Paint Armor

[Lou B]

Just got our roadster #619 Very Orange Sport from the west coast. The paint is in phenomenal condition other than a few chips, and some damage to the paint armor. Would you remove and replace the paint armor . I would like to put on a ceramic coating over the existing paint armor or is 10 years to old to save

 

[im4uttx]

Just got our roadster #619 Very Orange Sport from the west coast. The paint is in phenomenal condition other than a few chips, and some damage to the paint armor. Would you remove and replace the paint armor . I would like to put on a ceramic coating over the existing paint armor or is 10 years to old to save

I think it depends on a couple things...the condition of the paint armor, what its life expectancy is, how much you want to spend to protect the car. My understanding of the ceramic coating is that it will slightly protect the surface from dirt and grime and be easier to keep clean, but won't really protect the paint from more chips.

If the existing protection is in good enough shape and still protecting the car, then leave it, but if its life span is nearing the end, then replace with new material and ceramic over the new protection.

 

[Electric Swede]

Just got our roadster #619 Very Orange Sport from the west coast. The paint is in phenomenal condition other than a few chips, and some damage to the paint armor. Would you remove and replace the paint armor . I would like to put on a ceramic coating over the existing paint armor or is 10 years to old to save

So Lou, I've gone through a bunch of different ceramic coatings (F-11, ExoForma, The Last Coat) and my opinion is the quality of the paint they go on is a HUGE factor in the performance of the coating itself. I coated my brand new Ford Ranger at the same time as my daughter's 2016 Scion iM, and my 2010 VW R32. I applied the same number of coats, in the same way, in the same location (my garage), at the same time (28-29 March), with three completely different results. The Ranger took the coating and still looks great today. It beads water and cleans up really easy. The R32 was washed, clayed, polished and then coated and I would say it still looks pretty good and has very little water sheeting but does not look as good as the Ranger. The iM on the other hand was washed but no clay and no polish. Within three weeks it didn't look like I applied anything - ceramic nor wax - to the surface at all.

I am not a chemical engineer - although my daughter is in her 4th year studying such at the University of Florida - and I haven't done any analysis on this, but my feeling is the surface of one's paint needs to be as close to pristine as possible for one to get the performace shown on the commercials for these ceramic coatings.

I mention this because I too am about to get #0681 back from the body shop and plan to put a ceramic on it. I will spend a lot of time with the wash, clay, and polish on the parts that didn't get painted before I apply the coating because I saw much better results when I did that with the VW than I saw with a typical wash on the iM. Take this for what it's worth to you. I have no dog in any fight with these ceramics but I hope I can help you get better performance from one of them.

 

[Bunnak]

It appears from your message that you are looking for XPEL paint protection which is different from ceramic coating. I had XPEL placed on my entire roadster (not cheap by the way) as I do plan on using it as a daily driver. XPEL clearbra wrap will give your car that "wet appearance" shine and it protects from rock chips, small scratches, etc. It has also self healing properties. Any good car wrap guy can do it for you and they can easily take off the old paint armor that was placed by Tesla. The original paint armor will likely be yellow by now after 10+ years and the edges aren't hidden so dirt and grim builds up where you can easily see the edges when looking up close.

 

[Bunnak]

My car has been driven for 4,000 (13 months); garaged 2/3 of the time. Look at the paint job. I owe it to XPEL paint protection. My roadster only had the crap 10 year old OEM "body amour"--I had it all taken off and replaced with XPEL on 95% of the car as soon as I took ownership last year. Click the video below and you'll see closeups under lighting.

 

[Bunnak]

since I added quite a bit of exterior CF parts I went back to my PPF film guy to protect them as well with XPEL. The picture posted with all doors and trunk open is the "after" shot (but hardtop not yet done).

 

[Lou B]

Thanks for the video, I think I will do the same, you were right, you can see some black at the edges of the Old paint
Armor. I will XPEL the whole car. I can even see the gold flakes in the Very Orange Paint. That's what makes
This color really Standout. Your car really looks great. And a great investment.

 

[Bunnak]

Thanks for the video, I think I will do the same, you were right, you can see some black at the edges of the Old paint
Armor. I will XPEL the whole car. I can even see the gold flakes in the Very Orange Paint. That's what makes
This color really Standout. Your car really looks great. And a great investment.

Just be sure that your installer has the correct dimensions or template for the rear emblems. @jason.tv may be of help in getting those. My guy eyeball and did okay.

 

[jason.tv]

Just be sure that your installer has the correct dimensions or template for the rear emblems. @jason.tv may be of help in getting those. My guy eyeball and did okay.

I eyeball and call out everyone's misplaced, spaced, and off centered emblems haha.

 

[Bunnak]

Rear spoiler now complete. Click video to see how it makes the carbon fiber shine! Protects it from the sun, rock chips and fingernails!

 

[Sbax]

Rear spoiler now complete. Click video to see how it makes the carbon fiber shine! Protects it from the sun, rock chips and fingernails!

Wow are you putting all the xpel on yourself?

 

[Bunnak]

Wow are you putting all the xpel on yourself?

No. It's done by Pinnacle Paint Protection in Tustin California.

 

[AltPowr]

That looks great! I have been thinking about pulling off the factory stuff and getting this done. We'll have to meet up sometime so I can look over your car carefully. I would rather go to a shop that has already done it, even if Tustin is 85 miles from my house.

 

[Sbax]

No. It's done by Pinnacle Paint Protection in Tustin California.
View attachment 564078

If you do not mind me asking how much does it cost to xpel an entire roadster? I know PPF can be around 5-7k for some cars.

 

[jason.tv]

If you do not mind me asking how much does it cost to xpel an entire roadster? I know PPF can be around 5-7k for some cars.

Mine without the front bumper since it already had it was avg $2600 for the entire car; then did the clearplex for front windshield and then the A Pillar in black ppf also which was an extra $250 since required a big sheet of black ppf for one fitting.

He also included the CF Pillar on top of the car in the included price; All that is left is the rear diffuser and rear spoiler and cf side air ducts which is small work but received these parts after I did the ppf.

 

[Bunnak]

If you do not mind me asking how much does it cost to xpel an entire roadster? I know PPF can be around 5-7k for some cars.

Xpel Ultimate Plus:
Surface preparation included...
Wash/ Rinse/ Clay/ Polish/ Steam Cleaning of all edges
After filming, Xpel sealant application. And touch up paint if needed. All for $5000.

 

[Bunnak]

That looks great! I have been thinking about pulling off the factory stuff and getting this done. We'll have to meet up sometime so I can look over your car carefully. I would rather go to a shop that has already done it, even if Tustin is 85 miles from my house.

Feel free Desi to take a look at my roadster (in Irvine) and if you like what you see then you can drop off your car at nearby Tustin (10 minutes away). And since I'll be headed to Ojai in a couple weeks for a tennis tournament I can take you home since it's along the way. Just have to coordinate everything really well.

 

[ra88it]

Mine without the front bumper since it already had it was avg $2600 for the entire car; then did the clearplex for front windshield and then the A Pillar in black ppf also which was an extra $250 since required a big sheet of black ppf for one fitting.

He also included the CF Pillar on top of the car in the included price; All that is left is the rear diffuser and rear spoiler and cf side air ducts which is small work but received these parts after I did the ppf.

View attachment 564176 View attachment 564177

I think I'll be doing the clearplex. As much as it pains me to say it.

I only hope it doesn't mess with traffic at night and my vision.

 

[jason.tv]

I think I'll be doing the clearplex. As much as it pains me to say it.

I only hope it doesn't mess with traffic at night and my vision.

I don't have any glare or anything at all; the clearplex is completely transparent imo; none of those blur effects you get with aftermarket tint.

I'm going to get the FormulaOne Stratos installed in the inner side so it's engineered for improved comfort and less distracting glare and heat.

Tint Product - Stratos 70
UV Protection - 99.5%
Heat Rejection - 49%
Glare Reduction - 21%

 

[ra88it]

I don't have any glare or anything at all; the clearplex is completely transparent imo; none of those blur effects you get with aftermarket tint.

I'd be curious to see how it handles the windshield wiper cleaning it or if you're going to only use a brand new microfiber each time / does it scratch up like lexan and past solutions of 'racecar tearoffs' product