F355 Berlinetta (paint correction and clear film)

For some reason and maybe this is normal for Ferrari paint but it is soft, like really soft. Now I know that all non metallic BLACK paints are softer than most other colors and was expecting it to be soft but I get micro abrasions even with S.Korean super soft fluffy MF towels with Adams Detail spray on an otherwise super clean dust free car. I don't even have to use a scope to see them.

So as I have said before I don't usually do my own paint correction and my favorite detail guy did 98% show finish with the polish (most people would think this is a 100% job but under a scope you will see some abrasions. To the naked eye with a 3000 lumens paint light and no sealant or wax, you won't see them). It doesn't need more because it's then sealed and then he put STEK over the top. STEK is a clear bra from S. Korea

I have XPEL on all painted surfaces of my other car. I had the color sanded and was a mirror finish and then had XPEL put everywhere. It is a great product. My F355 didn't need to be color sanded as it had no orange peel from the factory and I chose STEK this time due to a couple of reasons including that it was much smoother looking than the XPEL which has a little bit of the orange peel look. On my blue car, you can't even see it but on a black car, you would. The STEK is super smooth with only a small hint of that orange peel look.

We removed most of the items in front including the air intake on the hood (ordered the replacement rivets from Ferrparts). We did clear film on:

Full Hood including the air intake
Full fenders
Full bumper (about 99%. the grill area is mostly covered but the last 1/4 or so is not)
Door top (the top half of the doors)
Quarter panels (both the top quarter below the buttresses and the panel in front of the rear tire) will be done next week.
Contemplating doing the rear bumper cover.

The roof is impossible and the lower intakes and rockers are impossible without relief cuts which I want to shy way from.

All the bare paint not covered by film will be treated with Ceramic Pro. Also the refinished wheels are treated with Ceramic Pro. We ran out of time before I had a previous scheduled engagement so the rest will be done in the coming weeks.

Since STEK (and XPEL) is self healing, I can just use detail spray to clean the car without water even after it is a little dirty after a rain etc. (no like muddy though). So I can keep it looking like this without recorrecting the paint (polishing) or even waxing (I'll still have to be super careful for parts that don't have the clear film)
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STEK DynoShield has a 10 year warranty. So does XPEL I believe.

Does it need to be removed and reapplied every few years.... maybe....

On my daily driver that gets rained on every 2 days but otherwise stays in my garage every night, I expect to replace it about every 9-12 years. This assumes no outside damage (knife, rock, car, deer, etc.). That whole car is done and it the cost was almost $7,000. (XPEL)

On this car, I won't be driving it daily and it will see some but not much rain. What is this rain talk? I mean that driving it in the sun gets very little dirt on it while rain will coat your car with a thin layer of road goo. Anyway, since the car will rarely sit outside all day, nights in the garage and maybe see 20k miles in the next 10 years, it is likely the film will last longer than 10 years. I'd expect to replace it in 10-14 years. The question is how much does it break down over 10 years. Since it won't have much UV exposure as compared to a standard car I assume it won't break down quickly. Also, I don't live in an overly hot, cold, snowy or windy/dusty area.

STEK is what is on my Ferrari F355. (from S. Korea)
XPEL is what is on my BMW M4 (if STEK was available to me back then I would have chosen it)

These (and other) films now have self healing properties. They also have other properties. I just like the fact that standard rock chips and sand blast won't happen to my car now and the paint won't scratch and show swirls (at least not at all where the STEK is and much less likely where the Ceramic Pro is at.

Some other people like 3M and Suntek. Honestly any clear film is better than none with regard to the paint. Always do full panels and not just a "bra" as you will have a line (although minimal). Back in the day when people only did a bra, I did and got a rock chip about 4" past the bra line. That was the last time I "saved" money.

On my M4 I took a rock strike that skipped off the hood and marred the XPEL. It then proceeded to hit the windshield so hard it cracked end to end. No paint damage.

 

My detailer posted this on facebook of before and after. The top pic is an angle which shows the abrasions easier. The second pic would have been nicer if at the same angle to show they are gone even under significant amount of light but that is how he took the pic. Even at angles you can't see the abrasions. I didn't use a scope because with the sealant and the STEK you won't see the abrasions.
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Also, note, in the aforementioned picture with the car outside in direct sun you could barely see those abrasions. The lighting in the picture is significantly more as well as more focused that you see from the sun.

 

Julia, fractured? wow, that must have been in some extreme environments for a long time and probably chemical exposure without washing the car as you should it would krase as would paint but fractured? Maybe we are talking about the same thing but with different words. Also, factory film is inferior and there are also inferior products on the retail market.

INTMD8, I know some people don't like it. Not sure why. I hear things like, oh it yellows, or it doesn't come off, or you have lines (reliefs). The other one I hear is that it makes the paint look like it has orange peel.

The yellowing was from adhesive and even the manufacturers late to fix the issue fixed this 5+ years ago. Coming off has been known to be an issue if, it was installed by unskilled people not following the standard practices, putting on with a car with fresh coat of paint that hadn't cured yet (60 days etc.), removing it incorrectly, and not taking care of the film (as you would paint), and allowing chemicals to etch and weaken the material (so taking it off it breaks and takes longer to remove).

Orange peel - STEK and Suntek (lesser so) have very little and it is near impossible to see. Other brands have a bit more but less than most factory paint so it's hard to see.

Reliefs and lines - sometimes there needs to be a relief. I do full panels and not a "bra" so there are no lines on the hood, fenders, upper door etc. The front bumper has the film stop short of the inner part of the center air intake (where the grill is), as it cannot be stretched that far. If you have 20/20 vision and are in the sun (best way to see the line) and you are 4 feet away (eyeball to line), I doubt you could see it. I usually have to have people run their finger over it so they can feel it.

Mirrors have to have reliefs.

All I can say is that in 20k miles, I'll have no rock chips or sand blasting on my black car. I'll also never have to do a color correction again or have swirl marks in the notoriously difficult flat NERO paint (where there is the film).

I'd love to know why some people don't like it (besides cost) when we are talking about the latest generation product.

Suntek (another brand) has a demo where they have a small piece of metal hood in black. They have a brass wire grill cleaning brush and you use it to scratch the film. You do this to your real paint and you will be going to the body shop. The demo has a heat element (similar to being in the sun or pouring warm water on it), and withing a minute, the scratches are gone. gone gone. Now, you take a knife or razor blade and cut through the material, that isn't going to fix itself.

XPEL and STEK do the same. STEK also has the last layer being a hydrophobic layer similar to Ceramic Pro.

 

The 355 can't be fully wrapped. The roof, A pillar, buttress' and rear quarters are all 1 piece and nobody makes a piece that big or if they do that would be super expensive if you make a mistake. (there are no patterns available)

Yes taking off the hvac inlet vac took 30 minutes, the 16 rivets cost .12 cents each and another hour to put it back. The hood can be wrapped without lines without coming off but 6 bolts and 4 hands, no biggie. emblems are straighforward with fishing line. Never heard of removing glass before.

Bumpers do not need to be removed for the 355 and no line can be seen as it is wrapped in the large 90's panel gap.

I won't be doing the roof or rear hood. The rear bumper will need reliefs and I understand that is not acceptable to some. The rear quarters can be edged at the bottom of the buttress and probably can be seen with a sharp eye but I will be doing that.

If your paint chips below the film, then you are going to need some body work and if you didn't have the film you'd have the same if not more work. My M4 got hit by a rock skipping off the hood and subsiquently destroying the windshield. there is a light mar on the XPEL. You can't see it unless I point it out. If the XPEL wasn't there, it would have been a respray.

You are correct that the film costs just about the same as a really good respray and for the f355 you can't do the whole car. I'd rather not have a resprayed F355 and I'd rather not have rock chips in years 7, 8, 9 while waiting to get it resprayed.

You make some valid points.

 

Julia, if it was krazing/crazing is caused by:
-subpar products (copycat plastic films being sold on the internet)
-chemical exposure (and not washing your car for 6 years.
-extreme temperatures (like outside in sub zero for cumulatively a long time, or mohave desert for a long time... cumulatively years)
-using carnuba based wax or other waxes with naphtha, kerosene, dyes or abrasives (yep abrasives)

If the film crazes withing the 10 year warranty, you should have it taken off and the approved installer/remover will send back a sample. As long as the issue was not due to some of the aforementioned items, they will usually replace all of the product for free. I am unsure how the labor part works. They will test the sample for the chemicals specified.

 

getting the tops of the doors done with clear film.
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Here is probably the best picture I have showing STEK and no-STEK panel. The clear film is on the door but not on the rear quarterpanel (yet). It is darn near impossible to see the difference even under 5k lumens of light 1.5 meters away.
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