Paint Protection Film is becoming an ever more popular method of protection both nationally and globally. Whilst even the most expensive waxes and ceramic coatings provide protection against road salt, bird lime (when removed appropriately!) and insect splatter, none can prevent unwanted stone chips ruining the appearance of even the most flawlessly detailed vehicle. Of course, once a stone chip has been cause, the option to touch-in the chip will reduce the eyesore somewhat, but the only way to get a complete fix would be a costly re-paint via a bodyshop; this can bring itsown problems including poor paint finish, uneven texture (orange peel), polishing defects and potentially overspray. Not only that, but you could collect a stone chip driving home from that said bodyshop, meaning money wasted and no benefits seen.
Happily, the latest way to protect your vehicle against road debris would be to install a thin, totally clear film onto the vehicle. This film mimics the paint texture that it is applied onto and is almost entirely invisible when installed correctly - meaning that you would never get a stone chip on your beloved car again, and no visible lines. Oh.. and another thing, the SunTek Paint Protection film we us at Scene Clean Valeting is completely self healing. What does that mean? Well, any surface scratches, wash marring and bird bomb etchings will simply fade away when the film is left in the sunlight or heated up with a hairdryer (yes really). This means that even the hardest used vehicles can look absolutely flawless day-in-day-out with complete peace of mind that your vehicles paintwork is protected in the ultimate way.
We were asked to install SunTek Paint Protection Film (PPF) onto the front bumper of this brand new Nissan GTR. As the owner is set on using the vehicle on a daily basis whilst also attending regular track days it is certainly a good choice to protect the investment. First we started, like any of our PPF applications, by giving the vehicle a safe wash down to remove any road soiling..
The regular foam prewash stages were undertaken to breakdown the surface grime, whilst intricate areas were given an agitation with a detailing brush. Paying particular attention to the grills and tight corners of the front bumper to clear any build up..
Once the two bucket wash and pressure rinse steps were completed, the Nissan was carefully moved indoors and dried down with a combination of drying towel and warm filtered air to force any trapped water from grills, badges and water traps. The GTR was then maneuvered onto our scissor lift and raised up to an adequate working height. The front bumper was then given a claybar treatment to remove any surface decontaminates and ensure that the panel was smooth and even for the film to gain the best adhesion. As the fiom would be locking in any defects present in the paintwork, we gave the panel a single stage machine polish to remove holograms and surface defects present..
We then used our SunTek TruCut software to cut a pre-designed template for the specific vehicle being worked upon from thousands of patterned vehicle choices. The PPF was then cut using a cutter plotter to get the cleanest edge cuts and perfect size to fit. Here is what the film looks like during its application on the 2017 Nissan GTR...
After a few patient hours of manipulating the film carefully to ensure no air or solution is left between the film and paintwork (the film is applied wet), the film started to take shape and the final finish was beginning to shine through. With the use of our pre-cut templates, edges and grills are already designed for a little excess film. This allows the edges to be wrapped once dry for complete coverage to ensure as much of the panel, in this case the front bumper, is protected from road debris. The Nissan GTR front bumper comes in a whopping eleven pieces including the main bumper, side pieces, grill sections and lower corners..
Once completely installed, the film was then left for a few hours for the edges to dry. Carefully folding the edges over to complete the invisible look of the films application. Leaving the GTR overnight to settle and allow any areas that may 'lift' to do just that, these lifted areas would push back down and have a greater bond to prevent them lifting again. With a final check of all edges, the film installation was completed. As you can see, the film becomes almost invisible when installed with very few visible lines and the texture of the film has the ability to mimic the texture of the paint it is applied to, with minimal orange peel increase..
SunTek Paint Protection Film offers a superb protection against physical and chemical damage being caused to your vehicle. Once the film is installed, it can be waxed, ceramic coated and washed as normal without the loss of any self healing capabilities - just another reason why the modern PPF is becoming a very popular choice when purchasing a brand new vehicle. To gain the very best performance and appearance of the film, follow it with any of our Detailing Services to ensure that your vehicle is well protected, looks superb and remains that way effortlessly with only simple maintenance washing required.
Once the film had settled for a few hours, the entire vehicle was then give a final wipedown using Gyeon Quartz Q2MCure to remove any waterspots and overspray from the film application whilst simultaneously adding some protection to the paintowork and film. Glass was then cleansed with Gyeon Q2MGlass and tyres dressed with Q2MTire to finalize this brand new GTR film installation..
