So its been 2+ months since I’d had the front bar and bonnet resprayed to remove all the stone chips. I’d waited this long as the paint needs to fully gas out and cure before paint protection film (PPF) can be applied.
I’d intended to have PPF applied on the car when I had the car resprayed 2 years ago, but whilst I was waiting for the paint to cure a drive day had popped up. I’d had my car in paintshop for 3 months, so was keen AF to go for a drive. I ended up going and got a big arse stone chip on my bonnet…
Talking to the PPF guy he said I could repair it but it will most likely stick out, Id be best to ultimately respray the bonnet (had a few other defects also) so my plan was not to worry about PPF I’d get it done after a few more years. The paint got hammered in Tassie had a dozen + chips, so I decided to get the bar and bonnet resprayed and then wait it out and have the PPF applied.
PPF brands these days is 3M Suntek and XPEL. I’d gotten a few prices and some of the big name Co’s in Sydney were very expensive, and since they work on high $ cars they need to charge this to cover their liabilities when working on exotica’s on a frequent basis.
Fortunately a local co to me who’s been in business for 30+ years uses suntek and were much cheaper. Suntek and 3M from my research are the ‘best’ and suntek offer a 10 year warranty with their ultra film. So I’ve decided to go with the suntek ultra (the cheaper suntek film had 5 years)
The PPF these days have improved exponentially in the last 5 years, no more yellowing with age, and are self healing. So if they get swirls or fine scratches you can apply a hairdryer to the section and the defect self heals (or in Australia having the car outside in the sun will provide the same result) then of course the PPF not only provides protection from stone chips, it can also save the paint from damage in an car park abrasion scenario (say you were to accidentally brush up against another car or a Armco etc) in this scenario the PPF is ruined but once the PPf is removed it can potentially save your paint.
So yesterday I spent most of the day prepping the paint for PPF to ensure it was 100% perfect with no buffer marks. The painter had done a great job really I could only spot a few minor defects so simply just used a scholl S30+ finishing compound on a lake country CCS blue pad (fine cut for removing fine defects) then finished off with carpro essence plus on a lake country black pad (both no cut essentially just for added gloss)
So once the PPF is applied It’ll be great to have that piece of mind that my front end wont get stone chips when going for a blap!
