7" retrofit (GDAA WRX)

[satrya]

BUMP for an update?

Sorry. Been out on a business trip; need to catch up with untended work & getting back to the right time zone...

[Fstrsn]

Sorry. Been out on a business trip; need to catch up with untended work & getting back to the right time zone...

Ah, fair enough. I'm not looking forward to, but I am at the same time of when they decide to send me to China. X_X (Probably won't happen anytime soon.)

[satrya]

Ah, fair enough. I'm not looking forward to, but I am at the same time of when they decide to send me to China. X_X (Probably won't happen anytime soon.)

Going to China?

Time to look around those HID factories.

[Fstrsn]

Going to China?

Time to look around those HID factories.

Not anytime soon for me. But it's not uncommon for us to go over there for a week or two to meet with the factory owners and engineers.

[satrya]

Curving the edges of the 40mil film

Most pre-cut films are patterned to terminate at a rather flat or mild curve. There's a good reason for this. Even though that means lens coverage may not go all the way to the edge, installation is a lot easier.

Sounds like a challenge then.

The edge of this glass lens is no exception. The first pass during the install leaves the edges too wet for it to curve, compress, and stick. The film wants to go back to its un-curved shape. After leaving it untended for a while (it has been weeks!), some of the adhesive has cured, further complicating things.

I try to salvage the situation by heating the edges again:


Now that it is more malleable, the edges can be re squeegeed to compress and hug the rounded corner, moving gradually from the left to the right (pausing somewhere on top in this picture):


Here's a closeup of the re squeegeed edge:


You can see that the film tries to separate, as evident by the air pocket starting from the top to the right in that picture above. After adding a bit of heat and more squeegee action, the edge eventually follows the contour like so:


But because it is impossible to completely evacuate the water-alcohol solution from the gap between the glass and the film, and because natural evaporation may take a while, I needed something else to mechanically hold them together as the film hardens into the curved shape. I try using electrical tape, would around in tension. Hopefully this works.



We'll see...

[satrya]

Bad idea

Bad idea!

The electrical tape stretches, and creeps from its original location on the side to the front of the lens. Now there's a layer of translucent goo:


And the electrical tape didn't hold itself to the desired location long enough to help set the clear film's edges to follow the curved contour.

[phantom240]

Bad idea!

The electrical tape stretches, and creeps from its original location on the side to the front of the lens. Now there's a layer of translucent goo:


And the electrical tape didn't hold itself to the desired location long enough to help set the clear film's edges to follow the curved contour.

Fack. Back to the drawing board on that issue?

[satrya]

^
Well, the electrical tape not staying long enough to curve the film's edges may not be a lost cause; I can try some other means, or if all else fails, just trim the film to a shape that most pre-cut films do. Pre-cut films typically don't go that far, so if that's a fallback position, I'm no worse off than using pre-cut films.

But the other thing is that goo. I hope it can be removed with enough patience.

Live and learn I suppose.

[phantom240]

^
Well, the electrical tape not staying long enough to curve the film's edges may not be a lost cause; I can try some other means, or if all else fails, just trim the film to a shape that most pre-cut films do. Pre-cut films typically don't go that far, so if that's a fallback position, I'm no worse off than using pre-cut films.

But the other thing is that goo. I hope it can be removed with enough patience.

Live and learn I suppose.

I can tell you from experience with butyl on my headlight lenses that a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and Dawn works quite well.

[satrya]

^
Thanks. Would the clear headlight film respond well to Magic Eraser's abrasive surface though? (I don't know)

[gold94corolla]

maybe you don't need the film to curve around the edge? It's just for protection, so the front surface is what matters.

[phantom240]

^
Thanks. Would the clear headlight film respond well to Magic Eraser's abrasive surface though? (I don't know)

The eraser isn't what I would consider abrasive. It feels like a denser foam rubber. Didn't hurt my headlights at all, for what it's worth.

[satrya]

maybe you don't need the film to curve around the edge? It's just for protection, so the front surface is what matters.

I suppose not. I installed pre-cut film on my oem foglights (this was my first ever use of the clear film protection 10+ years ago, so I didn't want to experiment with cutting my own round template), and they stop about half an inch before that.

Before I installed a DIY fog trim cover, I didn't like how wax and dirt residue builds up on a very visible edge. Also, for the paint protection films, I get these dings just right where the protection film ends. For those reasons, I thought I could do better this time and make it wrap around the small radius curve.

Having a lofty goal doesn't hurt; one can always fall back on what is doable.

The eraser isn't what I would consider abrasive. It feels like a denser foam rubber. Didn't hurt my headlights at all, for what it's worth.

Thanks. I assume your headlights are polycarbonate (i.e. plastic from oem) instead of acrylic (e.g. the material of choice when one replicates headlight lens via vacuum forming)?

[csjoh]

You can use a citrus based cleaner to dissolve the glue and then just wipe it off with a soft cloth. I do that regularly (I'm a hobbyist detailer) when removing decals and stickers from both paint, glass and plastic of various kinds, including tint film, which is basically what you're working with.

Just don't let the cleaner dry. Spray on, leave for a little while, wipe off. If it does start to dry, add more, then wipe immediately.

[satrya]

^
Sounds promising. I guess I have some options.

Thanks