XPEL, 3M, Other PPF, NO PPF, CQuartz???

[GTP]

Thanks for posting that. Ugh, it was painful for me watching them take the stripes off.

From what my installer told me, they are supposed to pull and stretch the film at a low angle, and add a little heat. If they did that there would have been a much higher change of the stripes adhering to the body.

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[JonS]

Is the GT350 Paint that bad?

I posted this in a general forum, but should have put it in the GT350 forum.
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I have been meaning to ask this for a few weeks. Is the paint so poor on these things? I recently leased a Fusion so I would not have to drive the GT350 in the winter/bad weather. The paint on that seems pretty good, even the quality of the clearcoat is ok. The 350 is supposed to arrive mid October so I still have a bit of time to think on this.

I have had a number of cars that were extensively tracked. One, an M5 I use to put 13 or more track days a year on. There were chips, but they could be fixed pretty easily. I had an M3 LTW, and other M3s and same thing.

I used Dr. Colorchip on the hood of a black C63 I had which did have a covering on the front there were many chips further back. It worked very, very well. People have said it does not work as well on metallic paints (My GT350 is going to be Ruby Red). I still think I would rather go that route rather than spending a fortune on a wrap to cover just about the entire car. I also did not like the bumps where the wrap ended. I guess there is not perfect solution.

Still thinking about whether to use a new sealant or good old carnuba. I also noticed that the major sealants like CQuartz all have a 'booster' to use each 3 or 4 months so might as well get the carnuba shine. That is what I am currently thinking.
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[Mspeedster]

I posted this in a general forum, but should have put it in the GT350 forum.
------------------
I have been meaning to ask this for a few weeks. Is the paint so poor on these things? I recently leased a Fusion so I would not have to drive the GT350 in the winter/bad weather. The paint on that seems pretty good, even the quality of the clearcoat is ok. The 350 is supposed to arrive mid October so I still have a bit of time to think on this.

I have had a number of cars that were extensively tracked. One, an M5 I use to put 13 or more track days a year on. There were chips, but they could be fixed pretty easily. I had an M3 LTW, and other M3s and same thing.

I used Dr. Colorchip on the hood of a black C63 I had which did have a covering on the front there were many chips further back. It worked very, very well. People have said it does not work as well on metallic paints (My GT350 is going to be Ruby Red). I still think I would rather go that route rather than spending a fortune on a wrap to cover just about the entire car. I also did not like the bumps where the wrap ended. I guess there is not perfect solution.

Still thinking about whether to use a new sealant or good old carnuba. I also noticed that the major sealants like CQuartz all have a 'booster' to use each 3 or 4 months so might as well get the carnuba shine. That is what I am currently thinking.
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The finish of my paint is very nice. But the finish of the paint jobs seems to vary from car to car. I can't comment on the paint's thickness or resistance to chips, as I luckily don't have any chips yet. But I've only had my car for a month.

From what I've seen on this forum, the rear quarter panel in front of the rear tires and the front bumper area are likely to pick up some chips. CQuartz and other ceramic/nano coatings won't stop that.

I did get a chip on my lower front spoiler/splitter. Luckily it's rather small, but judging by the depth of the hit, it surely would have chipped the paint if it had been higher. That was enough to convince me to get some extra protection. I'll probably do some PPF within the next month.

 

[JonS]

The finish of my paint is very nice. But the finish of the paint jobs seems to vary from car to car. I can't comment on the paint's thickness or resistance to chips, as I luckily don't have any chips yet. But I've only had my car for a month.

From what I've seen on this forum, the rear quarter panel in front of the rear tires and the front bumper area are likely to pick up some chips. CQuartz and other ceramic/nano coatings won't stop that.

I did get a chip on my lower front spoiler/splitter. Luckily it's rather small, but judging by the depth of the hit, it surely would have chipped the paint if it had been higher. That was enough to convince me to get some extra protection. I'll probably do some PPF within the next month.

I am confused, why would the quarter panel in front of the rear tire be susceptible to chips? I can see why - and have had several cars that are susceptible to chips behind the wheels - even when it is not a track car.

 

[Mspeedster]

I am confused, why would the quarter panel in front of the rear tire be susceptible to chips? I can see why - and have had several cars that are susceptible to chips behind the wheels - even when it is not a track car.

It's because the rear fenders are flared, making it an easier target for the front tires to kick back stones that might hit that areas. All Porsche 911s come with stone guards in that area from the factory for the same reason. See this thread.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63862

 

[JonS]

It's because the rear fenders are flared, making it an easier target for the front tires to kick back stones that might hit that areas. All Porsche 911s come with stone guards in that area from the factory for the same reason. See this thread.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63862

Thanks very much. I would have thought that the stones from the front tires would be directed away from the car, but can see with wider fenders they might get some. I assume that Xpel and 3M have templates for these.

 

[CanadianHorseMan]

The installer I'm going with has the rear quarter in front of the wheel covered with PPF. He game a list of "common applications" for this car. I can post later.

 

[CanadianHorseMan]

Hey all, so I thought I'd update this thread with what I did to my R.

I got new car prep, which includes getting rid of any scuffs, scratches, transfers, etc...car got fully washed, then was coated with PPF, and then washed again, polished, then the entire car was coated with CQuartz Finest (including over the PPF).

The film I went with was 3M Pro Series, due to the fact that from my extended research I determined it was the best option and the most thoroughly tested (3M tests their products for 10 years before using it on any public vehicle)...hence the reason XPEL came out with their product earlier and is actually in litigation with 3M due to them supposedly stealing the formula from 3M...that's another topic altogether and not what this thread is for.

Anyway, 3M Pro Series is in their 5th generation now and is actually a 6 mil (3M) film instead of a 4 mil (XPEL), offering more protection and for me it was at the same price. And I quote my installer "those who say 3M isn't as good as XPEL are a bunch of *****s" haha...anyway, I know XPEL is popular and I'm not debating which is better. I myself don't know and I've never had PPF before, all I can say is I'm super happy with the 3M stuff, and even at 5 inches from the surface I can't even see it...shit, I can't even feel it. The only way I know it's there is if I drag my fingernail on it....it's simply awesome.

Hopefully my info can help others decide. If you can find a reputable installer, who offers both products please ask what they think as 3M Pro Series is harder to apply but the film is supposed to be better and clearer.

My installer has 6 cars, all 3M Pro Series, his wife's car has XPEL.


Hi-res photos, if you'd like to see in more detail. These photos are like 4-8mb per photo...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gali5v061pmc0gi/AAD5Xh5amogRSm2fq6Yw-oJsa?dl=0




R

 

[Arctic_Ragtop]

Rob, great photos. Your R looks amazing in that colour combo. When I had mine done in 3M Pro they covered the lower 5-6" in front of the rear fenders with the body line, but I now have a few small chips above that on the actual fender. I wish that section would have been done as well. How high did they cover your rear fender ?

 

[Hack]

so you're supposed to tape the edges? how do you get the sealant on the edges if you tape the edges?

I have no idea what others do, but this last time I applied sealant I taped the edges during the initial application of the sealant and then pulled the tape off before buffing the sealant out. I tried to avoid buffing across the edges of the film. I think during the buffing the sealant spreads out to cover a larger area, but taping during the initial application helps to prevent having a significant amount of sealant trapped against the edge of the PPF. If I had it to do again, I would have had the entire hood done with PPF so I wouldn't have a seam in the PPF across the middle of the hood. The other seams don't bother me as much.

ABSOLUTELY.

It is why I changed from partial hood, partial roof, and no trunk, to full coverage all 3 panels.

I don't know how much the cost would have increased, but in the future I would err toward more coverage as well.

 

[CanadianHorseMan]

Rob, great photos. Your R looks amazing in that colour combo. When I had mine done in 3M Pro they covered the lower 5-6" in front of the rear fenders with the body line, but I now have a few small chips above that on the actual fender. I wish that section would have been done as well. How high did they cover your rear fender ?

Thanks Jayson! Ah, yes, haha. I guess I forgot to mention what they actually covered. This is what I got done. According to the installer, this will avoid most chips. He said, out of all his clients the only ones who do the entire car are the ones who track like every weekend. You can't see any seems in those pics. I know where the seems are and I can't see them. The rear fender seem goes from the door handle body chine and angles down to the fender.

16' Ford GT350R - Complete Headlights
16' Ford GT350R - Complete Hood
16' Ford GT350R - Complete Front Fenders
16' Ford GT350R - Front Bumper
16' Ford GT350R - Complete Rockers
16' Ford GT350R - Lower Doors
16' Ford GT350R - Partial Rear Fender Impact Area
16' Ford GT350R - Partial Rear Wheel Impact Area

** 3M ProSeries Film **

 

[CanadianHorseMan]

Oh and considering all the stuff I listed above is a huge portion of high impact areas, I didn't feel the whole car PPF covering was worth it at more than double the price. It's about 154% more expensive, due to the amount of waste cutting the other panels (he doesn't use kits...full sheets he cuts manually)

 

[viva_brasil]

I did 3M on my front bumper only. Had my roof wrapped but used black vinyl. Not super OCD, just want to protect the susceptible areas. Prefer to put the money into track tires.

 

[CanadianHorseMan]

I did 3M on my front bumper only. Had my roof wrapped but used black vinyl. Not super OCD, just want to protect the susceptible areas. Prefer to put the money into track tires.

Ya, totally cool, prolly where most of the stuff will hit. If you're tracking it you may want to consider the rear quarter panels in front of the wheel. The installer says they're very prone to getting chipped. ITLRUN, on this forum, drove it home and got a chip there...I believe it was him...

 

[viva_brasil]

Yea I'll do the rocker panels as well - that's the panel along the bottom between the front and rear wheels (i.e., in front of the rear wheel)

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