Ceramic Coating & PPF

[DBL-E]

Please move if not the right forum.

I have a 2020 GT350 in Shadow Black, no stripes, on order and have been soaking up all of the info of this forum. I have found alot of information in the search about ceramic coating and PPF but nothing specific to the question I have. If I were to do both ceramic coating and PPF, what's the order of install? Ceramic coating and then PPF or PPF with ceramic coating on top? Any information is appreciated.

Thanks.

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[lightrules]

PPF then ceramic coating on top of the PPF. Congrats on the car.

 

[galaxy]

PPF then ceramic coating on top of the PPF. Congrats on the car.

^^This^^

Ceramic coating on bottom can prevent the film from adhering like it needs to. BUT, and this is an important but...make sure you do any polishing or paint correction needed before the film.

 

[DBL-E]

^^This^^

Ceramic coating on bottom can prevent the film from adhering like it needs to. BUT, and this is an important but...make sure you do any polishing or paint correction needed before the film.

Great, thanks guys. I kind of figured the coating might prevent the PPF from adhering but wasn't sure and I understand that paint correction/polishing is a must. Once I have a delivery date, I wanted to get everything lined up so I can drive with peace of mind.

 

[Greg35]

Great, thanks guys. I kind of figured the coating might prevent the PPF from adhering but wasn't sure and I understand that paint correction/polishing is a must. Once I have a delivery date, I wanted to get everything lined up so I can drive with peace of mind.

Smart man there! Get her protected immediately upon taking delivery. This car is SO awesome and fun to drive it can be quite temping to put off a detail shop delay and hit the road! But, if one does this and gets a few rock chips you'll forever regret being hasty. Protect, read the owner's manual, get acquainted with its operation/features, do the break-in, and you're livin' the dream!

 

[21418]

When I had mine done, I was told what’s been said here, ceramic is last- once it’s on, other things have a tough time adhering to it.

 

[mrbillwot]

Sharing notes because I just picked mine up yesterday morning from the PPF shop
(yes it was torture waiting yet more time after 9 months since ordering & with only 2 months to drive before cold weather):

Had my dealer/prep:

• Only rinse off the dust & water spots & blow dry - no contact - only for us to inspect for paint defects & do paperwork.
• I kept the seats wrapped knowing PPF guy would be in & out....plus I want to unwrap it once all this is done to celebrate.

Everything after done by Paint correction/protection shop - I used: https://bostonexclusive.com/ Owner Ryan

• Real wash (opticoat wash product)
• IronX & rinsed
• Claybar'd & washed (opticoat wash product)
• I had him take out the hood vent and the GT350 fender badges before polish or film. Vent went back in when the PPF guys were done (PPF guys? Yes Ryan bring s in a dedicated Xpel crew for that work)
• Polish
• Film = full nose - over vinyl stripes*, A-pillars, mirror,~10" of front facing part of black painted roof, side rocker & bottom doors, rear qtr section. I went with Xpel Ultimate Plus - Ryan's contracted install crew took 4 hours, I heard they hate vinyl stripes & for good reason.
• Film got polished & paint got a 2nd pass where needed
• Ceramic Opticoat Pro + (2 step - 2 coats)
• Let cure 2-3 days (mostly that long because of schedule conflicts for me)

I'm not saying this is the only schedule or brands that work - this is not a religion to me I went with what the installer was comfortable with & had reasonable warranty. So just sharing what I just had done. Kona car - black stripes & black roof so everything wrt scratch & chip was going to show up (my unprotected black metallic SUV agrees). This process was fairly new to me as I never bothered with anything other than wash & wax in past years. FYI from my shop it was $4100. That's $2600 film & $1500 opticoat - he stuck to the quote and the polishing labor was hard under hot humid days - (Saturday edit fixed my film part of cost - also fwiw the film alone was $18xx from Xpel).

To do list:

• I ordered new fender badges $64 was short money for fresh ones (fresh backing vhb) from Quirk Ford on Ebay (20 miles local to me). If they show up Sat will install them also if the hurricane stays out to sea (heavy rain & wind forecast)..
• Put on Jaegger Bros front guards (yeah, kept forgetting - get those and put them on before leaving dealership! Jason Jaegger shared with me they are designed by a Shelby program Engineer - get er done).
• Put under splitter slider protections because my driveway apron rubs even approaching at extreme steer & body angle....dang.
• Drive (I need miles to pass emissions - car still only has 60mi on it and a hurricane is dumping mess here starting soon...so ....Sunday? Why emissions test? Long story (dang again)).

BTW I also drove from the dealer, slight deviation home, right to the PPF shop near home next morning and I still got one front nose chip just above the spoiler but its nothing compared to my daily driver.

*Film over stripes, which are obviously a change in relief/height, may leave a film fillet (air void) along side the stripe - darker paint exaggerates that. Likewise dust nibs or fisheye type paint defects or anything but a perfect smooth surface may leave a slight bubble void (those few are low on mine). It's probably a nightmare for someone with OCD - which includes spending $ induced OCD. So that's a con of film....the pro is that its better than the rock & sand blasting/chips we get on our roads here in New England - and this protects the stripes. I'm told the voids lay down overtime from sun & engine heat but I can't say yet. Its redo-able for any significant issues - in fact yellowing & peeling is 10 year warranty for the big brand films & installers.

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