Got to detail a car with chip protection film on it any advice?

[Andy.B]

My mate has a red Civic TypeR that has protection film on it and he wants a detail done by me. Is there anything i need to be doing when i machine polish the car or can my PC run over the film with no damage to it?

Also can someone advise on a LSP for a solid Red colour?

 

[Ess_Three]

My mate has a red Civic TypeR that has protection film on it and he wants a detail done by me. Is there anything i need to be doing when i machine polish the car or can my PC run over the film with no damage to it?

You should be fine...
I had my car machine polished and tried a few compounds...so I'll cut and paste the details:


"The Defendall Paint Protection Film (Half way up the front wings and front compartment cover, front bumper, front splitter, sills, halfway up the rear quarters ad behind each wheel arch) was polished using Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish using 4” Lake Country CCS polishing pads.
We tried several passes were carried out to remove the swirls, but this had little effect, and light swirling, water marks and some abrasions were still evident.

So, we switched to Menzerna 106FA Final Finish again using 4” Lake Country CCS light cut pads, and had better success with this product.
several passes were carried out to remove the swirls.
Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish using 4” Lake Country CCS polishing pads were then used as a final polishing stage"


Basically, try something mild to start with - like the Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish and if that barely touches it...go a stage more aggressive - in my case the Menzerna 106FA Final Finish.

Mine came up a treat...with a shine almost as good as the paint.

You don't need any special preparation...just try to keep the compounds away from the edges as much as you can to avoid the 'line'.

 

[Andy.B]

Good advice there, i had it in my head you could polish the film but thought the small heat buildup might warp it.

Any ideas on a LSP for solid red?

 

[Ess_Three]

If you are using a PC or G220 you shouldn't get enough heat in it to warp it...just keep the speed down and the machine moving. You should be fine. We were...1st attempt.

As for LSP...
No idea specifically for red, but Blackfire Midnight Sun is superb...easy to apply and remove even in bright sun, great shine and reasonably long lasting - especially after a couple of coats.

Raceglaze Series 55 probably gives a better shine on flat colours. But it's harder work. not sure on the longevity yet...I have 5 coats of it on my 911 now...but it hardly gets used/washed...so it's hard to say.

 

[Andy.B]

Got the Blackfire Midnight Sun on order, did look at the Raceglaze 55 but at around £60 for a LSP is a bit pricey for me at the mo when i need to get a few more bit for the rest of my detail kit.

Im going to give the Midnight Sun a blast on the Civic to see if it will work as good as it does on Metalic Finishes. Its all down to expermintation at the end of the day to see what works.

 

[WX51TXR]

Good choice for solid red - the Midnight Sun looks ace and jetts the colour down nicely, making it look rich and very wet. The Gloss Enhancing Polish is a safe bet for all fim types, while you do need to be careful with coarser final polishes like 106FA - I have hazed films with this, and you can fix this with a pass of the Gloss Enhancing Polish, but it is still a scary moment!

 

[Andy.B]

Thanks for that. The detail will prob be at the end of the month. I have to practice a bit more before i let myself loose o friends cars. Im going to post up my learning curve on here as i do it.