Acho
Member
Never use blade on any panel, never!!!!!
There are dedicated knifless products to cun on panels with zero risck to cut the paint and very easy to get straight line cut with them
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Not getting paint protection film for your Model 3?
- Thread starter Railhawk52
- Start date
There are dedicated knifless products to cun on panels with zero risck to cut the paint and very easy to get straight line cut with them
CoastalCruiser
Member
Ha ha. 5 exclamation point. This is you not panicking? Dude, I just grabbed a term. Like I said, no intention of ever applying the stuff. You can see how much a know.
Acho
Member
Dude, can't imagine how many cars i've seen with cuts in the paint from other dudes that doesn't panic
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
I had previously mentioned that I was going to try the 3M spray film paint protector. I already had the paint repaired after buying it new, and then coated in the OptiCoat Pro product. I got a rock chip on the drive home, of course, so I am excited to get the film on the car to keep any more from happening what with that giant nose the car has...
Masked the hood and wheels and lights and shoved rags in the vents. I got a bit of overspray, glad I had already put on OptiCoat Pro, it allowed me to just wipe the area with spray wax and the overspray came right off (while it was wet, not sure how it will be when it cures)
After masking I sprayed the entire can going back and forth and pausing to prevent runs. There is a lot of orange pealing and splatter from the can so it looks ugly, but I have done this on other vehicles and as it cures it gets more transparent and less ripply.
It takes about four days to cure, so it currently looks a little pink.
I plan to add the carpool lane stickers too, so I might as well have the rear bumper protected from that sticker adhering to the paint too
As an experiment, I didn't mask the reflectors. Potentially that will mean there is no gap to collect dirt when the film cures. I also sprayed the black lip at the bottom. That area always fades with time, will be interesting to compare my car to other Model 3s in a few years and see how the blackness is holding up.
I sprayed the sensors so I will have to test if it still can sense distance. If not I plan on cutting the film around the sensors. Best thing about film is that it's removable.
Just an option if anyone wants to follow in my footsteps...
-Randy
Masked the hood and wheels and lights and shoved rags in the vents. I got a bit of overspray, glad I had already put on OptiCoat Pro, it allowed me to just wipe the area with spray wax and the overspray came right off (while it was wet, not sure how it will be when it cures)
After masking I sprayed the entire can going back and forth and pausing to prevent runs. There is a lot of orange pealing and splatter from the can so it looks ugly, but I have done this on other vehicles and as it cures it gets more transparent and less ripply.
It takes about four days to cure, so it currently looks a little pink.
I plan to add the carpool lane stickers too, so I might as well have the rear bumper protected from that sticker adhering to the paint too
As an experiment, I didn't mask the reflectors. Potentially that will mean there is no gap to collect dirt when the film cures. I also sprayed the black lip at the bottom. That area always fades with time, will be interesting to compare my car to other Model 3s in a few years and see how the blackness is holding up.
I sprayed the sensors so I will have to test if it still can sense distance. If not I plan on cutting the film around the sensors. Best thing about film is that it's removable.
Just an option if anyone wants to follow in my footsteps...
-Randy
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That's what I got for my front bumper too. And, yes, it was tricky. Congrats on perservering through it.
If you were able to do the front bumper (which needs protection most), why don't you go ahead and do the full hood and sides? Those are EASY compared to the bumper. I just got bulk sheets for those panels. Took about 1.5 hours each (going very slowly and carefully).
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
I paid $800 for the paint repair and OptiCoat Pro install, this included Glassparency on the roof and all other pieces of glass, and some product described as ScotchGuard on steroids for the leather and fabric interior (that last bit was free because I got a referral).
After drying overnight the 3M spray film has dried and is now transparent:
From the front, it's almost impossible to tell it's there
Looking at the treated bumper next to the untreated hood you CAN tell a difference, but not bad considering this will help with bugs and rock chips.
It's obvious at the suns reflection that there is a film on the car, but for a $9 can I am extremely happy. Now to test drive it and see what the sensors think of the coating. If it doesn't work I can always remove it from the sensors with a toothpick.
-Randy
RyanS
Ka-chow
Front bumper was a b*#$ch. Partial coverage is totally good enough for me and don't want to spend any more money and time for this area.
I need to spend money on visible stuff like tinting, new wheels, tires, and etc... Or save money for AWD or P3.
drewbaumann
Member
RyanS
Ka-chow
Well... I could. But you won't be able to see any since it's transparent film. Unless I really zoom in to those bubbles and stretch marks. I will try to take some photos this weekend after a car wash.
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
It's not like the OptiCoat and GlassParency that I have on the car under the film, but yes, it's plastic, so water runs off it. Once it cures it's as easy to keep clean as normal paint
-Randy
I just got Opticoat pro plus done on my white Model 3. I picked up from Marina Del Rey in california on saturday around 7:30pm and through reading forums and searching yelp reviews found Xscend detailing in Long Beach, Ca and the owner, Suat did a fantastic job. The paint looks really glossy and shiny as the Opticoat was well applied and was put on paint that wasn't damaged yet. I'm recommending this business for all the reasons and the review I left them on yelp. If you need a quality place with excellent service I'd recommend them in a heartbeat.
As an aside, I decided to skip the clearbra on the Model 3 which I had on the G35. It just looked ugly seeing those lines, and unless you want to pay $2k front of car to 5-6k for the entire car and ensure all the edges are wrapped.. I'd pass. It's hard to justify spending 10% or close to that on this car. Now if I could afford a fully loaded Model S, I probably would think it would be worthwhile as the car would be over $140k before taxes.. food for thought
With all that being said, that's why I only went with Opticoat to put some protection over the clearcoat.. also did it right away after delivery before I received the swirl marks from hell.. Go research yelp, google, forums and decide yourself, but after doing all that I'm glad I went to Suat at Xscend.
As an aside, I decided to skip the clearbra on the Model 3 which I had on the G35. It just looked ugly seeing those lines, and unless you want to pay $2k front of car to 5-6k for the entire car and ensure all the edges are wrapped.. I'd pass. It's hard to justify spending 10% or close to that on this car. Now if I could afford a fully loaded Model S, I probably would think it would be worthwhile as the car would be over $140k before taxes.. food for thought
With all that being said, that's why I only went with Opticoat to put some protection over the clearcoat.. also did it right away after delivery before I received the swirl marks from hell.. Go research yelp, google, forums and decide yourself, but after doing all that I'm glad I went to Suat at Xscend.
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israndy
Supercharger Hunter
All I can say is, I called a few places and Suat gave me more than a fair deal. It was one I was very satisfied with. I literally dropped it off on sunday at 1pm and picked it up monday at 12pm. turn around was fast as I've read other places spending 2-3 days with the car. look up all the yelp reviews from before and the one I just posted. hope this helps
israndy
Supercharger Hunter
alseTrick
Active Member
Did you sign an NDA or something? It'd be more helpful if you said the price. Just sayin'.
Fusion
Member
What's the deal with not posting prices. It helps everyone here not to get ripped off and to get a sense of pricing.
How did you know about the NDA? smart man.. I called around and received quotes up to $1700 for the 7 year warranty/2 opticoat layers, which seemed ridiculous and I would have passed. It was hundreds less. The deal with not posting prices is similar to how some people get uptight over their VIN #. Both instances probably don't make a lot of sense. Yes yes one could argue that you could be tracked with VIN # and a $ amount on a service are not equivalent, but I'd rather post my VIN #9992 than post the actual price. Reason being, they gave me great service,I appreciate their professionalism, and I don't want them to be held to a promotional price since they just moved down here i.e. lowballed by forum members.
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