Precision Auto

Thanks for your order!

NBTBRV8

Just thought I'd report back on my experience. I helped my installer do it today, he is a very experienced Ventreshield installer, but he had never done CleaPlex before. He got all of the fingers out, a couple were stubborn though. He squeezed all the moisture out he could but you can still see that there is moisture in between the glass and the film. I am hoping that this will dry out shortly as even though it is pretty clear at the moment, looking through the windshield is like looking at a heat shimmer on the horizon. Everything is distored marginally.

I will give it up to a month to try and dry out, if it doesn't get any better I will pay to have it removed as it isn't acceptable/safe at present.

Overall I think this would only be suitable for a new windshield, mine is pitted but the film is pretty good in that it doesn't highlight them too much. Without this film dries out clearer, in the few hours I've had it installed I'd say it would be good for a rally event where you will pull it off afterwards, but I'm not sure about a daily drive.

I'll report back how it pans out.

Precision Auto

Can you send me a pic of where you think the distortion would be. This should go on clear. You should also not have issues with the fingering on a preformed skin. Did your installer use a heat gun to form the skin? This film should be clear from day 1.

NBTBRV8

The distortion is all the way through the film, the closest thing I can compare it to is a horizon heat shimmer all across the screen and the clarity seems to get worse as your focus moves from say a car sitting in front of you to one on the horizon. The installer used a heat gun as per the installation videos along with all the tools provided.

You can definitely see some light traces of moisture between the glass and the film at the moment, your first install video says that this can take a couple of days to dry out, so I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and hoping that that is the problem.

It is going to be hard to take a photo of it but will see what I can do over the course of the week if it doesn't improve.

P_collector

Hi Precision Auto,

I am interested in this too. The Porsche centre just installed a new windscreen on my 977 GT2..not cheap. So I was thinking about the clearplex too..

questions are;
1. price
2. who can install it? can it also be done by me? Or someone who has experience with car wrapping etc..?
3. Pictures..havent found any high resolution pictures of the clearplex installed..

thanks

Precision Auto

I just pm'd you the info.

Owng, Seapar, DHill, and Trakcar have experience with the film.

Precision Auto

This is not the highest resolution photo, but it was recently taken by my iPhone. I was trailing a group of R8s and McLaren on a recent rally! Talk about getting gravel kicked up at you on the freeway! No damage though.

Precision Auto

Just found the "unretouched" version! Keep in mind that it was sprinkling that day....those are the few "spots" you see on the left. I have had this Clearplex film install since October 2012. No issues so far....5 track days and 3 rallies so far.

owng

Looks clear to me. Nice photo Gus! I have the same on my windshield and don't see any distortion. Its been on for 1 month and counting. DIY myself and had no trouble with fingers even without heat gun. Just used hair dryer.

ELPORSCHA

If and when you do get stone chips, while having ClearPlex on. How do you go about repairing the damage to the film? If that is possible!

Would stone chips, say double edged stone hits the windshield, and from the feel of it, seems like somewhat of a semi-strong impact - did the chip/scratch go beyond the film? Or only film been damaged.

How to tell if it damaged the film only, or went glass deep?

Again, how do you go about rectifying such situation!

NBTBRV8

Ok, here is a picture and a video of the trapped moisture.



http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh66/NBTBRV8/Porsche/GT3/ClearPlexMoisture_zps48fcaae6.mp4
I will say though that you can't press the film down and move the moisture at all. I am confident this is causing the distortion, I just hope it dries out ASAP.

owng

I see what you are saying. What concentration of soap did installer use? Hope it looks better once it dries. Good luck.

NBTBRV8

The spray bottle provided with the kit already had the concentrate (dried) in the bottom, so we just added water. You could tell this as well as it slightly frothed up and was plenty slippy enough during the install.

Precision Auto

Here's Clearplex's official response. I forwarded this link to corporate:

"This is a fairly common issue when not applying enough pressure in the squeege process. In the instructions and on the Skin install video on our Website we instruct to first squeegee on with medium pressure than after inspecting to ensure there are no major concerns go back and squeegee film in the exact manner but with a lot of pressure. The pressure will both push moisture out but also push the adhesive down into the porous glass. Another effect is that the moisture that is left will take one to two full days to evaporate. In conditions such as Las Vegas it is half a day and in the South/South west part of country where it is very humid this can take more than two days. Letting an automobile sit in direct sunlight after installation really helps speed up curing process of adhesive.

NBTBRV8

So am I wasting my time by leaving it on or will it dry out to normal clarity?