Paint Protection Film How To Tutorials. Questions....? Ask Away!

[VWaholic]

First and foremost I'm a Tesla owner.
Hey everyone, I've made quite a few video's that I've posted on YouTube about installing PPF on Tesla's as well as how to remove the cameras and tail lights. If you are looking for a do it yourself tutorial or would like to see what to expect from a great PPF install, take a look at some of these videos. I cover both kit installs and cutting by hand (bulking).
These are some of the videos:
hood -

fender -

front bumper -

Head lights -

Smoked out (Tinted) tail light -

Side view mirrors gloss PPF - Tesla Mirrors BEST way to install Paint Protection Film. How to bulk install Clear Bra Model 3 Y S X
Side view mirrors matte finish PPF - 100% Coverage - Matte PPF Mirror Install - Tesla Model 3 Y S X Paint Protection Film
rear bumper kit - How To PPF - Tesla Rear Bumper Kit Install - Model 3 Paint Protection Film
matte (stealth) rear bumper paint protection film - How To Bulk Install PPF - Matte Bumper Paint Protection Film DIY Tutorial
trunk - How To PPF - CORE Precut Trunk Kit - Tesla Model 3 - Paint Protection Film installation
fender camera removal - How To Remove Tesla Cameras - Model 3 Y X
rear tail light removal - How to Remove Tesla Tail Lights Model 3 Y S X
model Y hatch in one piece - How To PPF - 1 Piece Tesla Hatch - Model Y Paint Protection Film Installation

If you have any PPF or window tinting questions please ask away. I've been in the industry since 1998.

 

[jlouderb]

See my thread on repairing PPF - would love your insight - PPF Repair - patch or replace?

 

[Ostrichsak]

Lots of good info here. If I ever decide to attempt doing this myself I'll reference this thread fo sho. Thanks!

 

[kpanda17]

See YouTube, many experiences of no DIY
Need to be experienced, a pro

 

[holeydonut]

Just some comments if you end up going with a pro instead of DIY...

I'm a PPF n00b, so I learned some valuable stuff about PPF coming out of my first PPF install a month ago on a Mercedes GLS.

I went to a highly-rated (5 stars on Yelp installer), so I just dumbly assumed "pay the premium $ and bask in awesome PPF! what's the big deal?" The shop does Lambos, Porsches, Range Rovers, and has like mega-positive rave reviews as one of the best. Soooo it's a slam dunk right?

It turns out there are subtleties to PPF that for some reason nobody ever discusses. What I've learned is that you the customer are 100% required to define what you will find tolerable and what is not tolerable for a "quality" PPF install that you're paying for.

There's a general theme that bubbles over a certain size, trapped dirt, and lift lines are definite deal breaker. The quality PPF folks will remedy this for their reputation because these are the things people usually see.

So here's what I learned as the biggest PPF "wrinkle". This super high-end-PPF-guy still allows some Chicken Skin (or Chicken Skinning). He said it's impossible to do a whole car without some of this showing up. For example, below is a chicken skin blemish on my hood that is about the diameter of a dime. The chicken skin kind of looks like some tight chicken skin; the cluster of pinpoints resembles chicken hair follicles lol. And, I learned this happens when the moisture of that area is slightly too high (but not high enough to form a pocket). It gets a bit better once the PPF heats up a bit, but never goes away completely.

The installer said he personally did the hood, and this passes his 5-star sniff test. He said the problem is my car is black... most cars with color or more pearlescent paint would obscure this and you wouldn't notice at all unless you were a perfectionist. So, unless you the customer tell him up front "absolutely no chicken skin", he'd allow this to pass. Because if you really wanted absolutely no chicken skin; it'd cost more since his chance of getting it perfect go down a lot so he has to price that into materials/labor.

Also, he says sub-1mm pockets are ok. So as long as it doesn't protrude (like a dirt bubble). So 1mm little spots are to be expected and will be normal. I learned if you want "glass like surface with zero little pockets" he'd probably just reject you as a customer lol.

So yeah, if you care about chicken skinning; make sure to discuss it up front so everyone is aware what is ok or not.