Clear Film failure

Detailer’s Domain: 01 Porsche 911 – Clear Film Removal Nightmare!!!

You’ve seen this story play out on Facebook and Instagram, here it is in its entirety.

Subject: an 01 Porsche 911 Carrera needing some much needed love.
Requirements: Remove 1st gen 3M Paint Protection Film – wow has clear film gone a long way! – Full paint correction, Quick Engine Detail, Interior Detail.

This 01 Porsche 911 had a pre cut 1st generation 3m clear film on the car installed when new, unfortunately I’m not sure why dealers sell products without providing proper information to clients. We try very hard to let customers know that clear film should last 3-5 years before it should be removed and or replaced. Clear film will turn and change color over time. It can scratch and it can haze. Some can be polished out and some can not. This takes it to a new level, 12 years of being on the paint without proper car or attention or just old technology? After 20 hours (I know I’m gonna get all the critics for this one, so I’m ready) we were able to remove all the clear film off the mirrors, partial hood, leading edge, and full front bumper. Material used – plastic razor blades, 30 or so mf towels (tossed out later as the adhesive embedded in the towels) 10 microfiber cutting pads, 4 gallons of water in the steamer, lots of blood (bloody knuckles) and blisters. While removing the film we found the installer broke the Porsche crest without replacing it (I’ve seen this before but why not do the right thing and replace it), the new one is on order and will be shipped to the customer.

After the clear film removal we were able to get 85% + level of paint correction on this car, the normal trouble spots we were not able to approach – hard water spots on the rear decklid and around the rear Carrera badge, years of left over compound and polishes. We danced around those area to avoid breaking the emblem. The products used to correct the paint were Menzerna FG400 with an Meg’s MF Cutting Pad, Adam’s Paint Correcting Polish with Meg’s MF Cutting Pad and Adam’s Orange Pad, and finally to get the Guards Red to pop like a candy shell we used Sonax Perfect Finish with an Uber Orange Pad this was all done with the Rupes Bigfoot LHR15 and LHR21. To protect this new found shine and look we used Sonax Polymer Net Shield.

Interior was cleaned up with a quick vac, carpets extracted, leather cleaned and conditioned. (all products used listed below)

Engine was hit quickly with APC and agitated and Adam’s In and Out Spray was used to dress it out. (all products used listed below)

Exterior

– Wheels were prepped with Sonax Wheel Cleaner and cleaned up with various brushes
– Tires were spritzed down with Adam’s All Purpose Cleaner and washed down
– Wheel wells were cleaned up
– Washed with Adam’s Car Wash
– Decon with Wolf’s Decon Gel
– Wash down and rinsed
– Door jambs were cleaned up
– Nano Scrub AutoScrub
– Dried
– Tires dressed
– Masking
– Paint Measurement
– Compound – Menzerna FG400
– Final Polish – Sonax Nano Polish
– Last step – Auto Finesse Desire
– Inspection with Fenix, Brinkmann, and natural sunlight
– Wheel wells were cleaned and dressed
– Rubber and Plastics Treated
– Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned and sealed
– Exhaust tips cleaned
– Windows were auto scrubed, cleaned, and sealed

Interior:
– Complete interior steam cleaned
– Complete interior vac
– Vinyl/Plastics cleaned up
– Leather cleaned and condition

Engine
– Clean
– Dress

Links to products used –

Adam’s Car Wash
Auto Finesse Iron Out
Stoner’s Tarminator
Auto Finesse Oblitarate
Adam’s All Purpose Cleaner
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
NanoSkin AutoScrub System
Menzerna FG400
Adam’s Paint Correcting Polish
Sonax Perfect Finish
Sonax Polymer Net Shield
Adam’s Super VRT
Auto Finesse Crystal Glass Cleaner
Auto Finesse Mercury Metal Polish

Interior
1Z einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner
1Z einszett Cockpit
Leather Master Rapid S
Adam’s Leather Conditioner

Tools used
Uber Wool Wash Mitt
Uber No Name MF Towels
Griot’s 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher
Rupes LHR75
Rupes BigFoot LHR 21ES Random Orbital Polisher
Rupes BigFoot LHR 15ES Random Orbital Polisher
Uber Buffing Pads
Adam’s Orange Pad
Meg’s MF Cutting Pad
Defelsko Paint Meter
Fenix TK35
Brinkmann
Kranzle Pressure Washer
Uber Foam Canon
2 Grit Guard Buckets with Caddies
Adam’s Firehose Nozzle
Metro Air Force Blaster

Interior before
Leather Master Strong Cleaner used on the leather

1z einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner used over Cockpit for cleaning ability, take a look at how much dirt and grim was pulled off the plastics and leather.

Carpet were cleaned up

Dirt and grime coming out of the mats

Questionable stains on the rear seats – maybe mold, something spilled

After seat cushion

Under the cushions we found

After

Engine: Before

During

Engine: After – a nice quick clean up so the motor job is more complete, this was not a concours leave engine detail – it was clean and dress.

Clear film removal

The mirror

Don’t let your clear film get this bad.

Steam – 4 gallons of water used

and now the plastic razor – we repeated these steps till all the clear film was removed, following that we used Tarminator and Obiltarate to soften the adhesive, then we sacrificed more than a few microfiber cutting pads with various compounds to clear it out.