1st Attempt at PPF (Pics)

[finishlineautosports]

So I am looking at getting into PPF, this was our first attempt at doing my 24" of hood, front fenders and mirror covers. Mirrors turned out fine but I have questions about hood and fenders of my 2011 Taurus Limited.

In this first pic, we just layed the film onto the car (Xpel Ultimate), when doing fenders we discovered the film was NOT straight across so do you guys just measure up the sides when bulking or no? Wondering how to get it straight. I plan on wrapping edges most of the time, but not necessarily for my dealers unless charged extra like retail customers.

In this 2nd pic, you see we have squeegeed out most of the hood, and some excess trimmed off of the hood. Keep in mind, we are installing with alcohol (75water 25% alcohol, xpel gel, and edge prep). Now this question leads into the next picture because you see those fingers yet on the TOP side of the hood at the very bottom, how, and do you need to get those 100% gone before wrapping edge because if you look in pic below this one, you can see when we went to wrap edge, we pulled the film up slightly on edge, and pulled it tight to get rid of finger on top side, and then wrapped below, leaving some weird looking spots across the hood edge.

Look at the bottom edge here:

Now as we were squeegeeing out the gel as we went along, we had the film down and tight however after using alcohol and edge prep and looking at top of hood again, seen a few bubbles like this where it seems gel is under yet, will these dry out? Obviously going to redo this but just curious as to if sometimes small ones are normal and will dry or no?

LASTLY, on the fenders, how do you get the edge to stick down in between the fender and bumper? Obviously canbt wrap around backside without removing bumper, so do you have to cut it slightly short then or is it possible to get it to stick down in there?

I know this is far from a perfect job but trying to learn how to do this until I can get to a training class.

[alberts316]

stretch it more before tacking, OVERLAP your strokes, try again. You need to practice scoring the film in a radius around the fender bumper area. After time you will be able to tuck it cleaner and tighter in those areas.

[goodcall84]

^like alberts316 said..plus i use a jiffy steamer to help heat and lay the harder fingers

[Guest nuno]

Black cars are tuff. That silvering at the edgevof the giis is bot gonna go away

[Guest TINT-WORLD-SAN-DIEGO]

you pull way to much, that hood look like a piece of cake. just smooth it out, lock the middle, use the right solution at the right time and squeegee. don't use the steamer, they suck.

[Guest kccartint]

you pull way to much, that hood look like a piece of cake. just smooth it out, lock the middle, use the right solution at the right time and squeegee. don't use the steamer, they suck.

He didn't pull enough. You can see this by the fingers and bunching up along the edges. Yes, its a piece of cake hood but he is green. Then again, it appears you are too. To advise against a steamer is foolish. They are an invaluable tool in PPF if used correctly. They are not needed for us seasoned installers but for you to say they suck is just bad info and not helping anyone. Its another tool in the bag that has a lot of advantages. Sit back and learn some.

OP... You just attacked it wrong. It will come with time. On that one its best to pull your film from one side to the other smoothing out the film on the front edge before taking down. That will smooth out the front edge and not leave all those fingers. Work one side to the other and overlap your squeegee. Thats what got you in trouble on the water left behind. Try and stick to one to two directions when working the water out. You may want to test drive on kits for the first year and work your way into bulk. PPF takes time and there is always a challenge that will pop up. Bulk is easier when you learn the film but you have to plan your install since your the one making the kit.

[alberts316]

you pull way to much, that hood look like a piece of cake. just smooth it out, lock the middle, use the right solution at the right time and squeegee. don't use the steamer, they suck.

[finishlineautosports]

Thanks for the info guys...I just got the xpel softaware trial but since it was my personal car, I really wanted to try and wrap the edges...At any rate, like I said, never seen this done in person, this was first attempt and I can see what you guys are saying so when I get my next roll I may kit the fenders, but I really want to wrap edges of the hood so we'll see what happens.

With that said, what is a good cleaner to get the surface prep off the paint under hood before I try again?

[Guest kccartint]

You can wrap the edges with DAP. Make sure you do the rundown with one of the guys to show you the key basics. A good line up for cleaning is a clay bar and prep solvent. Most times a dish soap solution with the clay bar will get it all and be good to go. You need to clean under the hood with your alcohol solution or prep solvent to get good adhesion when wrapping edges. You have to walk before you run so ease into it and keep a level head when that one car is kicking your ass.

[XPEL Jeff]

Thanks for the info guys...I just got the xpel softaware trial but since it was my personal car, I really wanted to try and wrap the edges...At any rate, like I said, never seen this done in person, this was first attempt and I can see what you guys are saying so when I get my next roll I may kit the fenders, but I really want to wrap edges of the hood so we'll see what happens.

With that said, what is a good cleaner to get the surface prep off the paint under hood before I try again?

KC nailed it. You can wrap edges in the DAP to get the look of a custom cut, but still get the benefit of having some alignments points to help make sure everything is balanced. If you used surface prep, I would use a solvent to clean it off. We use Acrysolvent, but just about any adhesive remover will do.