Removing ppf with stripes

[Tomster]

That may not be a horrible idea but I think it largely depends on how that PPF lived its life. I’ve removed some 11 year old PPF from a lotus. It was yellowed and had a nice scorched earth look. Removing it sucked and it came off in small pieces. This car spent its life in Florida with lots of miles and UV damage.

On the other hand, My PPF installer had a 2006 R8 in his shop the other day with 13 year old PPF (this was the first car he ever installed PPF.) The car had 30,000 miles, was always garage kept and I suspect it didn’t sit outside baking in the sun while the guy was at work. The PPF shockingly still looked new.

edit: I forgot to add, typically the worse the PPF looks, the harder it comes off. If the film is broken down (yellowing, hazy, scorched earth) it has a tendency to come off in small bits or tear and you start to remove it. Same story with vinyl.

True. Also it might be worth bringing up is that the film has evolved over the years. My cars live in the garage and get little exposure to UV radiation. I imagine that would help to increase the life of the film on top of any technical advances in the film.

At the cost of PPF, any extra years helps rationalize the cost. PPF has saved my ass on so many occasions. I wouldn't consider not having it if I track my cars. Ive already dodged a bullet on the CFTP.

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[Vettel-ish]

I am going to attempt to take it off before winter or leave it on and deal with it next year. Car will be in heated storage for about 6 months.

 

[rotnroby]

Well mine came off and it was over the stripes .

 

[CorralesR]

I'm reviving this thread as I'm thinking about removing the PPF on my 17 R. The original owner had PPF done over the stripes and was hoping to remove it without damaging the vinyl stripes. Anyone else have success doing this and what technique did you use?

 

[BrakeFade]

If it’s been on for years, the Stripes are coming off with it. Price a replacement set for that area. Look at aftermarket places like Big Worm Grafx that can replicate the stripe for a fraction of the cost.

 

[CorralesR]

Success! I was able to remove the PPF from the hood today! It came off the stripes with no issues! I used a hair dryer in spots but didn't use any heat near the stripes. My back and non working mans hands are suffering though! Took a couple of hours. Still have the bumper cover and the fenders. But the big part is done! The original owner said he had it done shortly after he bought it in 16 so it's 9 years old. Its XPEL so at least it's a quality brand.

 

[MAGS1]

Success! I was able to remove the PPF from the hood today! It came off the stripes with no issues! I used a hair dryer in spots but didn't use any heat near the stripes. My back and non working mans hands are suffering though! Took a couple of hours. Still have the bumper cover and the fenders. But the big part is done! The original owner said he had it done shortly after he bought it in 16 so it's 9 years old. Its XPEL so at least it's a quality brand.

Just be careful on the bumpers since they’re plastic. I’ve seen a few people try to pull vinyl/PPF off of plastic bumpers with little to no heat and it pulled paint with it. Use some heat to loosen up the glue (or rent a steamer, steam is the best to remove vinyl IMO).

 

[CorralesR]

I was able to get the rest of the PPF off of the bumper cover and fenders. No stripe damage to the cover! Pretty fortunate.

 

[m3incorp]

@CorralesR, I haven't been following. Was the PPF damaged or faded, the reason for removing?

 

[TonyNJ]

Nice job. Now they're flat black again, like they're supposed to be.

 

[CorralesR]

@CorralesR, I haven't been following. Was the PPF damaged or faded, the reason for removing?

It's 9 years old and was starting to yellow a bit. Otherwise it was fine. Just didn't want to wait too long to try to remove it.

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