knewb

[tonni]

Hello,

 

I have read through these forums for the past two weeks. I am trying to learn ppf installation. My first attempt was on a corvette c6 z06. I attempted to do the front bumper using 3M pro series. I am not sure if its the person I purchased the film from or just bad 3M patterns, but nothing was lining up. corners were flat and straight edges were curved. Needless to say, It was a failure for me. I knew that it was going to be a challenge, but starting the installation, I felt that the battle was over.

 

Round 2. I purchased all the right tools (sprayers, squeegee, blades, etc). This time, I went with suntek utima using DAP patterns. I didn't start with the bumper since the person from whom I got the film from had everything on one roll and the rear quarter was the first pattern from the precut roll.

 

Rear quarter it is. I used xpel's gel v2 for the job. I had two other bottles with tack and slip solution. (15% 70% iso) tack and 4 drops J&J for slip. I washed the car and made sure to clean everything. I didn't clay bar though even though the car has had a clay bar in the past month with a polish. I did wipe the fender down with iso to make sure nothing was left.

 

I started from the front of the quarter and unrolled the film. I aligned around the fuel door. The film has excess, so aligning the top of the fender wasn't an option. Everything was going fine and I left the area around the brake vent and rear around the side marker for last. 

 

I noticed that the curve going up to the brake vent had a lot of fingers, so I started working on  the back of the quarter panel to return to the vent later. The problem was that the edge (along the edge of the quarter-bumper) was tacked on the top portion, but there was a lot of finger around the inside edge of the front side of the side marker light. I tried lifting the film, but it wasn't going to happen. It was on there good and I didn't want to stretch it. Anyways, I was able to remove the bottom portion behind the rear wheel to attempt and align the side marker cutout. No luck

 

The best I got was 4 5mm lift lines around the inside radius of the front of the side marker. I tried heating it (which improved it) but they were not going away. Based on my process, does any see what I can change. I am going to attempt to do the other side. One thing I am going to try is to tack around the side marker first. I didn't stretch the film at all and everything lined up pretty well. Everything is where it is supposed to be. Thank you in advance.

Edited October 26, 2017 by tonni

[minty]

The best thing you can do is book yourself on a course. As you said in the second paragraph, you have purchased all the right tools but you need to invest in the main tool and that is yourself, it will save you a lot of film and unhappy customers.

 

Steve

[pro-tect mobile]

Bingo. You need a course... and lots of experience after it.

[tonni]

Yes, I'm looking at scheduling a training class. With Sema around the corner, its not happening any time soon. In the meantime, I was trying to get some insights on what I did wrong. I assume that I didn't stretch the film enough.

[Todd @ Interwest]

Tonni,

 

As Minty and Pro-Tect Mobile mentioned a good training class is one of the best investments to start with.  Understanding kit design and alignment as well as where to start on a kit is a big part of it.  Also knowing where to make your tack points and how you focus your stretch is another big part to it.  I am happy to give you some pointers over the phone if you want to give me a call or come by the 3M booth at SEMA next week and ask for me and we can run through some tips and do some hands on demos as the show.

 

Todd Bergman

Interwest Distribution

3M Authorized Distributor

1-800-232-8468

www.interwestdc.com

todd@interwestdc.com