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Tools & Materials Recommended
· Soft Installation Squeegee
· 1 quart spray bottles (quantity: 2)
· Baby shampoo · 70% Isopropyl Rubbing alcohol
· Non Scratch Detailing Cloth
Quick Tips:
Setup and work in a dust-free environment with little or no
wind, and out of direct sunlight. Be sure the painted surfaces to be covered are both clean, dry
and free of wax residue. Pre-mix both the soap solution and the water-alcohol solution
before you begin. Don't rush the installation.
General Instructions
1. The optimum environment is a temperature range between 50 and
90 degrees (Farenheit) and never apply in inclement or windy
weather. (Applying indoors may be advisable here.) If your
temperature is below 50 degrees farenheit we suggest using warm
water in your squirt bottles and running the car beforehand to
get the hood area warm.
2. Use 2 parts of alcohol to 3 parts of water to make your
alcohol and water mixture ready. Using one of the spray bottles,
fill it completely and add 2 or 3 drops of baby shampoo.
3. By spraying the slip solution onto the intended surface to be
covered, and then wiping it off with your gentle cloth, you
should have no trouble eliminating any oil, grease, dirt, or any
other contaminant.
4. Before removing the liner, make certain you confirm all part
placements and sizes.
5. Once you’re ready to begin, remove all dirt from your hands.
If even the tiniest bit of dirt is ignored, this will relocate
to the adhesive and cause a very unattractive appearance. It’s
also advisable to keep your fingers wet to avoid them from
sticking to the adhesive. Never handle the adhesive side
unnecessarily. Occasionally, you will need to handle it but it
must be done lightly and quickly. Fingerprints will transfer
through the material if handled too often or too long.
6. Be certain to remove any wax on the section that your kit
will be installed onto since this must not be put onto a vehicle
that has been newly waxed. Note: Dish washing detergents are one
method of stripping wax from a painted surface. You can also use
"3M Adhesive Remover" or something comparable to remove any wax.
Instructions for Individual Areas
Hood Kit
1. First, use the slip solution to wet the hood completely.
Keeping your fingers wet and the material rolled up, carefully
separate a small quantity of the shield from the liner on one
end. Using one hand to hold the remaining rolled up kit, and the
other to gently hold the material you’ve already loosened, place
the loosened material onto the area of the hood you want
covered. As you slowly, but gently, pull the liner to the
opposite side of the hood, the material releases itself
naturally onto your hood. Be especially careful not to stretch
or rip the material while rolling it onto your hood,
particularly if your specific kit includes a relief cut. (Any
thin cut-out within the material that departs from the natural
hood outline which will help the material to lie smoothly over
curves or broadly contoured surfaces, is considered a relief
cut.) If necessary, using gentle finger motion, release the
liner from the material in and around any relief cut.
2. Once you have the material placed on the exterior, you’ll
want to position it correctly. Therefore, to slide it easily,
spray more of the slip solution between the hood and the
material by carefully lifting one side at a time. Spray the
solution, replace the material, and continue to the other side.
Take your time to gently lift and pull the material off of the
hood to as not to stretch the material unnecessarily. Also,
before attempting to move the kit, you must spray the top of the
kit with more slip solution. You don’t want the squeegee to
rearrange the position of the kit.
3. Now that you have the material moving freely, you can
position the kit without a problem. Center it leaving about 1/8”
between the kit and the front edge of the hood.
4. Now that the kit is where you want it, you can be certain
that it will stay put by using the squeegee to make a number of
small vertical strokes down the center of the hood. Once you
have a 3” to 4” wide strip from top to bottom that is now
solution free, your shield will be fastened and centered, which
won’t allow any shifting.
5. To avoid the material from lifting up on the edges where you
have already used the squeegee, and to encourage fast bonding,
you’ll need to rinse out any excess slip solution from under the
material. You can do this by carefully lifting one end of the
material back to where it has begun to bond, and using the
alcohol and water solution, spray both the hood and the adhesive
sided material. Be sure to rinse out any excess slip solution
from between them. Keep in mind that the alcohol solution will
dry very quickly.
6. Once that’s done, carefully return the material back onto the
hood. Make certain the material is again lying flat and
straight, and that the 1/8” gap remains between the kit and the
hood’s front edge. It’s also very important that the top surface
of the kit be kept wet. You want your squeegee to glide over it
easily. Again, you must work quickly at this juncture to avoid
the alcohol solution from drying too fast in order to reach your
optimum result.
7. Now, beginning with the section that is slip solution free,
you’ll need to use your squeegee to smooth out the rest of the
material. Do this by starting from the center of the section
that is slip solution free. Make a horizontal pass to the hood’s
edge by letting your squeegee glide over it smoothly. Return
back to the center, and overlap your first pass with the second.
Move your way to the top edge of the hood with short, upward,
strokes, overlapping them as you go. Do this until that quarter
of the hood is smoothly covered. Following the same procedure,
this time using downward strokes, begin again at the center of
the solution free section and work to the bottom edge of the
hood. Continue to overlap your passes as you work. To avoid
leaving air or solution bubbles caught beneath the material,
you’ll need to use firm pressure.
8. If the edges insist on lifting back up, simply go over them
with your squeegee wrapped in a paper towel. It will collect the
extra moisture that is preventing the material from adhering to
the surface.
9. Once you have completed the process for one side of your
hood, continue to the other side and follow steps 5 through 8.
Mirrors
1. First, use your squeegee to tack down one end of the
material.
2. By stretching the material from one side to the other, and
then from top to bottom, you will be able to pull out any extra
material. This will help to avoid bubbles.
3. After you have the material in place, begin working in the
center and squeegee the remaining material to the outside edges.
4. To avoid any edges from lifting back up, use your paper towel
wrapped squeegee to smooth out the edges.
Fenders
1. Begin by aligning the fender edge with the upper edge piece.
Double check to be sure you leave 1/8” gap both along the upper
edge and the front edge. When applying the smaller fender
pieces, the alcohol and water solution can be used without the
help of the other solution.
2. Now, using your squeegee very gently, begin making a narrow
pass on the upper edge of your fender piece. Remember not to
press so hard that you move the positioning of your piece. You
can begin pressing firmer as the material begins bonding with
the paint. Continue until there are no bubbles remaining and all
of the alcohol and water solution has been removed from under
the upper edge.
3. Now that the material is attached from the top, using your
fingers, very carefully slide the bottom edge down. Be certain
you’ve thoroughly moistened the adhesive with the alcohol and
water solution. While gently pulling the material down with one
hand, use the squeegee in the other hand to firmly pass from the
top edge completely through it to the bottom edge.
4. Complete your piece by repeating the passes with your
squeegee to remove any bubbles or air pockets. When working on
vehicles such as the Chevrolet or GMC pickups, that have fenders
with extreme contours, you may need to wrap your squeegee with a
paper towel to ease out any persistent areas.
Grille (if applicable)
1. Generally, you will find that the painted surfaces you will
be applying your pieces to will be larger than the actual pieces
themselves. We have designed them this way intentionally. The
smaller pieces allow for stretching just the right amount and it
also helps the squeegee process to work much more smoothly. The
narrow plastic pieces will stretch a little when they are
removed from the liner. How it is removed from the liner will
determine how much and in what way it will stretch. Since it is
much easier to extend the pieces by stretching them into place
than it is to cut off any excess, we have designed the pieces
shorter for this purpose. To begin, align one end of the kit
edge with the edge of the grille. This type of grille kit works
best beginning in this way.
2. Now, using just a little pressure, particularly on the narrow
sections, stretch the material to the other side. Once again,
squeegee the area as you’ve learned to do on the other sections.
As the material begins to adhere to the surface, you can
continue to add a little more pressure to smooth it out.
Bumper, Spoilers, Airdams
The kits in this category are simple and to the point, therefore
no additional instructions are necessary. Because of the
particular designs of some bumpers however, there are some more
specific techniques that can be applied to improve the
convenience of application. The following are examples of these
more detailed designs.
* Chevrolet Corvette
* GMC Yukon Denali
* Porsche Boxster
* Porsche 928
1. Due to the unique curvatures of these designs, stretching the
material is vital to obtaining a smooth result when using these
kits. Wet the surface completely with the soap and water
solution. Then, roll the material out onto the surface.
2. Using the soap and water solution, thoroughly soak both sides
of the material. Then, center the material on the upper edge,
remembering to leave the 1/8” gap on the bumper’s edged surface.
It is typical that the arc from the kit piece and the arc on the
bumper edge will be mismatched, so don’t become concerned. We
will address that situation further into the instructions.
3. As in earlier steps, once positioned in place, use your
squeegee to make a vertical pass down the middle to adhere the
material in place.
4. Once the material is adhering to the surface where you made
the center pass, lift the left side and rinse the soap and water
solution out with the alcohol and water solution. It’s important
however, that you leave a little of the soap and water solution
around the farthest left 10” to 15" of the kit between the
material and the bumper.
5. After the plastic has been laid back down, use your left palm
to hold down the last 10” to 15" as you stretch the material out
and up a little. In this way you’ll force the material to follow
the arc design of the bumper.
6. While the material is being held in this position, beginning
in the middle, use your squeegee, working your way out along the
center. Working only on the upper section, continue to use your
squeegee until it has adhered to the bumper and is secure. The
lower portion will be worked later.
7. Now go back to the left 10” to 15"and lift it up to rinse out
any remaining soap and water solution on this side.
8. Once it’s been thoroughly rinsed, put the material back down
being sure to align the plastic with the bumper edges. Squeegee
it into place. If there are any small “fingers” that have
developed or not laid flat, leave them for now.
9. You’re now going to work the lower section. Returning to the
middle and using 1” to 2” strokes, squeegee the lower section
toward the left side. Continue making the passes from the middle
to the left until you’ve reached the bottom.
10. For working the right side, repeat steps 4 through 9.
11. To finish up, use your paper towel wrapped squeegee to
double check your work, and to go back over any edges that may
have lifted up, or any bubbles or “fingers” you may have missed. |