GiuseppeM

No razor blades around my car that's for sure, can you take a picture from a little farther away?

wegentop

Sorry, I have been silly enough to come across this idea. The answer off hand cutting the film is big " no no"

not sure if this photo is far enough ?

Bartron

this is a great question. i have a car with the 3M stripes and am unsure whether to put film on as it would take the stripes off. However, how long would the new films last on a car in a Canadian summer (not Arizona) and stored 6 months of the year? Are we talking potential replace in 6 yrs? 10 yrs?

Good to see the air gap pointed out. I presume that's common with decals but had never crossed my mind. Thanks!

wegentop

Honestly I love my car as it has full protection from stone chips, but the PPF is thick and thick enough that the whole car has lost the metal kind of feel after it's all done.

GiuseppeM

It's hard to see from this picture, I guess it's not as visible from 2 feet away right? If you hate it have it removed, what's the point of walking by your car and hating the gap every single time... I had mine removed and haven't had a chance to have it reapplied properly but I didn't like the plastic look.

I'd say 5 years given also that at any time you may get a blemish or a rock chip that will make you feel you want to replace the section. Also the film is a lot more visible when applied over decals/stripes.

Bartron

So how crazy would it be to run NO PPF? is there anyone doing that? what were people doing with cars in the 90's? Did the 993tt's selling for crazy prices all have PPF?

TimAD

Thank you for doing your research, put simply cutting on a car of your caliber should ONLY be left to the highest caliber film installers in the industry. I only know of a handful I would trust with that task. Not something for the DIYer.

When deciding whether to wrap under or over, a strip there are a few things to consider. When you have a vinyl stipe even on top of the factory paint finish the stripe leaves two edges on each side of the stripe, these edges are prone to dirt/wax build up over time. When PPF is wrapped over it protects this from happening, and also protects the strip long term, but you do get a slight air gap which is more noticeable on darker colored cars.

The modern films have a warranty of 10 years so the film will "last" that long or longer. How the film will look in 10 years really depends on how the car is maintained and how the car is used. I will be writing an article dedicated to clear bra care in the near future and will PM it to you when completed.

Solid advice, at the end of the day its important that whomever the installer is discloses the pluses and minuses of each service. If you were my client I'd recommend the highest level of protection available for a car such as the 911R. Due to the value I would recommend wrapping over the stripes to preserve the OEM fitment and quality. The clear bra is meant to protect the finishes of the vehicle and be that sacrificial layer if anything were to happen. Unfortunately dark colored vehicles will show this air gap more than others, its something that must be lived with, or removed, have the stripes removed and re-installed on top, with the downside being cost, chance of fitment/alignment problems and dirt/wax build up on the edges of the stripes.

GiuseppeM, I recommend considering ClearGuard Nano for your next film choice. It doesnt have a plasticy look like some films.

Not crazy, the vast majority of the public does this. Being on a forum like Rennlist you have a concentration of guys that are absolutely fanatical about their cars, this is usually the first demographic to pick up a technology like clear bra. You just have to expect the downsides of not wearing protection. Another thing to consider is the relative cost, and the respective quality of vehicles today vs. how they were in the 993/964 etc. era. In an journey to make cars lighter and cheaper, as other components become heavier and more expensive, things like lights, bumper covers and other body panels have been made with lighter more delicate materials. In addition, paint finishes have to abide by stricter EPA and other global regulations which seem to also make them more delicate over time.

GiuseppeM

Hi Tim, thanks for the advice, I've seen the Clearguard Nano on a white R8 and it seemed that the film gave the paint a milky look, the car was at the shop to have a section replaced because it was scraped in a small accident and I could see the original paint. Have you noticed this as well?

I also saw it on 2 red Tesla Model X and it's true it was very smooth, seemed thicker than Suntek thought.

TimAD

Ive installed on many white cars and have not noticed a milky look, the film essentially mimics whatever paint surface is underneath.

Its 8.2mils thick, so is thicker than suntek which results in more rock chip absorption potential as well.

wegentop

Yes, it's hard to tell unless you look it very closely, from an owner like most of us, we looked every detail on the car, and then the air gap become a huge thing to me. Now I'm am going to remove the PPF, but only on those panels with the stripes.

reidry

It seems to me that it would be supremely valuable if Rennlist maintained a list of PPF installers sortable/filterable by state and allowed members to review them.

Ryan

wegentop

I guess the point of install PPF is to protect anything might be happened to the paint, and no worries between now and then when time comes to reapply film or sell the toy.

From the maintenance point of view, I don't look it a bad thing to have on the car, there is a big difference between look after the film compares to look after the paint, with the film its just so simple and easy and less risk with stone chips. this is just my.02

erikerik

Thanks for the info OP.... Any recommendations on good quality PPF guys in West LA?

TimAD

We are located in north San Diego county. It is a little drive from West LA but we have clients come down from LA often for our work. We can arrange pick up or drop off as well if its more convenient. Let me know if you'd like some more info!

996C2S

Wow, incredible write up. I need to be on this site more often!