Print | Back December 2, 2009 Installing A SledWraps Graphic Kit Playing with stickers is (almost) always fun If you’ve shopped around for  graphic wrap kits for your sled but were  too afraid to actually put them on by  yourself, we feel for you. It’s an intimidating  project. But, it’s not as bad as  you might think. Here’s a step-by-step  guide with a few tips to simplify the  process. There are more tips and photos  on www.sledwraps.com. 1 Our graphics from SledWraps.com  arrived rolled up on one sheet. We laid  the sheet out flat and let it sit at room  temperature overnight to flatten out. 2 Cut the individual pieces out and trim  the paper backing right to the edge of  the vinyl graphic for easier placement  when you peel back the paper backing.  3 Here are all of the pieces of our wrap,  cut and trimmed and laid out how they  will go on the sled. You need to determine  which piece you are starting with and  know which pieces go where on the hood.  We began our Arctic Cat M8 install with  the hood center piece and worked out  from there. 4 It’s best to work with a room-temperature  hood, whether that means removing  the hood and taking it inside or warming  up the garage. We installed our wrap on  a C3 Composites carbon fiber hood, so it  was easy to do the install indoors. Clean  the hood with soap and water and then  wipe down the hood with alcohol. If you  removed stock graphics, you might need  to use some adhesive remover to get  all of the old junk off first, then wash the  hood with soap and water and wipe down  with rubbing alcohol. 5 Before you remove any paper backing,  lay some of the graphics on the hood and  tape them in place. Position the piece  you are going to install first by taping one  side of the graphic to the hood so that the  other half can be folded up to remove the  paper backing.  6 Peel the paper backing back and cut  (don’t tear) it off to expose a portion of  adhesive. 7 & 8 Use a flexible plastic tool, like  a spatula, to work the graphic onto the  hood and force out any air bubbles. Take  your time. 9 On curved surfaces, work the graphic  onto the longest, flattest surface first and  then work it around the curves. Use a hair  dryer or heat gun to get the vinyl to form  around curves.  TA-DAH On the M-Series hood, the  most difficult piece of the wrap to install  was the large side graphic. The best tip  we have for this is to lay the graphic face  down on a table. Peel the paper backing  up from one end to about halfway back.  Use a razor knife to slit the backing into  three strips running lengthwise with the  long graphic piece. Lay the backing back  on the vinyl. Peel up the backing from the  other end and finish the cuts. Then position  the graphic on the hood and tape the  top edge to the hood. Lift up the graphic  and peel back an end of the center strip of  backing paper, then work the center of the  graphic onto the hood, front to back. This  gets the graphic in place on the longest,  flattest part of the hood surface. Once  that’s done, peel back the bottom piece  of backing and work down from the center  to adhere it to the hood. Do the same  from the center up for the top portion of  the graphic. © 2013 SnoWest® Magazine http://www.snowest.com