DIY PPF and what I need to cover
01-04-2018, 07:28 PM
#22
Le Mans Master
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Member Since: Feb 2011
Location: Paoli, IN
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St. Jude Donor '17, '19
OP, applying PFF on a test are will not damage your clearcoat at all (unless you use some superhuman strength to gouge through). So you're fine there. However, I'd recommend paying about $20 for a 1'x3' section of XPEL instead of the cheap stuff. This way you get to practice with the good stuff and see actual results.
01-05-2018, 02:31 AM
#23
definitely don't use cheap film. i say use either suntek or expel. also both company has accurate patterns with expel being the leading industry in software. i primarily install suntek top coat film that has self healing proprietaries. most film in the industry has their lower end film and their top coat film. purchase the top coat one.
don't ever cut on the car unless you're a professional. i rarely cut on the car and i never cut through the film i just score it half way and separate the excess by peeling it off. i really just cut when i bulk a whole panel. meaning a full hood, fender, trunk, etc i roll out the film over the panel, start to apply the film/push out all the "fingers" (where there's excess in the middle of the film because of different contours). then once my panel is perfect, the excess from my film is cut using the body gaps as my guide. but you shouldn't be doing bulk applications if you're just going to buy a precut kit.
anyways in terms of supplies, get yourself a yellow turbo squeegee, that's really all i needed for precut film. if you want a knife, get a carbon knife. carbon knifes are good for PPF, but shouldn't be used for tint since you cut tint on the glass and the carbon knife will scratch the glass. for tint film use stainless steel blades. get two spray bottles, one will be your slip solution filled with distilled water and johnson's baby shampoo (about 3 healthy squeezes of the shampoo), then your other bottle should be a 50/50 mix of distilled water and iso alcohol. if you have a steamer that helped me when i was a beginner, it provides indirect heat for shrinking areas like the bumper. using a heat gun for beginners isn't recommended.
always prep your surface, clay bar the car, clean your work area, you shouldn't be applying the film outdoors because of kicked up dust, make sure you have adequate lighting, and just be prepared. i like to separate/cut out my patterns and organize them by panels. when the plotter does the precut film, the user can choose to maximize the film and not waste space or cut it out in panels. I never waste space/film so when i know the opening of a grill in the bumper is going to be wasted film i throw in mirror covers, headlight covers, etc in that space. if that happens to you when you receive the film, then i highly suggest cutting it out. what i mean by that is, cut through the backing paper of the film, don't cut where the plotter made the patter, cut a slightly bigger outline of the pattern out. make sure you don't accidentally cut the surrounding patterns. this prevents me from peeling off the whole pattern to apply to the car. it leaves room for accidentally dropping it, accidentally hitting your leg/clothing, etc. example: let's take the hood pattern, the best way is to roll the pattern up, spray the whole area with slip solution, start with at corner that corresponds to the corner that the film will start to unroll with first. peel the film of from the paper backing and just gently set it down on the corner of the hood. then you "roll" the film out while separating the rest of the film from the backing paper. eventually you would have rolled out the film onto the hood which is now sitting on the layer of slip solution.
if you need to lift the film to spray more slip solution you can. use the slip solution to your advantage and align the film in place. check each edge, the left side, right side and the front of the hood. once it's aligned, the first swipe of the squeegee should be the middle up and down section. be gentle because you don't need much pressure to tact down the film. if you press too hard you will stretch the film and the excess will mess up your alignment. try to think of the film as quadrants. i try to always divide the film up into 4 coordinates. the middle vertical alignment is critical, then i do a horizontal alignment (from the middle of my vertical swipe, i go from the middle of the hood to the left and middle of the hood to the right) now i've created 4 quadrants. if i swipe to the left/right with too much pressure, my original alignment which looked perfect might have now have excess film overlapping the hood edge because i stretched the film past my hood. if that happens it's not the end of the world you can use your knife to cut it or you can gently peel up the film and retry it.
anyways you have your quadrants. in each quadrants squeegee "out" from your original tact spots. so if you look at the hood when you're standing in front of it, quadrant 1 is the upper left, 2 is the upper right, 3 is the lower left, and 4 is the lower right. for number 1, use the horizontal tact line that separates quadrant 1 and 3, from that line squeegee up to get the water out. for quadrant 3, squeegee down to get the water out. if the film is moving around because it's slippery, spray down your tact solution (alcohol mix) that alcohol will dry out the soap and let it stick. the better you get the less soap you will need.
the c7 kit includes the 1/3 hood, partial fender, the hood vents (hard individual strips), full front bumper, mirrors, and headlight covers. the hardest panel is the front bumper, hood vent and mirrors. start off with the hood, then do the fenders and then the headlights.
The front bumper is going to be hard, just take your time. the contour of the bumper will create fingers which are excess film in the middle of the bumper, you squeegee that excess to the edge which has this ripple effect which we call fingers. try to evenly distribute those fingers out in the edges but you really shouldn't have much fingers. the steamer will come in handy when you want to shrink those fingers down and eventually squeegee them out. when i mean squeegee them out, it will look flat on the edge of the panel and looks like a perfect alignment, you just have to apply a lot of pressure on that edge and use your alcohol bottle to make the film tact. Since you know it's a finger edge (the film doesn't want to naturally lay flat) you are forcing it to stay flat by squeegeeing the fingers out, you need to make sure it's dry and the glue tacted that edge. you don't want it to peel back up, that's why you don't drive the car right away and let the car sit in the sun to make sure it's completely dry. the slightest sign of water or wind air that can catch that edge, it will peel it up and make the fingers show up. you can use the heat gun to make sure that edge is completely sealed and dry.
all i can say is take your time. the c7 bumper is fairly easy at least. seal all edges, let the car sit after you are done so all the water is dried up and the glue is actually sticking the film to the car. good luck!
don't ever cut on the car unless you're a professional. i rarely cut on the car and i never cut through the film i just score it half way and separate the excess by peeling it off. i really just cut when i bulk a whole panel. meaning a full hood, fender, trunk, etc i roll out the film over the panel, start to apply the film/push out all the "fingers" (where there's excess in the middle of the film because of different contours). then once my panel is perfect, the excess from my film is cut using the body gaps as my guide. but you shouldn't be doing bulk applications if you're just going to buy a precut kit.
anyways in terms of supplies, get yourself a yellow turbo squeegee, that's really all i needed for precut film. if you want a knife, get a carbon knife. carbon knifes are good for PPF, but shouldn't be used for tint since you cut tint on the glass and the carbon knife will scratch the glass. for tint film use stainless steel blades. get two spray bottles, one will be your slip solution filled with distilled water and johnson's baby shampoo (about 3 healthy squeezes of the shampoo), then your other bottle should be a 50/50 mix of distilled water and iso alcohol. if you have a steamer that helped me when i was a beginner, it provides indirect heat for shrinking areas like the bumper. using a heat gun for beginners isn't recommended.
always prep your surface, clay bar the car, clean your work area, you shouldn't be applying the film outdoors because of kicked up dust, make sure you have adequate lighting, and just be prepared. i like to separate/cut out my patterns and organize them by panels. when the plotter does the precut film, the user can choose to maximize the film and not waste space or cut it out in panels. I never waste space/film so when i know the opening of a grill in the bumper is going to be wasted film i throw in mirror covers, headlight covers, etc in that space. if that happens to you when you receive the film, then i highly suggest cutting it out. what i mean by that is, cut through the backing paper of the film, don't cut where the plotter made the patter, cut a slightly bigger outline of the pattern out. make sure you don't accidentally cut the surrounding patterns. this prevents me from peeling off the whole pattern to apply to the car. it leaves room for accidentally dropping it, accidentally hitting your leg/clothing, etc. example: let's take the hood pattern, the best way is to roll the pattern up, spray the whole area with slip solution, start with at corner that corresponds to the corner that the film will start to unroll with first. peel the film of from the paper backing and just gently set it down on the corner of the hood. then you "roll" the film out while separating the rest of the film from the backing paper. eventually you would have rolled out the film onto the hood which is now sitting on the layer of slip solution.
if you need to lift the film to spray more slip solution you can. use the slip solution to your advantage and align the film in place. check each edge, the left side, right side and the front of the hood. once it's aligned, the first swipe of the squeegee should be the middle up and down section. be gentle because you don't need much pressure to tact down the film. if you press too hard you will stretch the film and the excess will mess up your alignment. try to think of the film as quadrants. i try to always divide the film up into 4 coordinates. the middle vertical alignment is critical, then i do a horizontal alignment (from the middle of my vertical swipe, i go from the middle of the hood to the left and middle of the hood to the right) now i've created 4 quadrants. if i swipe to the left/right with too much pressure, my original alignment which looked perfect might have now have excess film overlapping the hood edge because i stretched the film past my hood. if that happens it's not the end of the world you can use your knife to cut it or you can gently peel up the film and retry it.
anyways you have your quadrants. in each quadrants squeegee "out" from your original tact spots. so if you look at the hood when you're standing in front of it, quadrant 1 is the upper left, 2 is the upper right, 3 is the lower left, and 4 is the lower right. for number 1, use the horizontal tact line that separates quadrant 1 and 3, from that line squeegee up to get the water out. for quadrant 3, squeegee down to get the water out. if the film is moving around because it's slippery, spray down your tact solution (alcohol mix) that alcohol will dry out the soap and let it stick. the better you get the less soap you will need.
the c7 kit includes the 1/3 hood, partial fender, the hood vents (hard individual strips), full front bumper, mirrors, and headlight covers. the hardest panel is the front bumper, hood vent and mirrors. start off with the hood, then do the fenders and then the headlights.
The front bumper is going to be hard, just take your time. the contour of the bumper will create fingers which are excess film in the middle of the bumper, you squeegee that excess to the edge which has this ripple effect which we call fingers. try to evenly distribute those fingers out in the edges but you really shouldn't have much fingers. the steamer will come in handy when you want to shrink those fingers down and eventually squeegee them out. when i mean squeegee them out, it will look flat on the edge of the panel and looks like a perfect alignment, you just have to apply a lot of pressure on that edge and use your alcohol bottle to make the film tact. Since you know it's a finger edge (the film doesn't want to naturally lay flat) you are forcing it to stay flat by squeegeeing the fingers out, you need to make sure it's dry and the glue tacted that edge. you don't want it to peel back up, that's why you don't drive the car right away and let the car sit in the sun to make sure it's completely dry. the slightest sign of water or wind air that can catch that edge, it will peel it up and make the fingers show up. you can use the heat gun to make sure that edge is completely sealed and dry.
all i can say is take your time. the c7 bumper is fairly easy at least. seal all edges, let the car sit after you are done so all the water is dried up and the glue is actually sticking the film to the car. good luck!