Applying vibraflex in the cold

[Mr DeeBeez]

I will be putting on a layer or two of vibraflex 160 mil on my roof in front of my B-pillar. It is a completely flat piece of metal. I know vibraflex should be heated up before applying, but I am wondering how well it would work being applied in 40° weather. 

I remember reading somewhere, but can't seem to find it anywhere now, that you can put vibraflex in the oven on a low temp to heat it up. Anyone have any experience doing this? 

I was planning on putting it in the oven on low, heating it up, as well as putting the heat gun on the metal of the roof to warm up the metal as well. Anyone have any suggestions? Waiting till summer for it to be warm out isn't really an option. 

[WalledSonic]

I put Damplifier in the sun for 20 minutes and damn near burned my skin off lol.  You dont want to get over 120F or so, otherwise you cant handle it.

Using a heat gun on the butyl is a good idea.  Keep in mind that its hard to work with if its too tacky.

Do you have a space heater?  You could heat the cabin with a decent sized heater and then use a blanket or something on the top of the roof to hold the heat in.  Leave the matting in the truck to slowly heat up.  Once everything is room temp-ish, you should be good to go.

Just my $0.02.  I applied some of my matting the first time in 50degF weather and didnt have too hard of a time.  I just used the heat gun a bit.

[rocking.that.eclipse]

I've heard of people putting the vibra flex in the oven for like half an hour but the best thing that I was told would work is to just heat everything up with a blow torch.

 

 

 

[Mr DeeBeez]

Thanks for the input. I've put deadener on in the cold before, but have been told the 160mil vibraflex is different and needs to be heated for it to work as well as it should. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 44°. That's the warmest it is going to be for quite a while. So I'm gonna hopefully take advantage of that. 

[tboorn]

yeah vibrflex isnt butyl like most dampeners, its an asphalt base more strictly meant for reinforcement so as not to flex as much. ive heated it with a torch and also on the black hood of my car in texas heat. either way you need to get it HOT or itll break and chip once its applied. get the metal your working with warmed up to, you dont want it cold or it wont stick as well. you can definitely put it in the oven on low heat for a while until it warms up, then get ready for a serious arm work out because you need to put serious pressure on it to get it right.

[audiofanaticz]

I would wait until spring so the vehicle can naturally warm up, or park it in a heated garage for several hours before attempting to apply it.
Doing it outside in the cold you will only be able to get the metal so warm, and the other side of the metal will still most likely be cold so you may run into condensation issues which will result in the product not adhering well.
People put it in the oven so it is pliable otherwise with it being room temperature it is hard to get slight curve without risking it snapping in half.