Just got back from the body shop and...things got ugly. I'm the third owner of my car and the front bumper needed paint, the rear fender flares, the usual spots. Well, by the time we got done talking I was repainting the car. And it's not going to be a cheap paint job either.

Once this is done I am going to need to do some clear bra. What locations have people done on the C6? Front bumper is obvious. The hood surprisingly doesn't seem to pick up a lot of sandblasting so maybe I can skip that.

The rear fenders are the biggest question. They take a lot of abuse from road dust but I'm not sure how I could do them without doing the whole rear fender or it looking funny?

I'll be having a good shop do this, just looking for any experiences from other C6 owners who have had this done.

 

If you're doing PPF on your GS, consider complete front bumper cover, headlights, hood (full or partial), side mirrors, lower part of fender behind wheels and full rocker panels (or skirts if present). As far as the quarter panels, you can just do the area ahead of the wheels, as that stick outs and can catch debris from the road and front tires.

If doing partial panels (like the hood or quarter panels), the edge will be visible at close distance (under 5 feet or so). It bothers some, but it does not bother me. If it's a daily driver, dirt will build up along the edge and make it more noticeable. Also, wax selection is key as a wax like Meguiar's Ultimate wax does not leave a white residue. Consider both when deciding to do full or partial panels.

Ask around also as some installers will have specific experience with c6 widebody cars and may also have a specific recommended package. The installer that did my c7z did. I did not have paint correction on my new car prior to PPF as the paint presented very well.

 

After my repaint project I took my car to a professional detailer (Brent Collins with Active Auto Detailing) who paint corrected the new clear coat to perfection, after he was done, I then had him take it directly to Houston PPF where I had them install SunTek Ultra to the full front, front bumper & splitter, headlights, fenders, hood & mirrors - I then had them install SunTek on the kick panels and up around to the gas tank filler cap level on the front of the rear wheel wells on both sides.

After Houston PPF completed the SunTek install, Brent picked it up and took it back and added 3 coats of Kenzo ceramics over it all.

Having a black car which was my son's daily all through college with 116k miles - I can tell you the whole front gets sandblasted, the nose and hood along with the headlights take the brunt - the mirrors somewhat less but they all got abused. I was determined to protect my new paint, I am so glad that I did, the roads here around Houston seem to be all under construction and no matter how far you try to stay back, you know that the paint is taking a sandblasting.

Don't skimp - protect that investment, that was my moto!!!

 

I understand a lot of people put the PPF or ceramic coat their cars to protect the paint. I am on the other end of the spectrum where I would never do either. When I bought my 2006 it had the 3M clear bra on the front bumper, partial hood and rockers. Part of my buying negotiation was to have that removed before I would complete the deal. There is always a chance that stuff can lift paint when removed so I put that on the seller and if there were issues the deal was off. I don't live in an area where the car takes a beating and it is a toy that only gets driven with the top down as I have a vert. Different circumstances for all and just my preference and opinion.

 

Thanks guys, this is super helpful. The rockers and mirrors are definitely critical, can't forget those! I think I am going to get a set of the Carbide aftermarket headlights to try to make driving at night actually possible, so I will do those as well. Good call.

There are a couple high end detailing shops nearby that do clear bra, so finding a good installer won't be a problem.

The detailing products question is definitely a good one too. I had been topping polymer sealant with wax, but I think I will probably stick with sealant alone after this gets done to avoid any potential residue. I may wind up doing ceramic since it has been AMAZING on the wheels, but I'll cross that bridge once the paint has fully cured. It would certainly reduce the likelihood of any problems where the clear bra ends to have a very long lasting coating.

sramzzz - I'm not completely in love with the idea of doing clear bra either, but the front bumper especially just has to be done. I wish I lived in an area where the roads were always clean but I definitely don't! Due to my back, my washing and detailing is aimed at minimizing swirls and polishing as little as possible too, so it will make sense to bra the high wear areas. I've also been impressed with the clear bra my wife's CX-5 has on it. It's done a really good job of protecting the paint on a DD and looks great even after several years.

 

I also have a 2011 Grand Sport. Do you have the Apsis front splash guards? They do help. Also, won't you need to wait for the paint to fully cure? If not, I would be concerned that it would be damaged if I wanted to remove the Xpel (in my case) in the future.

 

My 3M brand PPF made it 14 years before it failed and I removed it. This includes 93,000 miles and hitting, at 60 mph, a large plastic traffic barrel in the middle of the road.
Not a single chip or scratch on the car anywhere film was applied. Don't tell me it is not effective.

If interested in 3M, I think their web sites list approved installers.

 

Almost bought the bigger Apsis ones when I replaced mine but didn't in the end. Probably should have.

Definitely need to wait for the paint to fully cure. The body shop said 30 days. Car is going in in May which is going to suck a bit, since I don't want to drive it a lot before I get the bra put on. Gotta do what I gotta do I guess.

 

Very encouraging! Thanks!!

 

If you choose to add PPF, IMO, going with a higher end product that is "self-healing" is worth the extra $. It won't heal large rock scars, but for smaller (e.g., "sandblasting") type of hits, it does a good job. 3M has a self-healing product as does Xxpel and some other products.

 

Good idea, PPFs do what they are supposed to do, protect the paint. Just be aware that they do deteriorate and will need to be replaced at some point. And the longer they are on, the harder they are to remove. I learned that the hard way. Just finished removing that sh*t from my front clip and it was a hell of a fight.

That's not a consideration if you only keep cars a couple of years. But if you keep the car longer, plan on replacing it every few years. YMMV

 

It sounds like youre familiar but would recommend repainting and making sure they do a through polish as well before they seal the paint with the PPF, which you can then apply the sealant and/or wax to. Ceramic is somewhat overblown but would recommend turtle wax ice spray wax if you want a good, long lasting sealant/wax that does its job well and you can do easily yourself. Shops will usually ream customers for their "ceramic coating".

I'm not against PPF but have looked into it and it is very expensive, least around me. Hope it comes out well!

 

Great advice, thanks. With the money that's going in to this paint job, I'll probably have the car for a while. I'll consider a replacement timeline!

 

Thanks!

Yea, I have a whole detailing routine I've developed over the years. Right now both the Vette and my truck have Pinnacle Black Label polymer sealant on them. Great product, lasts a long time, ridiculously easy to work with, looks good. It would be a good choice for working around the PPF as well.

Ceramic has been *amazing* on my wheels, I must admit. For wheels I am fully on the ceramic bandwagon. I've been hesitant to do the whole car with it because of the longevity though. I usually need to polish once every two years to maintain a swirl free finish and the ceramic may outlast that. I need to think about what I'm going to do going forward. Polishing before the PPF gets applied is a consideration too, usually I would do it myself but I will probably leave it to the shop that does the PPF - they're a high end detailing place that I trust. I hadn't thought about that before though, good call!

 

I had self-healing PPF installed on the front bumper, headlights, both front fenders back to the door gap, full hood, fronts of both mirrors, both rockers under the door and the rear spoiler. I track the car and it gets peppered in all these areas. Without it, the paint would be trashed. The PPF performs great and any road debris, bugs & marks wash off easily. I apply ceramic spray coating on it to make it even more slippery. PPF isn't cheap but worth it if you know it's vulnerable and want to maintain the finish. If just a weekend or DD I probably would've just done the front bumper, hood, mirrors & rear spoiler.

 

Go to Xpel's website and search for installers in your area and ask them what areas they reommend. I had Xpel installed almost 10 years ago on the front bumper, side view mirrors and in front of the the rear wheels and the vehicle still looks brand new.

 

I have PPF. Last year, returned from a fun drive with my club. Ended up with a surprise long-ish scratch in the PPF. Heat gun made short work of the scratch. You would never know it was there. Even cheap PPF is better than no PPF.

 

The 3M clear bra on my wife's XC90 took a beating when a teen driver hit a yellow cement pole in a parking lot at a bout 3mph. The right front bumper of her Osmium Grey Metallic Volvo was Safety Yellow and my wife was in tears. I broke out some acetone to the yellow transfer paint and the clear bra took two small knicks from the abrasiveness of the cement pole but it saved the paint below the nick in the plastic bra. Not a scratch on the paint and after a year the two small scuffs are no bigger or worse. All the yellow transfer paint wiped right off with the acetone with no adverse effect on the 3M bra. I'm sold.