Autolinks

Hello fellow CL membews

My name is John Ng, I am the owner/operator of Auto-Links (Toronto)

Just wanted to share one of our recent projects, a white 2014 Lexus is350 f-sport. After a couple months of correspondence through email, the customer had decided to go with Avery Nano-Fusion in our option D (full hood, front partial fenders, complete front bumper) and FormulaOne Pinnacle ceramic tint. A lot of people have requested that I do some writeups on the cars we do so this was a great opportunity to share one of our most popular packages and answer a lot of FAQ. This is a slower time of year for us that I actually have a couple more minutes to do items like this that I wish I could do all year long. For more info on some of the cars & work we do, follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/autolinks or instagram @ autolinks


Here is the vehicle dropped off.
The customer arranged the vehicle after delivery to have new car prep with Bryan at Concours. We would always recommend a new car prep to be completed as most new vehicle paint are usually extremely contaminated. For areas that are to be wrapped wax is NOT to be applied (wax can actually affect the adhesives) , just cleaning is necessary (either clay, or polish). Also please ensure that any rustproofing or oilsprays are not done prior to application.


We started off with FormulaOne Pinnacle Ceramic tint @ 30%. This is our most popular shade enough to give privacy without violating any legal regulations and enough visibility for safety. Ceramic tint also gives you the benefits of maximum heat & UV reduction, also you never have to worry about fading or colour changing.



The hood and all under edges are alcohol prepped to ensure no polish or residue remain. The customer opted for the entire hood wrap which is most popular now as you do not have to worry about any items such as the seam running across the middle of the hood (if you do the half hood), paint discoloration, or even chips above the protected area. We use a 60 inch roll for the full hood application and this piece measured about 70 inches across. The film is wet applied.


I anchor the piece down the middle as shown above and work out one side at a time.


After all the water is squeegeed out


All the edges are wrapped for a complete seamless installation.


The clarity on this product is phenomenal. What amazes me more is the water repellancy and ease of cleaning, as if it is always freshly waxed.


We put the car up for application of the front bumper.


This particular model has a 3 piece bumper design. We use the best software templates for items such as bumpers, lights, etc. so that no cutting has to be done on the vehicle. The install can only be as good as the design therefore having a precision pattern is very critical. Items like fog lights, washer nozzles, etc. are removed. There are seams on the bumper install, however with proper maintenance and cleaning they are not very prominent and the main purpose to protect the paint will be visible after a couple years on the road.


The headlights and DRL lamp are also added on to the package. As you probably know if your vehicle is more than a couple years old how vulnerable the lights are, both to rock/road debris as well as UV/heat damage. I am sure most of you with the earlier model 3s got so oxidized that you can't even see through them anymore. Newer ones are suspect to regular rock/road damage that is very unsightly. There are places that offer highspeed/compound polish, but what this does is strip a layer off the light and, yes, after a short time they will return to their original deteriorated state. A small investment for protection film WILL protect your lights from both elements. Clarity on the lights is amazing as well.


Final step - Brian from Concours came in as per owners request to complete the Opticoat on top of the clearbra before vehicle was picked up. The Opticoat on top of the PPF is a great idea however the film already does have an amazing topcoat that only requires waxing once every few years.




Hope you enjoyed the write up and let me know what you guys think!
Thank you, and cheers,

Sincerely,

John

Lex_Giorgio

Awesome write up!

For people that already have this on their car, how would we go about removing the swirls that will occur within the following years on the film protector? Thanks!

HIDPH

iTrader: (5)

Great writeup, heard many good things about Opti-Coats and preserving the paint finish (and make car washes easier)

SonyHome

Thanks for the detailed write up. This is similar to what I had done on my car but with XPEL Ultimate PPF and F1 Pinnacle 30 with 3M Crystalline on windshield. I clayed and polished my car and put opti coat on prior to the PPM film.

I have some questions perhaps you could help clarify based on your experience.

- When I picked up my car there were bunch of air bubble under XPEL. Installer stated it should go away over the next few weeks. It seems to be getting better but there are still few left even after two weeks. Is it normal to have so many air bubbles under the film and will all of these eventually go away?

- When going with XPEL Ultimate I figured they would use the same kit (at least the same seam pattern) as XPEL retail kit but it seems installer put few more seams in their kit for the front bumper. I was really hoping for seamless install since I opted for full bumper, full hood, full fender, headlights, DRL, fog lights along with few other areas. They indicated bumper was difficult so they had put more seams. Is it possible to do the bumper without adding additional seams on the kit?

Here is XPEL front bumper kit with seems my installer added in red line. Could they have done it without these seams?


- Lastly how do you know if they really used the F1 Pinnacle 30, 3M Crystalline 90 & XPEL Ultimate films? I have not done any business with them before but they have multiple shops in town and stated they've been in business for 30 years. Some on this forum have warned that some shops will state they put these high quality films but use alternates.

Thanks for your input.

Lost808

^
For the 3m tints, they have water marks randomly placed on the film that says "3M". This is only on their more expensive tints. I had the color stable just put on and it has these marks. IIRC, the crystalline should also have these unless they removed them after installation.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Good to see the whole hood done

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Most PPF can be polished with the same products used to remove swirls and surface defects from paint. Things like bug guts, bird bombs, hard water spots, and of course swirls and scratches will all degrade the appearance of the PPF overtime.

The best practice is to be just as careful with PPF as you are with your paint. This means utilizing the proper 3 bucket wash routine to safely wash the car and minimize the chances of introducing swirl marks. Also, any bug guts or bird bombs need to be removed immediately as they can etch into the PPF (and also paint) and cause permanent damage. This is why it is a great idea to have opti-coat or other premium paint coatings installed for maximum protection against environmental contamination.


Here is a quick example...

PPF before polishing - notice the swirls & bug guts that have etched into the PPF


PPF after polishing - the swirls have been removed and the film is glossier, however much of the bug etching remains as it was too severe to completely remove with machine polishing.



Hope that helps

-Zach

Lex_Giorgio

Thanks Zach! I'll give this a shot in the spring time.

SonyHome

I didn't see this mark on my windshield.

Lost808

Mine are about a foot apart staggered across the surface. I removed most of them, but left a few on each window. It could be the shop removed yours, as I asked mine to leave them on. Here is what it looks like:

SonyHome

3M Crystalline was for windshield so they could have removed them. I went with Crystalline 90 but now I wish I had gone with Crystalline 70, assuming this is in deed 3M Crystalline film. So no other way to tell if these are genuine?

How do you remove those?

Lost808

I don't believe there is any other way to tell as you can't really compare the tint color effects associated with tint brands, since it is clear. The watermarks are really easy to remove with a little rubing alcohol on a micro towel. Chances are the shop removed it since they would stand out too much on clear tints.

Edit: I remember I had crystalline on my old Evo and the water droplets on it would be a light reddish color. I asked the shop and they said that is something that happens with crystalline tints. Guess it is coming from the IR rejection causing the red hue. That would tell you if it is crystalline.

SonyHome

Are you saying when the sun hits the water droplets on the windshield? I'll have to try that on a sunny day.

Any way to tell if tint is F1 Pinnacle?

Lost808

Spray some water on the windshield and look closely at the water droplets. They should have a ruby red color to them. That, or in direct sunlight, you will notice a rainbow effect at different angles when wet.

I don't know anything about Pinnacle stuff, sorry.

nonopeno

This is my car!

John & team: thank you for your awesome service. Will definitely recommend others in the GTA to come to you for tinting and ppf needs!