I pimped my rocker panels...

[montgom626]

Now, watch me get hit by a piece of falling Russian space junk... and I wasted all that money on 3M reflective black...

No, it will be worse. You (we) will get hit by a guy who is mesmerized by the graphic and wants to get close enough to read it. Too close! I love your idea. I think in the country where I live it could/would make a big difference. This is something I am ready to do.

Where did you buy the reflective tape?????????

[montgom626]

I decided to give my black Volt more visibility at night,..

Okay, I am "hooked".

1) Where did you buy the tape? Size? Length, width. Cost???
2) How did you prep the rocker panels?? Soap and water??, What did you use?
3) How did you cut it to fit? Razor blade, what? Did you make a template??

And why didn't you have the decency to take photos of the process!!!!!!!!

[montgom626]

Ingenious, I like it. Did I miss the day time photo's????

Post day photos!!!!!!

[montgom626]

... and my Chihuahua who kept licking me during the process...

TMI baby, TMI

[montgom626]

... how can you miss that?

Ah, the joys and stupidity of youth! Best eyesight in the world, yet they can hit a truck the size of Texas!

[montgom626]

I would "pimp" my ride in a second if I knew I could remove the 3M tape without harm to the rocker panels.

[Sterling Silver]

Sterling, thanks for the night photo post, this is certainly impressive. Also, would like to see the daytime photos.

Was there any unique surface preparation before application of the retro-reflective film?

Finally got a daytime photo (sort of) while I was feeding my goats... Most "country folk" use an old pickup to feed critters and here I am out in a field, feeding goats with a $40,000+ car... mainly because it is much more fun than my pickup, and I don't have to worry about starting a grass fire. The Volt's under carriage runs "cool" compared to a catalytic convertor on my pickup. We have had some grass fires here due to that very reason...

Anyway, this image shows a "sort of" view of my rocker panels in the daytime and they are hardly noticeable in the day, unlike in the night when they reflect. http://www.flickr.com/photos/southwestusa/7713645228/

[montgom626]

Post some closeup pics of the rocker panels so we can see how it looks up close in the daylight. Thans!

[Sterling Silver]

Ingenious, I like it. Did I miss the day time photo's????

Tom:
I finally managed to get a photo showing the rocker panel in daylight, in this image on my Flickr account. There is just a slight hint of "Chevrolet Volt" in the daylight, but I'm happy it shows in a subtle manner, just in case it might afford me an opportunity to have a chat with a passerby who might see it and ask about owning a Volt.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southwestusa/7713645228/

[Sterling Silver]

Where did you buy the reflective tape?????????

I got this as a 12 inches wide roll from my local sign shop... a place called "Sign Pro" in Abilene, Texas. I suspect all modern sign shops these days have this stuff... I bought on section 4 feet long, and a second roll 3 feet long and there was enough to do both rocker panels, although I did have to splice a seam in both sides.. I should have just bought a 6 foot roll but I forgot to actually measure the length of the rocker panel when I was at the shop, having driven my pickup.