So I've been hesitant to put the red TE37SL sticker on my track wheels because I have yellow brembos. Rays sells other colors, but they are ridiculously overpriced. I recently bought a vinyl cutter so this was the perfect opportunity to try and create my own stickers.
The first step was to scan the original sticker and then retrace it all in illustrator.
Easy enough. So I sent the file to the cutter. Removing the sticker negative is pretty tough. Some of the letters are very tiny and it's very easy to screw up. Then I realized that some of these small shapes could move or fall off when the wheel gets very hot at the track. So I examined the original sticker and noticed there's a clear film that goes over the sticker. That's what keeps those small letter shapes in place.
So I bought some clear film vinyl and cut out the shape of the sticker. I carefully placed it over the sticker I just cut out and it looks great. But once I put it on the wheel, I noticed a bunch of bubbles around the corner of the letters. Apparently the vinyl is so thick that the clear film doesn't sit flat in the corners of the letters. The next step is to find some thinner vinyl material.
I placed all three stickers on my wheel just as a test. The red sticker is the original sticker, white is the one with the clear film overlay, and the black is without the film. I think the vinyl without the clear film will be fine on the street, but the wheels get hot enough to burn your hands at the track and I don't know if it will hold up without the support of an overlay.
I'll most likely just give it a shot without the clear overlay at the next track event. Anyone with experience with vinyl have any thoughts?
