Mylar coating, is it worth it?
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 880
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From: Ponte Vedra Beach FL/ Hampstead, London, England
'84 380 SL/ '02 XK8
Paint Protection Film (PPF)
When I first heard the name Clear Bra, visions of the latest Victoria's Secret catalogue designs ran through my head. I just had to investigate, strictly in pursuit of car care related information, of course.
Paint protection film (PPF) products protect the leading edge of your vehicle from damage caused by rocks, gravel, salt or insects through the application of a thin and virtually invisible urethane paint protection3M Clear Shield, Avery, Durashield, Hartz, Llumar, Premier Protective Films, Stevens Venture Tape XPEL and probably a few others I am forgetting.
Clearly; the best protection if you’re proud of your vehicle. Paint Protection Film (PPF) AKA Clear Bra is a thermoplastic urethane film that is applied to the leading painted surfaces of a new or used car in order to protect the paint from stone chips, bug splatter and minor abrasions.
Designed to provide years of protection against road debris, environmental elements, bugs, and abrasions and it can be removed without harming painted surface. The film has UV inhibitors to maintain the clarity for the life of the installation. It will not change color or turn yellow.
Paint protection film is usually supplied in 50 µ(1-2Mil) thickness (although its available in 203µ (8 Mils) in bulk roll form, for cut-to-fit applications on hoods, fenders, bumpers, mirrors, rocker panels, and lights, or in pre-cut customized application kits for a wide variety of cars and trucks. Installation - professional application is recommended for best results.
Consider this; [an impact is a high force or shock applied over a short time period when two or more bodies collide.] A high-velocity collision or impact doesn’t provide sufficient time for deformation to occur; different materials can behave in quite different ways in impact when compared with static loading conditions. Thus, the struck material behaves as if it were more brittle than it is, and the majority of the applied force goes into fracturing the impacted material.
If the surface area of impacting object is really small while maintaining an equal force, the applied (PSI) pressure becomes astronomical and the object is capable of penetrating the surface of an otherwise tough material. PPF is not immune to this type of damage although it has a flexible membrane to capture and partially absorb the impact energy; but an impact at high velocity (in this case road grit with an impact speed of 50 + MPH, the damage is proportionate to the relative velocity of the vehicle) which due to it short impact ‘time scale’ lessens the films ability to stretch and deform but will considerably lessen sustained damage
The Columbia disaster was caused by impact damage when a (relatively) small piece of polyurethane foam impacted the carbon fibre composite wing of the space shuttle. Although tests had been conducted before the disaster, the size of the piece was much smaller than that which fell away from the booster rocket and hit the exposed wing.
Installation
The finished products quality is only as good as the installation. Searching out a good installer is not an easy task as many companies make outrageous claims of experience and expertise. The most important thing is to see what type of coverage you will get and whether or not it will be in one piece especially for the front bumper. Companies that use 1 piece for bumpers are generally more skilled at paint protection film installations
Very few dealerships do this type of work in-house; most sub-contract the installation to their choice of vendors. Usually this choice is based solely on pricing so that they can obtain the highest margin; every dealership has their own policy in vendor markups. Unfortunately, this also means that you have multiple installers bidding for the same dealership. When this happens, you will likely get the least experienced installer performing the job for the lowest price, which often compromises quality.
An extract from "Paint Protection Film (PPF) - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...ml#post1485839
Paint protection film (PPF) products protect the leading edge of your vehicle from damage caused by rocks, gravel, salt or insects through the application of a thin and virtually invisible urethane paint protection3M Clear Shield, Avery, Durashield, Hartz, Llumar, Premier Protective Films, Stevens Venture Tape XPEL and probably a few others I am forgetting.
Clearly; the best protection if you’re proud of your vehicle. Paint Protection Film (PPF) AKA Clear Bra is a thermoplastic urethane film that is applied to the leading painted surfaces of a new or used car in order to protect the paint from stone chips, bug splatter and minor abrasions.
Designed to provide years of protection against road debris, environmental elements, bugs, and abrasions and it can be removed without harming painted surface. The film has UV inhibitors to maintain the clarity for the life of the installation. It will not change color or turn yellow.
Paint protection film is usually supplied in 50 µ(1-2Mil) thickness (although its available in 203µ (8 Mils) in bulk roll form, for cut-to-fit applications on hoods, fenders, bumpers, mirrors, rocker panels, and lights, or in pre-cut customized application kits for a wide variety of cars and trucks. Installation - professional application is recommended for best results.
Consider this; [an impact is a high force or shock applied over a short time period when two or more bodies collide.] A high-velocity collision or impact doesn’t provide sufficient time for deformation to occur; different materials can behave in quite different ways in impact when compared with static loading conditions. Thus, the struck material behaves as if it were more brittle than it is, and the majority of the applied force goes into fracturing the impacted material.
If the surface area of impacting object is really small while maintaining an equal force, the applied (PSI) pressure becomes astronomical and the object is capable of penetrating the surface of an otherwise tough material. PPF is not immune to this type of damage although it has a flexible membrane to capture and partially absorb the impact energy; but an impact at high velocity (in this case road grit with an impact speed of 50 + MPH, the damage is proportionate to the relative velocity of the vehicle) which due to it short impact ‘time scale’ lessens the films ability to stretch and deform but will considerably lessen sustained damage
The Columbia disaster was caused by impact damage when a (relatively) small piece of polyurethane foam impacted the carbon fibre composite wing of the space shuttle. Although tests had been conducted before the disaster, the size of the piece was much smaller than that which fell away from the booster rocket and hit the exposed wing.
Installation
The finished products quality is only as good as the installation. Searching out a good installer is not an easy task as many companies make outrageous claims of experience and expertise. The most important thing is to see what type of coverage you will get and whether or not it will be in one piece especially for the front bumper. Companies that use 1 piece for bumpers are generally more skilled at paint protection film installations
Very few dealerships do this type of work in-house; most sub-contract the installation to their choice of vendors. Usually this choice is based solely on pricing so that they can obtain the highest margin; every dealership has their own policy in vendor markups. Unfortunately, this also means that you have multiple installers bidding for the same dealership. When this happens, you will likely get the least experienced installer performing the job for the lowest price, which often compromises quality.
An extract from "Paint Protection Film (PPF) - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...ml#post1485839
Last edited by TOGWT; Feb 18, 2012 at 07:39 AM.
