Spray on 3M film

CSGLEON

sorry if this has been previously posted. i saw a commercial last night about a spray on 3M protection film for bumpers. has anyone tried this product? im starting to get allot of scratches and rock chips. if it works well i will buy some. they sell it at autozone.

37zeroZ

I've tried it and it looked like crap. Had a profound orange peel look. Could of been me during the application, but there are so many similar reviews out there....judge yourself.

I than decided to get a wrap which looked so much better.

YzGyz

I'm thinking of trying it out on my z. Maybe next week if I get around to buying it and washing my car.

Wonka2581

Sub'd

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YzGyz

I just sprayed my first can of this stuff and man ohh man is it hard!! This thing is very inconsistent. That is the MAJOR flaw! The smallest breeze will make the spray pattern go bonkers. The other thing is that the tip keep building up a foam that then splutters onto the car. I was wiping this away with a paper towel. Well, don't do that! That just pushed some into the spray hole and smear some around. Take a deep breath and then plow at the tip. This was a lot more effective. Last but not least, don't touch it with a napkin to whipe or blot defaults away. It just makes it worst. Think of it as cake icing. Once it's on, the only way to fix it is to start all over. I will post pics and all the good stuff whenever I have time.

dP3NGU1N

What about those of us that don't care what it looks like but just want to protect our cars on the track and wash it off later? How does it perform for that?

It's not suppose to be permanent anyway right? Isn't it water soluble?

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YzGyz

I think it would work really well for that. The only drawback is that it takes a lot of prep work. I washed my car 2x to make sure I rid of all and every bit of dirt. I then proceeded with waxing and then taping off the car. I can see you skipping the last part but you still have to do the other two. You will probably want to make it thicker than the recommended thickness. In this case, probably an 2x the thickness. So maybe 2 can for hood, 2 can for front bumper, 1 can for side fenders? I would imagine taking the film off would be easy as you simply peel it off. Being that the film is 2x thicker than the recommended, it should come off in one nice thick sheet. At $25 a can before tax, it can cost you a small fortune and time. However, it will save you from a paint job. Your looking for function over form in a sense.

I'm still waiting for the film to dry so I'm not exactly sure how well this thing works. What I imagine is that I wont look the best. It will have imperfection due uncontrollable inconsistency in applying the product. I will be leaving the film on my car no matter how it turns out. I have already invested time and energy so might as well leave it and see how well it holds up. It's already on the car, so it's not going to get worst than it already is (it don't look half bad imo).

If I were to answer the question of, "Is it worth it?" I would say if your the type that seeks perfection and want the most of everything you buy or do, then this is not for you (For instance, engineers being that you are kinda anal on thing due to the nature of your profession. Function slightly over Form to the most of there ability). If your the type that like to mod things and make them better even though they are perfectly fine and you would be content with what you currently have, then this is not for you (These people are looking for more then what they have, or close to perfection. Function slightly over form if your into performance mods, Form slightly over function if your into looks). Then if your the type that just like things the way they are with the mindset of, "I have this and it's good enough, it works." I would say that you will be fine with the product (These people are the more practical person and seek a balance of the two. They are willing to sacrifice and little here or there for the other one to gain, but it will be a even trade off overall).

I will update the status of the project tomorrow.

bdavis89

In for pics.

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synolimit

I LOVE how they won't go close up!

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13 370z-

HighLatency

+1. Pics would be great. Was looking at the 3M Clear Bra for my '13 WRX, and this may be a good alternative....maybe..

kenchan

sounds like a mess. thanks for trying yzg

synolimit

So you need a CBE right?

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13 370z-

YzGyz

I had me a good power nap after work. Alright guys, lets continue on where I left off. The car was prep and sprayed on in the garage. She has been in there for the last 3 days. I sprayed the the film on about 11am yesterday prior to posting and the film is now dry to the touch on my car. Most of it looks fine. Some parts however are runny and look like a cheap MAACO paint job (stupid wind!!). I'm still going to leave it on the car as it doesn't look that bad IMO. The other thing I notice was HOLY OVERPRAY!! That little bit of wind carried some over spray everywhere!!! TAPE UP EVERYTHING THAT YOU DON'T WANT 1000'S OF SPOTS ON! I will upload and post pics in a hour or two with a walk through of what I did, learn and input on the spray.

YzGyz

YzGyz

Supplies:

-tape
-3m paint spray handle
-3m Paint defender
-Lint free cloth
-car wash supplies
-toothpicks
-blue paper shop towels
-brown paper
-buffing supplies
-enclosed area
-Lots of time

Fist start off with a preliminary washing. I usually wash my car as soon as the sun go down. This way, your car is less likely to have spots due to premature drying. This was the regular soap/sponge wash. I then proceeded to do a second wash to make sure I got everything. I went as far as to use toothpicks and blue shop paper towels to clean in the smallest nooks and crannies such as those in and around the black grill. Make sure you wash out all the soap in the crevices where panels meet! I usually give a few extra seconds of water at the panel meet points and around light bulbs. It is important to keep your car wet until you are ready to dry the car with a towel or shammy. If water is left to air dry, it leave spots and residue. Think of how your car looks after it rains even if you haven't even drove anywhere. You get spots everywhere. As you dry you car off, make sure dry it off really well. Open doors, gas caps and all that. You don't want any water to air dry. It got dark after I was done so I waited 30 mins and then parked her in the garage. Reason why I didn't immediately park her in the garage is to allow as much water in un-wipeable areas to drip out/off the car as possible before I move.

YzGyz

The next evening, I continued the project with Waxing the car in the garage. I just bought my car and the dealer had just waxed my car about 2 weeks ago. I wipe my car off with a soft lint free cloth then proceeded to wax my car as directed by my wax battle. I much prefer the liquid waxes over the hard type like Turtle Wax. They are just a lot easier to work with IMO. I believe a good wax job is critical in a good outcome of this product. I think it will allow the product to spread and self level a lot better. Just think of nonstick pans vs regular pans. Crack a egg in a nonstick pan and the egg spreads out a lot better in that vs a regular one. This is why I went ahead and waxed my spray areas a 2nd time. I wanted to make sure it had as smooth, glossy, mirrors finish as possible. My car basically got 2 coats of wax on intended spray area. I applied the was by had with the applicator, let it dry (30 min in TX heat), then buffing with a new buffing cloth thingies that I put on my buffer. Sure is worth the $35 for this machine. Manual buffing is tiring. This night came to an end and so I closed the garage and went inside.

The next day was taping and masking day. I tacked down the brown paper with some blue tape here and there to hold her in place. I then cut out the shape I needed with a scissor with taped the bottom and top edge. This was insurance in case I accidentally touched my car with the scissors. I cut out the shapes I needed about 3'' from the area I planed to spray. Blue tape was used to secure the newly cut contour edge but leaving about 1'' un-taped where I plan to spray the 3m. I then taped a 2nd layer of tape over the 1st layer (1st layer = layer holding the brown paper down) with one edge as accurately to the edge where I want the 3m to spray on to. The reason for this is that You have to remove the tape prior to the 3m spray drying. By layering this 2nd tape, it allows the tape to more freely be removed. You don't want to remove a big mess of tape and brown paper if you can help it. That will lust lead to unnecessary risk of touching the fresh 3m spray.