some of you may remember the GT3 i worked on a little while ago: http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f47/billylooshoes-2007-porsche-gt3-12031.html well, the car finally sold, and the salesman was kind enough to mention me and my services to the new owner, who is interested in setting up a cycle for me to take care of the car for him periodically. as mentioned in the initial thread, the clear bra was badly marred/damaged/whatever. the owner had stated to the salesman that he would like it removed at some point as well. can some of you guys school me on this please? i have a pretty general idea involving a heat gun, but havent ever done this before.
If it was summer I would say have it sit in the sun for a bit to heat it up and pull but as you are in PA and prob close to freezing that is not going to work. When I took some PPF film off in the past, was not large area so maybe others have better option, I used a hair dryer and heated the edges a bit, and got a corner up and started to pull at a low angle. I heated the film as I pealed it and did not have much glue left at all, what was left was easy to get off with some citrus wash and some claying/adhesive remover for some bad spots. Prob a better way but that is how I have done it.
yeah that seems to be the general idea behind it thus far. kinda like taking tint off i guess. i wish i had a steamer! they work great for removing tint and i bet just as good with clear film.
yeah thats what i was thinking. i was hoping he'd chime in at some point. i'll PM him a link to this thread.
first off make sure that nothing has been repainted on the car, did the previous owner ever have anything painted..the worst thing you can do is pull the paint off..that would suk. your going to have to heat it up leave it under direct sunlight or halogens (halogens since its so cold out) then you want to pull the film off slowly. after you remove the film you want to clean it up the leftover adhesive. use 3m ahesive remover, clay, polish and clean it up. (more tips to come I just have to double check with the guys..)
I have installed and remove many Invisible bra's over the years. A couple of months ago a customer contacted me about removing his Gen 1 PPF from his 02 Nissan 350Z. This was the most attrocious, disgusting, yellowed, hazed and checked PPF that I have ever seen...I agreed after seeing photo's and came completey prepared with my arsonal of goodies. But this was like no other......as you removed the film, it broke into small little itty bitty pieces which would of taken literally forever to remove all of it. The film was dry brittle and toast......so out came the steamer......it helped to regain some of the elasticity in the film so it lifted and was more pliable. So after about 4 hrs of hell, this is what she looked like... In photo #1 and #2 this is what the vehicle looked like when I arrived. My client told me he had spent the whole weekend "Sat & Sun" 8 hours each day to accomplish what you see. Here is where I started my removal with the steamer After about 4 hours, this is about how far I got, my fingernail beds were so sore from pulling and stretching film It seemed like certain areas the film were impossible to remove and this job was not ending soon. So after the 5th hour I called the customer out, and for the first time in my life, called it quits on this job. I have never walked from a job, but this would of taken forever and the customer only wanted to pay a certain $$ amount. Not only that, but certain areas were pulling the paint up due to the age and lack of care of the film. So I referred him to a body shop that I do business with for some refinishing work, this was going to need to be repainted unfortunately......
I'm impressed that you called it quits, that was probably the best move you could have ever did for yourself :applause:
Thanks, I am not really into torture, you have to know inside when it's time to walk....I can't imagine all those Gen1 PPF jobs that must have failed that look like this one. Have you ever removed one like this?
Aggree with DD I would add - apply heat to a corner with a hair dryer (not a heat gun) or as DD suggested halogen(s) and work slowly to avoid breaking / tearing the vinyl (like any applied vinyl, the longer it’s been applied the more difficult it will be to remove) pull at a 45 degree angle and slightly upwards to avoid tearing, work slowly and be patient. Adhesive removal – 3M Citrus Based Spray Adhesive Remover – a citrus-based, solvent-free adhesive remover leaves surfaces clean and dries with no residue. Removes tape residue from masking, foam or duct tape, clean, fresh citrus scent. Saturate a micro fibre towel; allow dwelling for a few minutes and agitating the adhesive residue to remove
