally decided to try my hand at doing a full color change on a vehicle, and give her the color car of her dreams. I've used vinyl several times before on all of my vehicles, but never to this extent, and boy do I mean it when I say i have a new found respect for the people that do this day in and day out! It's a beast of a project by yourself! Anyways, here is my progress over about 2.5 days. I'll continue to work on it throughout this week to get it finished. Let me know if you have any questions at all about how the car comes apart! I'm more than happy to help where I can!


Vinyl color is Avery Dennison SW900 Gloss Carmine Red

Updated 5/29/18 -- Completed!

40626438920_6640d4d148_c.jpg


42434209801_7fcae6afca_c.jpg


40626438800_acae374223_c.jpg


27564044487_2746b6aa80_c.jpg


42434209571_f8c97e5fc8_c.jpg


40626438680_a2358c15ae_c.jpg


Before
27385800237_87bbf76bd9_c.jpg


Breakdown
41534605504_8cdeddb8d9_c.jpg


Breakdown - Rear
27385801067_5d5843ba68_c.jpg


Removed front bumper
40449190880_1bafdb1e2e_c.jpg


Front and Rear doors done
27385802327_3d0c333bd6_c.jpg


Fender also done
41534607404_57944ebebd_c.jpg


Corners
27385803117_a21a902c04_c.jpg


Full passenger side and hood done
27385804047_ee459efd7a_c.jpg
Man how did you remove that back chrome piece on the hatch. I'm in the process of a chrome delete but can't figure that one out
 
Man how did you remove that back chrome piece on the hatch. I'm in the process of a chrome delete but can't figure that one out
We dont own the vehicle anymore, so I can't quite remember, but i do remember you have to pull off the interior panel on the tailgate, and I believe the tail lights come out first, then the chrome strip. i do remember you basically have to pull off EVERYTHING on the tailgate for the trim to come off.
 
Back