3M Paint Protection Film

TallB · July 5, 2005

I've got an installer scheduled to install 3M Paint Protection Film on my Silverado tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting the extended coverage for the hood and fenders, the grille, the headlights/fog lights/turn signals, and all of the rocker panels done. I got the installer to match the pricing for the materials from www.invisiblemask.com. I was curious if anyone else has had this done, and if there is anything (other than bubbles) to look for to approve his installation tomorrow. I'm excited about having my truck protected like this, because my old car had horrible paint due to rock chips and sand coming off the roads through the years. I hope to post some pics whenever I find my USB cable.

biochemist · July 5, 2005

I've got an installer scheduled to install 3M Paint Protection Film on my Silverado tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting the extended coverage for the hood and fenders, the grille, the headlights/fog lights/turn signals, and all of the rocker panels done. I got the installer to match the pricing for the materials from www.invisiblemask.com. I was curious if anyone else has had this done, and if there is anything (other than bubbles) to look for to approve his installation tomorrow. I'm excited about having my truck protected like this, because my old car had horrible paint due to rock chips and sand coming off the roads through the years. I hope to post some pics whenever I find my USB cable.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi, I have that done on mine...rocker panels only though, about 6 inches up. I have a bug-shield on the hood. The stuff is great, seems to really do the job. What color is your truck? When you wax, you will notice a line if you have a darker colored truck, as mine below. You say grill? What are you doing to that? I would not worry about the lights...anyway, just make sure the guy knows what he is doing and washes the truck beforehand, also when putting it on he should have to really stretch it on, this stuff is not just a "sticker" you put on...more to it than that. I paid $100 for rockers all the way to the bumper...well worth it IMO. Would do it again in the future. Later,

Supurban · July 6, 2005

I've been waiting for someone to ask about this stuff again. As most folks on this board know, I love talking about this film. Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!

The film was applied a couple of weeks after I bought the truck. So I do not have a single chip or nick on any leading edge. Shine matches the paint - the edge takes some time to detail, but at arm's length, you might not even notice it's there.

The installer came to my house and applied it in my garage. Took about 4 hours and every minute of it was fascinating - he did the hood, fender edges, mirrors and bumper cap (non-Z71 painted). I used scraps to do the door edges, the clear sections of the headlights and the tailgate bottom edge. I had intended to get some bulk film to do my own rear rocker (by the bumper), but never got around to it (regretting my laziness now).

The film isn't cheap and the labor certainly isn't cheap. But watching this guy made me appreciate how difficult this stuff is to apply on large surfaces. And after messing with the smaller scrap pieces, I'm glad I didn't try my hand at the large expensive hood piece.

Things to watch for:

1. Area prep - make sure your garage or driveway area is clean. Blow out any dust before hand so it does not work its way towards the car or the worktable. Installer will probably bring his own work/cutting table. Access to water will help. Shade helps

2. Surface prep - wash the car before he arrives, but no wax. He should degrease and carefully inspect the paint before the film is applied. My installer clayed the surface, but this is not critical.

3. During install, look for film edges to see if they curl up. They should lay flat as he works the water/alcohol solution out. Biochemist is right, the installer will have to really yank on the film to get it to lay down on curved surfaces. But be aware that overstretched film will fail to stick as it dries - common on complex curves like the front fender tip. A good installer will cut a new piece if the machine cut piece doesn't pan out - as with my driver's side mirror.

4. Fit and finish - the film should be centered and should not have any external scratches from the squeegees. In direct sunlight, you can use polarized sunglasses to see stressed areas that might be susceptible to peeling from overstreching.

5. Make sure to engage with your installer if a piece doesn't stay put later on. My installer met me at work to fix a bad edge.

Hood section - this is what it looks like after 1 year in service.

Door edges - using a 3/4" strip of film. Wet install is easier, but dry is faster.

More film pictures on my link below.

TallB · July 6, 2005

I've been waiting for someone to ask about this stuff again. As most folks on this board know, I love talking about this film. Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!

The film was applied a couple of weeks after I bought the truck. So I do not have a single chip or nick on any leading edge. Shine matches the paint - the edge takes some time to detail, but at arm's length, you might not even notice it's there.

The installer came to my house and applied it in my garage. Took about 4 hours and every minute of it was fascinating - he did the hood, fender edges, mirrors and bumper cap (non-Z71 painted). I used scraps to do the door edges, the clear sections of the headlights and the tailgate bottom edge. I had intended to get some bulk film to do my own rear rocker (by the bumper), but never got around to it (regretting my laziness now).

The film isn't cheap and the labor certainly isn't cheap. But watching this guy made me appreciate how difficult this stuff is to apply on large surfaces. And after messing with the smaller scrap pieces, I'm glad I didn't try my hand at the large expensive hood piece.

Things to watch for:

1. Area prep - make sure your garage or driveway area is clean. Blow out any dust before hand so it does not work its way towards the car or the worktable. Installer will probably bring his own work/cutting table. Access to water will help. Shade helps

2. Surface prep - wash the car before he arrives, but no wax. He should degrease and carefully inspect the paint before the film is applied. My installer clayed the surface, but this is not critical.

3. During install, look for film edges to see if they curl up. They should lay flat as he works the water/alcohol solution out. Biochemist is right, the installer will have to really yank on the film to get it to lay down on curved surfaces. But be aware that overstretched film will fail to stick as it dries - common on complex curves like the front fender tip. A good installer will cut a new piece if the machine cut piece doesn't pan out - as with my driver's side mirror.

4. Fit and finish - the film should be centered and should not have any external scratches from the squeegees. In direct sunlight, you can use polarized sunglasses to see stressed areas that might be susceptible to peeling from overstreching.

5. Make sure to engage with your installer if a piece doesn't stay put later on. My installer met me at work to fix a bad edge.

Hood section - this is what it looks like after 1 year in service.

Door edges - using a 3/4" strip of film. Wet install is easier, but dry is faster.

More film pictures on my link below.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My truck is the dark gray metallic, and I've already anticipated some extra attention when it comes to the film edges and waxing. I appreciate the tip about the polarized glasses. Chris, the installer, is coming to put the film on at my location. All the kits I'm having put on are kits that are cut on a plotter, because I'm pretty adamant about not having the film cut while it is on my truck. Biochemist, the grill piece is just the painted "U-shaped" area around the bottom of the mesh grill. If you go to the website I listed initially, you can see the shapes of the kits and get a good understanding of what is actually going to be covered. I washed my truck last night, but I'll probably have to spend part of my lunch break touching it up before he gets here at 2pm cause I drove on the rainy highway last night. I did my research, and I feel like I got a reputable installer. I was also able to save about $475 on the materials by finding the website above. Most installers in the area, and I assume the country, reference the X-pel website to their customers for prices. However, if you tell them that you found the film for cheaper at another website, I had several local installers that were willing to give up the profit and match the price. That tells me that there is still some money to be made on materials, but people (older and richer) that don't do their research are getting took.

biochemist · July 6, 2005

I've been waiting for someone to ask about this stuff again. As most folks on this board know, I love talking about this film. Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!

The film was applied a couple of weeks after I bought the truck. So I do not have a single chip or nick on any leading edge. Shine matches the paint - the edge takes some time to detail, but at arm's length, you might not even notice it's there.

The installer came to my house and applied it in my garage. Took about 4 hours and every minute of it was fascinating - he did the hood, fender edges, mirrors and bumper cap (non-Z71 painted). I used scraps to do the door edges, the clear sections of the headlights and the tailgate bottom edge. I had intended to get some bulk film to do my own rear rocker (by the bumper), but never got around to it (regretting my laziness now).

The film isn't cheap and the labor certainly isn't cheap. But watching this guy made me appreciate how difficult this stuff is to apply on large surfaces. And after messing with the smaller scrap pieces, I'm glad I didn't try my hand at the large expensive hood piece.

Things to watch for:

1. Area prep - make sure your garage or driveway area is clean. Blow out any dust before hand so it does not work its way towards the car or the worktable. Installer will probably bring his own work/cutting table. Access to water will help. Shade helps

2. Surface prep - wash the car before he arrives, but no wax. He should degrease and carefully inspect the paint before the film is applied. My installer clayed the surface, but this is not critical.

3. During install, look for film edges to see if they curl up. They should lay flat as he works the water/alcohol solution out. Biochemist is right, the installer will have to really yank on the film to get it to lay down on curved surfaces. But be aware that overstretched film will fail to stick as it dries - common on complex curves like the front fender tip. A good installer will cut a new piece if the machine cut piece doesn't pan out - as with my driver's side mirror.

4. Fit and finish - the film should be centered and should not have any external scratches from the squeegees. In direct sunlight, you can use polarized sunglasses to see stressed areas that might be susceptible to peeling from overstreching.

5. Make sure to engage with your installer if a piece doesn't stay put later on. My installer met me at work to fix a bad edge.

Hood section - this is what it looks like after 1 year in service.

Door edges - using a 3/4" strip of film. Wet install is easier, but dry is faster.

More film pictures on my link below.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My truck is the dark gray metallic, and I've already anticipated some extra attention when it comes to the film edges and waxing. I appreciate the tip about the polarized glasses. Chris, the installer, is coming to put the film on at my location. All the kits I'm having put on are kits that are cut on a plotter, because I'm pretty adamant about not having the film cut while it is on my truck. Biochemist, the grill piece is just the painted "U-shaped" area around the bottom of the mesh grill. If you go to the website I listed initially, you can see the shapes of the kits and get a good understanding of what is actually going to be covered. I washed my truck last night, but I'll probably have to spend part of my lunch break touching it up before he gets here at 2pm cause I drove on the rainy highway last night. I did my research, and I feel like I got a reputable installer. I was also able to save about $475 on the materials by finding the website above. Most installers in the area, and I assume the country, reference the X-pel website to their customers for prices. However, if you tell them that you found the film for cheaper at another website, I had several local installers that were willing to give up the profit and match the price. That tells me that there is still some money to be made on materials, but people (older and richer) that don't do their research are getting took.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got ya...I forgot about the U...post some pics when done. You may notice a line/edge when close to the truck...but better than chips, you can see my pic below, and connot see it from where I took the photo.... Sometimes in the winter the salt and crap will cuase the line to be more noticable, but just wash it off and use a qtip...all set. Later,

Wingnut · July 6, 2005

Good grief guys, can you try and qoute some bigger posts?

steve summers · July 6, 2005

I bought the 3M kit from Rockblocker.com for my SS.

I installed the grill sections with no problems or issues. I am fairly good at things like this but the hood was beyond my capabilities. I spent half of a day trying to work it on and still couldn't get it right. I did notice on the Victory Red truck the product had a distinct color difference on the hood. On the grill it wasn't noticeable except for the wax along the edge.

cowboy02 · July 6, 2005

I have this stuff on the hood of my truck and it works reall well. Would like to do the back of the chrome mirrors seems like it might cut down on the bugs.

Only downside was I got some tree sap on the hood of my truck and it caused some issues with the film, but I got it removed.

TallB · July 8, 2005

The installer I had flaked out on me. The first day he shows up and starts installing. I got back to my place after work and he was "finished". He had scrapped the extended hood piece, because he said it gave him too many problems and it didn't lay down well enough. He also forgot all of the pieces in the rocker panel kit except for the doors. He said he would be back the next day and install the rest, which was fine considering I hadn't paid him yet. He shows up the next day and tells me he doesn't feel comfortable putting the rest of the film on. Then he tries to negotiate with me about payment! HA! I told him that he was turning this into a pain in the ass for me. He had already pre-cut complete new kits, so I knew that he didn't have much leverage. He mentioned giving me "a discount" if he removed the pieces he installed the day before. I told him that if he felt like he had to take those pieces off, then to go ahead; but he was just going to throw them away and it was bad business. He was trying to get some money out of the job, but I explained that I could get these kits from other people in town for the same price and that he would have to wait until another Silverado owner called him to get rid of that film. Long story short, I bought the complete kits off of him for cheap and told him to have a nice day. He definately lost money on the whole deal, not to mention all the driving he did to get to my place two days in a row. I don't feel bad though, because now I have to deal with getting someone more qualified to install this film.

Supurban · July 8, 2005

Wow, that sucks. I guess it could have been worse where a bad install would not reveal itself until much later - and then it would be even harder to get his to correct what he had done.

biochemist · July 9, 2005

The installer I had flaked out on me. The first day he shows up and starts installing. I got back to my place after work and he was "finished". He had scrapped the extended hood piece, because he said it gave him too many problems and it didn't lay down well enough. He also forgot all of the pieces in the rocker panel kit except for the doors. He said he would be back the next day and install the rest, which was fine considering I hadn't paid him yet. He shows up the next day and tells me he doesn't feel comfortable putting the rest of the film on. Then he tries to negotiate with me about payment! HA! I told him that he was turning this into a pain in the ass for me. He had already pre-cut complete new kits, so I knew that he didn't have much leverage. He mentioned giving me "a discount" if he removed the pieces he installed the day before. I told him that if he felt like he had to take those pieces off, then to go ahead; but he was just going to throw them away and it was bad business. He was trying to get some money out of the job, but I explained that I could get these kits from other people in town for the same price and that he would have to wait until another Silverado owner called him to get rid of that film. Long story short, I bought the complete kits off of him for cheap and told him to have a nice day. He definately lost money on the whole deal, not to mention all the driving he did to get to my place two days in a row. I don't feel bad though, because now I have to deal with getting someone more qualified to install this film.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not that surprising...this film is not a trivial install, I would guess as difficult as tinting windows, esp. on curved and complicated surfaces, my dad's vette has curved windows, very difficult and he had to go to a couple tinters before he found a guy who could do it right. Go to the 3M website and locate the installers they recommend...you will find the film on the site and it has a list of dealers/installers. Let us know how it turns out, later,

atomoverride · July 16, 2005

I've been waiting for someone to ask about this stuff again. As most folks on this board know, I love talking about this film. Can't wait to see how your truck turns out!

The film was applied a couple of weeks after I bought the truck. So I do not have a single chip or nick on any leading edge. Shine matches the paint - the edge takes some time to detail, but at arm's length, you might not even notice it's there.

The installer came to my house and applied it in my garage. Took about 4 hours and every minute of it was fascinating - he did the hood, fender edges, mirrors and bumper cap (non-Z71 painted). I used scraps to do the door edges, the clear sections of the headlights and the tailgate bottom edge. I had intended to get some bulk film to do my own rear rocker (by the bumper), but never got around to it (regretting my laziness now).

The film isn't cheap and the labor certainly isn't cheap. But watching this guy made me appreciate how difficult this stuff is to apply on large surfaces. And after messing with the smaller scrap pieces, I'm glad I didn't try my hand at the large expensive hood piece.

Things to watch for:

1. Area prep - make sure your garage or driveway area is clean. Blow out any dust before hand so it does not work its way towards the car or the worktable. Installer will probably bring his own work/cutting table. Access to water will help. Shade helps

2. Surface prep - wash the car before he arrives, but no wax. He should degrease and carefully inspect the paint before the film is applied. My installer clayed the surface, but this is not critical.

3. During install, look for film edges to see if they curl up. They should lay flat as he works the water/alcohol solution out. Biochemist is right, the installer will have to really yank on the film to get it to lay down on curved surfaces. But be aware that overstretched film will fail to stick as it dries - common on complex curves like the front fender tip. A good installer will cut a new piece if the machine cut piece doesn't pan out - as with my driver's side mirror.

4. Fit and finish - the film should be centered and should not have any external scratches from the squeegees. In direct sunlight, you can use polarized sunglasses to see stressed areas that might be susceptible to peeling from overstreching.

5. Make sure to engage with your installer if a piece doesn't stay put later on. My installer met me at work to fix a bad edge.

Hood section - this is what it looks like after 1 year in service.

Door edges - using a 3/4" strip of film. Wet install is easier, but dry is faster.

More film pictures on my link below.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks real good man. How much was just the front? and can you get it for a painted bumper?

Supurban · July 16, 2005

Looks real good man. How much was just the front? and can you get it for a painted bumper?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks. Install and materials for front hood, mirrors, and the painted bumper cap cost $395. Totally worth it when you consider the cost against a bra, repaint and general convenience.

I will say that the Xpel kit for the bumper is not as good as the fit of the hood and mirrors. If you wanted to throw a couple more bucks at it, have the installer use bulk film cut custom for the bumper cap to get better coverage.

BOISE STATE FAN · September 13, 2007

I've got an installer scheduled to install 3M Paint Protection Film on my Silverado tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting the extended coverage for the hood and fenders, the grille, the headlights/fog lights/turn signals, and all of the rocker panels done. I got the installer to match the pricing for the materials from www.invisiblemask.com. I was curious if anyone else has had this done, and if there is anything (other than bubbles) to look for to approve his installation tomorrow. I'm excited about having my truck protected like this, because my old car had horrible paint due to rock chips and sand coming off the roads through the years. I hope to post some pics whenever I find my USB cable.

I have a Black Silverado and had ClearBra installed on the entire front end of the truck including lights and mirrors. Each kit is custom fit to your vehicle and also wraps the edges. Much nicer than close to the edge I think. Very reasonable price also. If you love your truck.

gmblack3 · September 16, 2007

I had the clear bra installed on mine the other day. Fwd part of hood, full front bumper painted areas, mirrors and they even did some above and below the door handle.