Opti Coat (OG), PPF, and EXO v2 review
 

Hi... I got my car back in Sept last year. I did a lot of research and had to find a few products and people who provide services that worked on my car. I'm a DYI'er, but I realized that with a new car, I didn't want to take a chance of messing up so I thought I had Opti coat (opti guard) installed on my car. Even though it's a brand new car from the dealer, I still had to have the paint corrected. The paint is soft so I wanted to protect it. The issue with OC was that it didn't do well with bird poop and the orange yellow bee poop or what ever that stuff is. It would etch the paint. The great thing about OC is that it's a sacrificial layer and protects your paint. But the price they charge it's not worth it....use a different product such as C.Quartz or Gtechniq C1 or even OC the consumer stuff and then apply Gtechniq EXO. (Just don't apply EXO under PPF, it will have problems for the PPF to adhere to the paint...youtube it and you will see).

So my bumper got some chips and I didn't like it so I got XPEL ultimate kit and I wanted to apply it myself. The issue about paint protection film PPF is that you need a really big table and to do the hood..you need at least 2 people to do it. You can't reverse roll the film onto your hood. As you reverse roll, dirt or specs of particular from the film backing would fall onto the hood and you are screwed trying to get rid of it between the hood and film.

The other issue with PPF is that you have limited time to put the film down and lift up again. You have a few minutes max...any time after and you will get lift lines that won't go away. I had a few. The other thing is that if you had trapped water the film has been squeegeed. You can lift after the first 30 seconds or so depending on how wet (slick) you got and how much (stick) solution you applied. I had a few trapped water bubbles and I tried to squeegee after several minutes and I used to whale tail squeegee and I created a snail trail. The water bubble would move...and the ones that did...made the snail trail and it stays that way when the PPF is dried. Frustrated after the job was done...I was disappointed that I did a bad job. Luckily the pre cut pattern I got was made too big...so the place I got it from was so cool, they were able to warranty the XPEL because their mistake...so I got a second shot to do it right.

It took me almost an hour to remove the PPF film and that was only 1/4 of the hood. I finally got a heat gun and it took another hour to remove the rest. You really need hot hood to remove the film. After the all the trouble, I decide to use a shop to put the new kit I got and I contact a member on here about his shop. They don't use XPEL as much as they use Suntek, but I called the shop and Tyler answered and I asked him for help. Tyler was nice enough to take on the job using my film that I provided him as an exception.

So I wanted to show the install process and the cool feature I did was got wrapped edges on the hood and fenders. No PPF lines on top. I hope you enjoy the pictures and see how it's done.


So here is Tyler and Andy prepping the hood for wrapped edge PPF. The excess film is wrapped onto the inside of the hood engine side and the fender as well. Doing this there isn't any PPF line to worry or clean.

You can also see Tyler cutting the film and leaving excess so the film can be wrapped around the hood for "wrapped edge".

I wanted to thank Tyler again for helping me install my film. His shop prefers to use their film, but since I was a forum member, he agreed to help...so that was cool of him.

I forgot to mention I have an old camera phone, so the pictures a bit crappy. The shot of the car outside and up close of the hood to show the paint correction and how there isn't any scratches or marring. Also shows the optical clarify of modern PPF. It's very difficult to see the difference between PPF and regular paint.

I also wanted to point out the bumper didn't have wrapped edges, but it's very hard even up close to see the PPF line. The fender PPF line at the door is also hard to spot...just to show that it shouldn't affect the look of your car. I also had my detailer touch up the car and had Gtechniq EXO V2 applied... the car had more of a pop shine to it now.

Last picture of Tyler's work on the headlights...they are tricky and he did a great job on the headlights.

Thanks again Tyler from Ghost shield.

If you ever need to pull the film, make sure you pull in the correct direction. Don't pull it back over itself. It'll hold on for dear life and will take FOREVER to remove. The trick is to lift a corner or edge and then pull back in the direction you started from. Here's a video that makes a lot more sense. Basically, you should NEVER need to use heat to remove the film.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z1pFWgljk8"]Paint Protection Film Removal - YouTube[/ame]

Have you ever removed film yourself? I cringed looked at this video. The guy is putting all his weight and tearing the film off the car. The film looks cheap because it's ripping off in pieces. Do you know how soft the body panels on the BRZ are? I just had PDR paintless dent repair done and Mike Matteson told me how these fender are a big harder to do because it's so thin. I wonder how the aluminum hood of the 86 cars would hold up with this type of removal.

Here's a quote from Xpel's website:

"What if I want to remove the shields at a later date?"

The removal process is just a matter of warming the plastic, and peeling them off. They will require some muscle to get them off, but they normally peel off without any residue left on the lens. If any adhesive at all remains behind, it may be removed by simply rubbing it with your thumb. The adhesive will then ball up and roll off.

Tyler from ghostshield told me they just leave the car out in the sun for a while and then remove it. If you ever tried removing Xpel ultimate when it's cold...good luck...took me forever until I applied heat. Just bad advice you are giving...and that film was cheap...it torn pretty easliy...I'm not sure how much more force is required if it was Xpel Ultimate...it wasn't easy to remove without heat.

Yes I have. More than once. I've had Ultimate or Stealth on each of my last 4 cars. I'm not saying to remove it when it's 50 degrees without warming it up, that would be silly. But to remove it you don't remove it like a sticker from a backing. Xpel's training course even teaches to remove it like this. The film used in the video is irrelevant, it's THE PROCESS that's important. My STI was completely wrapped in Stealth and using the method Xpel showed me I removed all of it in about 15-20 minutes. Granted, it was 80-85 degrees out, but no heat was used. Hell, I just redid a couple of sections of the Stealth on my motorcycle. Even those small pieces are easier to remove like this vs. grabbing a corner and pulling back across the panel.

If you think this method is wrong you're free to call Xpel and tell them. I can give you David ****'s number at the San Antonio office.

I'm not going to argue about this...just use common sense. Look at the video where the guy is putting his body weight into trying to remove the film. He's tearing it piece by piece. Removing the film does take some force but not as much as the guy in the video doing it. Putting heat just like you would leaving the car out in the sun for half an hour or just a blow drying...you use some force, but you just peel it off and don't have to be rough with it. When I had to remove the hood for the first time, it came out as one big piece...the same piece I put on. In the video you show, it was about 7 pieces...I'm not going to look at the video again to count.

If you like your method go for it. There's less chance of putting the body panels out of whack...applying heat. I'm rather careful on my cars.

You have to use weight. There's a lot of adhesive you need to release. That said, the easiest way to get adhesive to release is to stretch it. Just pulling it back on itself is pulling against the adhesive in the direction it's strongest.

Again, I'm sure this film isn't Xpel, but that's irrelevant. The point it look at the process. Xpel doesn't tear like this. I've removed film from my own cars using this method, which is how Xpel teaches how to remove it. It's also safer because you don't have to heat anything up. Hot paint is vulnerable paint. As for pulling panels out of alignment, now you're just being silly.

Heat causing paint damage? What are you talking about...what do you think cars parked out in the sun all day long when you are working do? I said use a blow dryer to heat up the area as you would leaving it out in the sun. Why don't you try the method before you argue... I've tried the method of pulling when I first try to remove the film. The easiest is when the film is warm to hot...the adhesive isn't as sticky. I provide a review to help others...you seem to want to argue without any extra merit of being effective or safe. You want post a review on how you want to do..make a new thread. You want to risk warping your hood or other parts...that's fine too. Your car. I told you... I'm not going to argue anymore about this... not going to reply or waste time with stubborn people... no value in it.

There is not only one method to removing clear bra film.

Different brand films and the age of film may change the removal process.

The general default method I use is to slowing pull the film at a low angle while using a heat gun.

The older films can be very hard to remove. Sometimes tearing in small pieces or leaving tons of adhesive behind.

I have never dented a panel by removing film but I also take my time and limit my force.

Patience is key.

Yes, heat causes paint damage. What do you think a rotary buffer does that a dual action doesn't? It heats up the paint. That heat softens the paint which makes damage MUCH easier. It's called "burning the paint" for a reason. A blow dryer is a relatively low risk tool but if it's not any better than the sun why not just let it sit in the sun? A true heat gun, which is what most shops will have and use, can EASILY damage paint.

I would agree and I probably should have prefaced my original post with the disclaimer that it applies to newer films in good condition.
For the people that doubt this method, think about 3M's Command Strips. It's the EXACT same method and the reason it works is the same. Pulling a film back onto itself, where it is absolutely at it's strongest, assuming the film is still good, doesn't make sense.
I just redid my motorcycle and pulling back like a Command Strip instead of back over itself was noticeably easier, even on those smaller pieces.