Spats / Clear plastic transfers for wheel arches etc.

[Incept]

Hi all,

I have decided to take the plunge and have some cosmetic paintwork done on my 2S. This includes the usual culprits like the inner wheel arches.

I seem to remember that one of you had similar done and had found a source for the clear plastic transfer covers for the rear wings and all 4 arches.

I'd like to put them all around the arches and of course on the leading sections of the rear wings that bulge even more on the 2S.

Can someone remind me where these can be got from?

Yours in grateful anticipation,

Chris Waite

 

[Andy B Aces High]

The rear wheel arch ones are available from any Official Porsche Centre. They are known as Stone Guard Foils and are about £40 per side inc VAT. If you contact them with your chassis number they will ensure they get the correct ones for your car. Be cautious about using any from some of the independant suppliers as I bought some and they were not the same size as the originals, sent them back and bought Porsche ones no difference in price !! The originals have Scotch 3M branding on the backing.

They come in various colours depending on the body colour of your car. White and Silver cars are colour coded whilst those for dark colours are clear. Think Porsche did this as the clear plastic turns brownish in colour when subjected to UV's from the sun over time.

For the other areas of your car, at Ragley Hall there was a company called Ventureshield who seemed to make vinyl protection for all parts of the car, if yours is a light colour I would ask them about the ageing problem as they appeared to be using the clear plastic film.

Removing the old ones is not too difficult, I found that using a hair drier on hot setting gets the thing started, you can be quite brutal pulling them off, using the hair drier occasionally if things seem a too well bonded on. I found that if you use the hair drier sparingly then more of the glue stayed on the old foil than the paint. Any glue residue was removed with white spirit followed by panel wipe to clean the surface before applying the foil. Ensure there are no hairs or dust on the surface prior to starting to fit the foil.

Fitting is not easy and I messed up one when fitting and had to get another. The trick is:- mix, in a plant spray bottle, about 3 drops of Fairy liquid with water and shake to mix. Wear a pair of clean rubber gloves to avoid any finger prints on the glue surface, spray the cars surface with copious amounts of the liquid, and with assistence from a second person peal off the backing complete. Lay the foil on the car, the liquid allows the foil to be adjusted into position, then using a hard edge piece of plastic like the mixing pallete that you get with P38 type filler squeeze out the liquid from underneath by pulling across the surface to the edge. I found that the odd bubbles that seem inevitable, if pierced with a pin, squashed down with your finger and then allow sun to heat it up for a few hours cleared them.

Sorry about the long reply but thought it might be useful to pass on my experience of this job.

Good luck, Cheers,

Andy B

 

[Incept]

Hi and thanks for the reply.

The problem I have is that I feel I should have a full set e.g. protection for the front and rear inner arches as well as just those ahead of the rear wheels.

I spoke to one company in Grantham, who were selling a fitting service for kits that covered the whole of the front of the car. Whilst this seems overkill, they did point out that new types of paint are less resilient to stone chips than the old cellulose paints and that this was a prudent option to consider.

Has anyone had this done and what are your thoughts on covering the front of the car in plastic?!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Pickled Piper]

I believe the company in Grantham is Paintshield. They have recently been promoting heavily on internet forums. In particular, on Pistonheads and also 911uk.com. They had a large stand at Ragley Hall with a number of vehicles on display. Having viewed the vehicles I will probably go for the front bumper, front edge of the bonnet and front edge of the front wings and also the wheel arch stone chip areas that you have mentioned.

I am not convinced that you need to cover the whole font end of the vehicle (paintshield will tell you different). There was a vehicle on the paintshield stand that had been covered all over. Front, back and both sides!

There appear to be a lot of satisfied customers. However, I have yet to hear of anyone that has had the product for more than a couple of years.

If you want to read about claims and counter claims from different manufacturers log on to Pistonheads and search for "Paintshield".

Personally, I get a little bit weary when a product is so heavily and aggresively promoted.

pp

 

[vic cohen]

Small detail the original Porsche Foils ,the sharks fin and small strip that cover sill are also thicker than most other brands and truly repel stones better ........................i have not tried all of the other products !

 

[Incept]

Hi,

Yes those are the guys.

Interesting that you should mention the controversy on Pistonheads. I spoke to the MD on Saturday and he is VERY sensitive about it! In fact, if you look at the section of their web site that lists why we should use them, they appear to have taken much of it to heart. Still, they do seem to have some good facilities and whilst they seem expensive (even with 20% of for club members!), we would all rather trust our pride and joy to the experts I guess. I'll read the reviews and try and make a judgement call. However, my main thoughts surround the advisability of having the work done and how much of the car to cover! You are correct in that they suggest you cover the whole of the front and their pricing is slanted that way with only a couple of hundred quid separating the part front and full front if you need the wheel arch stuff doing at the same time. I'd love to hear from some or even one of our clan that has used them before I take the plunge! Cheers, Chris

 

[Mark Elder]

or, leave a 2 second gap, and let the stones fall to the ground[]

Seriously, I'm questioning the economics of this. What does a good stone chip (front end) respray cost? vs cost of these plastic panels and fitment (and how long do they stay looking good?).

I've recently seen a Merc that had it done (not sure it was same company) and I have to admit it looked better than I expected, but you could still see it. I think I'd prefer to see my car in the flesh and handle the stone chips rather than put up with a plastic cover I see when I'm admiring the car.

I can see the point of covering the inner edge of the wheel arches - should be more or less invisible.

 

[Incept]

Hi, I guess the front end respray will be about the cost of the film application.

The theory I'm working on is that the cost of the arch protection is about one third the cost of the whole lot and if the full frontal avoids the need for me to re-paint the car for the duration of my ownership, it has to be good value. The problem with a repaint is that you can often tell that has been done too.

Still, I'm yet to be completely convinced.

They say that once it's been applied, few will be able to tell and at least I'll be able to go out on my chosen B road without worrying about the money I've just spent on the respray!

I'd love to hear from someone who has had it done though, as I can't quite make my mind up what to do at the mom!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Pickled Piper]

I've just had the front of my car resprayed as well as some other work. I would estimate that spraying the front PU/bumper, front wings and bonnet came somewhere between £1500 to £2000 at a Porsche approved bodyshop. The car had previously aquired quite a few stonechips on the front PU and one or two at the front edge of the bonnet and the front wings. That's why I will probably have the PU covered and the front 12" of the bonnet and front wings. The edge line across the bonnet and front wings will be visible but I am prepared to put up with this as a trade off for the protection provided.

pp

 

[Andy B Aces High]

Sorry called the company Ventureshield in my response but must have been Paintshield.

My feeling is that covering the whole front my be excessive, when the rear arch ones do get stone chips (although they repel a certain amount of stones and seem to be semi self amalgamating) over time they do look tatty with small pieces chopped out of them, if you have this stuff on the bonnet/front end I think it will look worse than touching up stone chips once it gathers this type of damage. Remember that once the front end ones become chipped the only solution will be complete replacement. Not sure how easy removing a covering this large would be.

I looked at the car with the line running across the bonnet and wasnt impressed.

The real solution would be for the b****y councils to sweep the roads like they use to, but surpose this will never happen again !!

 

[Incept]

Here Here to your comment re. chipping roads! I guess the new EEC regulations requiring water-based paints were thought of by those who live close to thos wonderfull, flat, unblemished European roads!

I might start to sound like a salesman for Paintshield here, but they guarantee the protection and most of what I've heard suggests that any blemishes in the protective layer are very easy to get out with easily available chemicals.

Still, the jury's still out at this stage!


Cheers,

Chris