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From Swedespeed.com Technical Features Protecting our vehicle’s finish and keeping our vehicles looking new is a top priority for most automotive enthusiasts. Many of us have driven winter roads and listened to the sound of cinder pebbles dancing across the front end. With a little time and touch up paint we could hide some of those nasty paint chips but the front end was never the same.
A few years ago the chemists at 3M put together a tough, transparent, urethane-coated PVC film called Scotchcal. The material allows UV rays to reach the paint so the paint can age naturally and is guaranteed for seven years by 3M to not yellow. Each model of vehicle has a unique kit with specific shapes that have been designed and patterned to provide optimum protection for your vehicle. Protective Film Technologies exclusively uses PROFORM™ Paint Protection Films, using X-Pel ™ designs for all pre-cut kits, which offer the best protection and fit for your vehicle. Swedespeed’s latest project car, a 2003 Volvo XC90 2.5T, was scheduled for a drive from Washington D.C. to Raleigh North Carolina. We wanted to test this 3M product on our hood and see how it performed.
There are several companies who offer pre-cut kits. These companies included PROFORM™, Stonegard™, Autobahnd™ and Invinca-Shield™. The main difference between their designs is in how many pieces each part of the kits requires. Some company’s designs contained lots of relief cuts or used lots of pieces where other companies use only one piece of material per section. Using lots of pieces allows the company to optimize the use of the 3M film; i.e., they waste less of this expensive material, but the end result of the installation contains more visible seems and looks more noticeable.
We chose to have Protective Film Technologies (PFT) install a PROFORM kit on our XC90. The PROFORM™ kit offered the most protective coverage, had no relief cuts and used single pieces of film for all the sections being protected. PFT stands behind their work 100% and guarantees it with their PROFORM™ Lifetime $1000 Paint Protection Guarantee, which will refund the purchaser up to $1000 in the event that a protected area sustains any rock damage (does not apply to race vehicles). PROFORM also offers a lifetime maintenance guarantee for you daily driven vehicles. The owner of PFT, Skip Vachon, was eager to do his first XC90. He has installed kits on BMWs, Porsches and several Volvo C70 and V70 models.
After telling us about the process and how the product worked, Skip began the installation. Three hours of wetting, stretching and squeezing out bubbles the hood of the XC90 was complete. “It is the one of the hardests hood kits that I have installed due to the large amount of stretching that is required and the complexity of the curve when pulling the film down around the grill piece. Generally hoods are relatively easy to install, but this hood is a killer.” concluded Vachon.
PROFORM paint protection kits defend the vehicle's finish against frontal attacks of stones, rocks, abrasions, bug acids and weathering. Their kits provide clear protection that allow your vehicle's color and brilliance to show through without altering the manufacturer's intended design characteristics. More info: xpel.com pftfilms.com
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