conandrum

I have to add that the ppf film they used was much more flexible than the 3M Scotchgard I used in previous pages. The 3M I used was very tough and hard to manage.

Sorry for the late update. 6 days after the last post I went to a local PPF installer in Nicosia - shiny monkeyz They use Avery Dennison but not sure which one they used on mine (note to update). The headlights were already close to perfect when I got there. If you remember there were minor micro-scratches visible at certain angles and lighting conditions. They did some quick polishing with a wool pad and a 3" rotary. The micro-scratches were diminished slightly after this. Then they applied the film and cut to size on the headlight. With the film installed, the micro-scratches are not visible any more. After that they applied some carpro ceramic coating. The job took 1 hour and 10 minutes roughly and the total cost was 140 Euro. A couple of mini air bubbles dissipated within the next week or so (hot weather here). The headlights are now 100% perfect and protected at the same time. Check out the photos.

On friday, 3 days ago, I found a PPF installer in a nearby city, Nicosia and I went to visit. He told me that the 3M film I showed him was a tough film with little stretch and it is not recommended, at least for my own headlights. I arranged an appointment for the 8th of August when they will be installing their own ppf on my headlights after doing some final polishing. According to them, my headlight still has clear-coat on it. When the guy said this I was shocked and said that I sanded every shiny bit off the headlight until it was all hazy. To this he replied that if there was no clear-coat, polishing would not bring back such a shine. I am not entirely sure this is correct; what do you guys think. Anyway I will update when it is done.

Can you help me pinpoint the problem? In my opinion, the scotchguard film is too thick for my extremely curved headlights? Would that be accurate? This guy on the same headlights used 3M’s VViViD PPF and it looks soooooo soft! If I had seen this video back in March I would have ordered this one instead. but as you already know I was influenced back then by the vid in a previous post, where the headlight is less curvy, a heatgun is used and a bit of pulling/stretching: Maybe there is still hope with a heatgun?

I saw the hood obstructing, so I cut it. And then I pulled it to reduce the fingers and i moved it to do this. As soon as I saw those folds happening I knew this was a failed attempt. Price was about 60$ with shipping for 60"x24". I have another 3 or 4 such pieces left. Yes.. only the liner and it comes inwards through the engine compartment. I had the car up and the right liner out about 4 weeks ago when I replaced the windshield sprayer pump and the headlight sprayers. Maybe this is why I want to avoid doing it again on both sides LOL. Going for the least effort if it will provide results is logical. However, no results for me in this case because I have zero experience plus limited ppf plus no readily available wrap shops. I tried finding someone to do this back in May but they did not make a professional impression - more like a cowboy. I may need to check in another city and send the headlights there. IDK.

Yesterday I tried a piece of film to see how it behaves on the headlight and to prepare for the first application. Tonight around 22:00 the temperature dropped below 32 degrees Celsius so I tried to apply the film. I quickly realized that this will be as hard as I wished it wouldn't be! PPF size was good. Soapy solution was good. Film was moving fine. IPA solution was good and gave a bit of a bite when needed. The PPF film though is quite hard and difficult to iron out its fingers. Even though I was doing this carefully and taking it easy, pushing down a finger would create a permanent fold down the middle of it! This happened 3 times and I decided to minimize the fingers by pulling the film horizontally along the top of the headlight and then along the bottom of it. This stretched the film a bit along those areas and reduced those fingers somewhat, but still it needed leveling the fingers remaining. I even used the blade to cut the film successfully along the top edge for testing and found it quite easy with a new blade. I thought this would be difficult. So basically what I thought would not be a problem, ended up being the worst issue for me. Now I am seriously thinking of my contingencies as @mobiledynamics already said. Any advice before jacking up the car, removing the wheels and fender lining, removing the headlights and then visiting a paint shop for a clear-coat? 🙂