Swanicyouth
11-30-2013, 10:17 AM
Ok, so the other night I was driving home from work and heard that horrible sound. You know the sound - you hit something, but you just don`t know what or how bad it is. Your basically crapping your pants because you don`t know if it went under the car or on the side of it. Well, I got pretty lucky this time. The damage was just on the paint protection film (PPF) on the rear wheel slab.
This is an aftermarket sacrificial film. It`s meant to take a beating because the rear wheels kick stuff up to this area. So, I`m not looking for perfection here. For $30 bucks I could just replace it. This is the damage:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/yse3a3us.jpg
Not too bad, but the scratches are noticeable. I`ve never seen I real "guide" on how to polish/correct PPF. Not saying on isn`t out there, but I`ll show you how I do it.
Some rules I follow on PPF:
1. Never compound PPF. It`s soft. All you need is a polish and polishing pads. If the scratch is too deep for that - it`s toast.
2. Use a SMAT based polish with little or no fillers. I like Optimum Polish II:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/y9evy2u2.jpg
You can get visible significant scratches out of PPF with polish and a polishing pad only.
3. Use a little bit of polish. Less than usual. But, use a pad lubricant like Wolfgang Pad Prep or ONR. You don`t need a ton of abrasives, but you want a ton of lube. Also, you don`t want to use a ton of polish because you want the polish to work CLEAR. What I mean is, you want a film that is hardly visible, so you can see the scratches your working on while your working on them. But, you don`t want to dry buff - that`s where the pad lube helps.
4. I`m using a GG6 here. For scratches on PPF, I won`t go about speed 4-4.5. But, I will use a decent amount of downward pressure for a few seconds. Make many lighter passes.
5. Follow up with a few light passes on speed 3-3.5
6. Obviously, don`t let anything get hot.
7. Don`t go for 100% correction - 90% is achievable. PPF is flexible, so the film is likely "dented" where the scratch is. You likely won`t remove it all. If you try to remove it 100% - disaster is eminent.
After (no LSP):
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/e8ujeta9.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/bumasa8y.jpg
Here my finger is where the scratch was:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/tybe8y2a.jpg
As you can see, the PPF is "dimpled" from rock impacts. That`s it`s job and I`m not worried about that. After correction, you want to use a sealant on it with UV protection, or possibly a coating.
Good luck. Remember - No Guts, No Glory.
This is an aftermarket sacrificial film. It`s meant to take a beating because the rear wheels kick stuff up to this area. So, I`m not looking for perfection here. For $30 bucks I could just replace it. This is the damage:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/yse3a3us.jpg
Not too bad, but the scratches are noticeable. I`ve never seen I real "guide" on how to polish/correct PPF. Not saying on isn`t out there, but I`ll show you how I do it.
Some rules I follow on PPF:
1. Never compound PPF. It`s soft. All you need is a polish and polishing pads. If the scratch is too deep for that - it`s toast.
2. Use a SMAT based polish with little or no fillers. I like Optimum Polish II:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/y9evy2u2.jpg
You can get visible significant scratches out of PPF with polish and a polishing pad only.
3. Use a little bit of polish. Less than usual. But, use a pad lubricant like Wolfgang Pad Prep or ONR. You don`t need a ton of abrasives, but you want a ton of lube. Also, you don`t want to use a ton of polish because you want the polish to work CLEAR. What I mean is, you want a film that is hardly visible, so you can see the scratches your working on while your working on them. But, you don`t want to dry buff - that`s where the pad lube helps.
4. I`m using a GG6 here. For scratches on PPF, I won`t go about speed 4-4.5. But, I will use a decent amount of downward pressure for a few seconds. Make many lighter passes.
5. Follow up with a few light passes on speed 3-3.5
6. Obviously, don`t let anything get hot.
7. Don`t go for 100% correction - 90% is achievable. PPF is flexible, so the film is likely "dented" where the scratch is. You likely won`t remove it all. If you try to remove it 100% - disaster is eminent.
After (no LSP):
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/e8ujeta9.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/bumasa8y.jpg
Here my finger is where the scratch was:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/tybe8y2a.jpg
As you can see, the PPF is "dimpled" from rock impacts. That`s it`s job and I`m not worried about that. After correction, you want to use a sealant on it with UV protection, or possibly a coating.
Good luck. Remember - No Guts, No Glory.