PPF Help

[DisMahhhlon]

Kudos, that looks amazing. It looks like your in Anahiem. Im local we should definitely make that happen. I’d love to pick your brain.

Bet! I'm usually free in the evenings after 5:30

Sponsored

 

[Myeil]

I just had XPEL Stealth applied. Total cost with ceramic tint was $5600
Thread Link

 

[shaloot]

I just had XPEL Stealth applied. Total cost with ceramic tint was $5600
Thread Link

That’s not a terrible price for full car. I think these shops are insane what they are charging but if it’s good work it’s good work.
Stealth looks really good on that color. Thought I wanted stealth for nocturnal but after seeing a handful of them, it kinda looks cheesy on black.
at this point I’m looking for valid excuses to NOT do PPF. Though since this car is a lifer for me I feel forced to do it. Already found 2 marks on the hood one from bug and another that seems like a scratch but maybe its on top will clay or polish out. Please for the love of god someone convince me to skip the PPF!
I’ll do window tint myself as I used to do it years back. Was thinking I’d try doing PPF myself on the hood and front bumper, but that bumper… there’s no way I can pull that off lol. Rockers / side skirts, sure, hood maybe…

 

[concept]

That’s not a terrible price for full car. I think these shops are insane what they are charging but if it’s good work it’s good work.
Stealth looks really good on that color. Thought I wanted stealth for nocturnal but after seeing a handful of them, it kinda looks cheesy on black.
at this point I’m looking for valid excuses to NOT do PPF. Though since this car is a lifer for me I feel forced to do it. Already found 2 marks on the hood one from bug and another that seems like a scratch but maybe its on top will clay or polish out. Please for the love of god someone convince me to skip the PPF!
I’ll do window tint myself as I used to do it years back. Was thinking I’d try doing PPF myself on the hood and front bumper, but that bumper… there’s no way I can pull that off lol. Rockers / side skirts, sure, hood maybe…

There are areas of vehicles that almost never get paint damage, so I would recommend that you minimize the cost by either doing some of it yourself (There are probably many videos out there.) and having a pro do the rest. But perhaps skip areas that are good enough being ceramic-coated.

 

[DisMahhhlon]

That’s not a terrible price for full car. I think these shops are insane what they are charging but if it’s good work it’s good work.
Stealth looks really good on that color. Thought I wanted stealth for nocturnal but after seeing a handful of them, it kinda looks cheesy on black.
at this point I’m looking for valid excuses to NOT do PPF. Though since this car is a lifer for me I feel forced to do it. Already found 2 marks on the hood one from bug and another that seems like a scratch but maybe its on top will clay or polish out. Please for the love of god someone convince me to skip the PPF!
I’ll do window tint myself as I used to do it years back. Was thinking I’d try doing PPF myself on the hood and front bumper, but that bumper… there’s no way I can pull that off lol. Rockers / side skirts, sure, hood maybe…

I get nonstop compliments on my stealth nocturnal, but I havesome gloss highlights. I will say that the stealth ppf looks GREAT in the sun, since you can still see all the pearl in factory paint shine through. It's really dynamic vs just plain matte that I see on a lot of vinyl wrapped cars.

 

[shaloot]

There are areas of vehicles that almost never get paint damage, so I would recommend that you minimize the cost by either doing some of it yourself (There are probably many videos out there.) and having a pro do the rest. But perhaps skip areas that are good enough being ceramic-coated.

Agreed on skipping some areas, and thanks for your input. for the last 2 months I’ve probably watched or listened to at least 15 hours worth of YouTube videos of PPF installs, debates, etc. it’s funny almost all of the PPF YT content out there is the wrap & tint shops pushing how necessary it is lol. While the other portion are the old school paint correction / polish / retailers saying it’s terrible.
I feel like I can do the hood at this point even with no experience, though it seems the vents are hard to deal with. And honestly for rock or bug protection I think you really only need the front bumper, hood, headlights, and maybe the A pillars and mirrors. Hopefully the ZL1 rock guards help protect the fenders. Though I am concerned about the fat hips over the rear tires. Would be great to do the full car just so absolutely nothing can scratch. But going down that road takes money away from big turbo, clutch, ECU, etc so trying to keep my priorities straight. Need to consider this is a 60K car, not a 200K car.
so yeah my plan is to not ceramic coat anything yet, and give the DIY PPF the old college try during the winter while it’s sitting in the garage. Start out doing the rockers for confidence. Prolly using the gel solution as it seems more forgiving and allows for a slow install. Hopefully I don’t somehow hack up the paint when I inevitably have to remove it due to a shitty install lol. But I’m convinced this simply requires patience and is an easily learned skill, and refuse to throw $6-8K to a detail shop on something that technically anyone can do.

 

[concept]

Certainly, that is a logical train of thought. I've noticed that after driving my car, there are light films of black (brake pad material, maybe) behind the tires and the front and rear corners. I haven't seen any paint chip voids in those areas, so I'm not worried about the rear areas that are not PPF - covered. The uncovered roof could encounter a flying pebble or other object, but given its horizontal surface, it is less likely IMO.

 

[BA9092]

This was my first experience getting PPF. I bought my Supra new back in August of 2020 when most shops hadn't had much experience with its dramatic curves yet.

It came with the OEM PPF which was awful, but at least it was SOME protection while I waited a week for my PPF appointment.

I deiced to get the full front bumper, headlights, A-pillars and full hood (since I don't like the partial hood wrap look with the crease in the middle) - all for $2100 installed.

I chose a shop that was very well-rated and recommended STEK PPF installer.

The bumper, headlights and A-pillars came out great! However, the hood had some areas of distortion - I've attached the photos which I took just after getting home from the install below to show the shop's owner.

After taking the car back, the owner told me that the Supra's large and curved hood is difficult and a challenge to wrap, hence the areas of distortion, which comes from slightly stretching the film to contour the curves.

I have to say that after four years, it's all held up very well. However, I may go another route when the time comes, either PPF or installer.

Has anyone else have this experience?

 

[Andrew4Supra]

The bumper, headlights and A-pillars came out great! However, the hood had some areas of distortion.

After taking the car back, the owner told me that the Supra's large and curved hood is difficult and a challenge to wrap, hence the areas of distortion, which comes from slightly stretching the film to contour the curves.

Has anyone else have this experience?

~ My personal car has none of these noted stretch marks or heat gun scared areas. This is unfortunately due to poor installation and / or lack of experience with ppf. You shouldn't have any marks in the film period.

As for the guy who's watched hours of ppf videos... you might as well throw your money in the toilet if you're going to attempt an install with zero experience. I've personally installed over 300 kits since 1989 and it's a learned and perfected skill set. The Supra is a very difficult application (and no diy).

 

[shaloot]

As for the guy who's watched hours of ppf videos... you mind as well throw your money in the toilet if you're going to attempt an install with zero experience. I've personally installed over 300 kits since 1989 and it's a learned and perfected skill set. The Supra is a very difficult application (and no diy).

That’s me lol. I hear you. I shouldn’t say no experience, I’m experienced with window tinting. IMO it’s quite similar fundamentally. For example shrinking tint to match curves, the application in general.
I know it’s sounds naive, but I will attempt the hood with a bulk roll, maybe after trying something simpler like the headlights A pillars, rockers. I’ve seen some people stretch the hood very far right from the start, tacking onto the front bump and fenders, while others lay the center of the hood down with no tension, then they stretch around the curve.
That said, what would you recommend for the front bumper: a pre cut “kit” or bulk? And for the abovAssume you’re talking to a person with medium experience.
Frankly I don’t know how anyone can do this bumper from a bulk roll in one piece. It looks absolutely intimidating. I’m honestly OK with seams and multiple pieces if I was to try it myself but not like some of the pics in this thread.
I appreciate you comment but now I’m even more determined to learn this skill lol

 

[BA9092]

Live and learn, I guess. Not many shops in the Dallas area were familiar with doing PPF on Supras back in mid 2020 though.

At least it's only noticeable by me and you'd have to really look for it in the right light. On the bright side, it's kept everything protected since day one.

 

[swrdply400mrelay]

That’s me lol. I hear you. I shouldn’t say no experience, I’m experienced with window tinting. IMO it’s quite similar fundamentally. For example shrinking tint to match curves, the application in general.
I know it’s sounds naive, but I will attempt the hood with a bulk roll, maybe after trying something simpler like the headlights A pillars, rockers. I’ve seen some people stretch the hood very far right from the start, tacking onto the front bump and fenders, while others lay the center of the hood down with no tension, then they stretch around the curve.
That said, what would you recommend for the front bumper: a pre cut “kit” or bulk? And for the abovAssume you’re talking to a person with medium experience.
Frankly I don’t know how anyone can do this bumper from a bulk roll in one piece. It looks absolutely intimidating. I’m honestly OK with seams and multiple pieces if I was to try it myself but not like some of the pics in this thread.
I appreciate you comment but now I’m even more determined to learn this skill lol

I have no experience with PPF but I got my bumper and front partial done, it was precut, SunTek, and it was really good. Looking at the curves and lines, not sure how any one can hand cut it., lol

 

[Andrew4Supra]

I shouldn’t say no experience, I’m experienced with window tinting. IMO it’s quite similar fundamentally. That said, what would you recommend for the front bumper: a pre cut “kit” or bulk?

~ The hood should be bulk ... if I recall 72" square (huge piece)... As for the bumper, Xpel pre-cut kit. My car is in complete Xpel pre-cut less the hood.

 

[Vertex]

~ My personal car has none of these noted stretch marks or heat gun scared areas. This is unfortunately due to poor installation and / or lack of experience with ppf. You shouldn't have any marks in the film period.

As for the guy who's watched hours of ppf videos... you might as well throw your money in the toilet if you're going to attempt an install with zero experience. I've personally installed over 300 kits since 1989 and it's a learned and perfected skill set. The Supra is a very difficult application (and no diy).

From my understanding it is actually one of the hardest vehicles to do out there right now with the front bumper being the hardest part of the whole thing

 

[BA9092]

The hood is basically a king sized bed. ? ?

Sponsored