[protovack]

I just came home with her tonight. Traded in my base 1SS A8. Very happy
It came with the GM performance intake and strut tower brace as factory options. I'm going to be verifying with the service department if the ECU reflash was done for the intake.

Rock guards from zl1addons are on their way.
I want to do a clear PPF on vulnerable panels. Can I do it myself or should I go to a tinting shop?
Can you do a ceramic coat and still put those one? Or would they have to go on first and then do the ceramic coat?
Anything else I need to be aware of in the first few weeks? I want to get the car protected before I drive it too much.


So glad to be back in a manual

[mikey1107]

Congrats!


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[Gabhart]

Get the PPF on the areas you want to protect THEN get the ceramic coating done. Adhesion of the PPF is critical and the ceramic coating will cause issues with it if it is applied first.

Edit: I may have misunderstood....you can add things like rock guards before or after a coating.

I am a strong DIY guy but would not tackle PPF installation. Leave that to the pros!

[pbsinternet1le]

Have you seen the front end?

[Boost Creep]

Congrats!
Looks like you got a GR8 DEAL!

[FH212]

Congrats!

[wjones14]

Congrats on the 1LE! Looks awesome.

I added the pre-painted OEM splash guards to mine which help some, but that area in front of the rear wheels will still get chips above the small factory pieces of PPF. I brought mine to a local certified XPEL installer a couple days ago. He replaced the factory pieces with similar shaped custom pieces that go all the way up to the body panel seam and extend to the rear edge of the panel. $120. Couldn't be more pleased with the result!

There's another thread here showing "horrid" pictures of this panel being chipped, and unfortunately for the dark-colored cars, the XPEL itself shows noticeable white marks. Not a problem for white cars, but not sure if there is a solution for other colors.

[MATTY-1LE]

Originally Posted by wjones14

Congrats on the 1LE! Looks awesome.

I added the pre-painted OEM splash guards to mine which help some, but that area in front of the rear wheels will still get chips above the small factory pieces of PPF. I brought mine to a local certified XPEL installer a couple days ago. He replaced the factory pieces with similar shaped custom pieces that go all the way up to the body panel seam and extend to the rear edge of the panel. $120. Couldn't be more pleased with the result!

There's another thread here showing "horrid" pictures of this panel being chipped, and unfortunately for the dark-colored cars, the XPEL itself shows noticeable white marks. Not a problem for white cars, but not sure if there is a solution for other colors.

this got me thinking to do the same thing. I washed my car for the first time since i bought it and voila, tiny rock chips on the rear panel. I was horrified, i have some rock guards on the way now and thinking of doing the expel like you just said.

[GTSLOW]

Looks like you'll need to reset your spoiler end caps. Mine weren't lined up either.

[HYPER1LE]

Originally Posted by GTSLOW

Looks like you'll need to reset your spoiler end caps. Mine weren't lined up either.

Make the dealer redo it/them. The end caps for the spoiler are installed at the dealer.

[protovack]

^^Actually, the trunk was not closed in that picture

So, I contacted the local shop that does tinting and PPFs. They can't get me in for a month, and I can't get my glasscoat done until the films are on.
My rock guards from ZL1addons are almost here.
Do you think I'll be safe to drive the car with just those? Or would you wait until all protection is in place to drive it?
I'm having a hard time not driving it already and its only been 2 days since I bought the car.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by protovack

So, I contacted the local shop that does tinting and PPFs. They can't get me in for a month, and I can't get my glasscoat done until the films are on.
My rock guards from ZL1addons are almost here.
Do you think I'll be safe to drive the car with just those? Or would you wait until all protection is in place to drive it?
I'm having a hard time not driving it already and its only been 2 days since I bought the car.

Obviously your call. I drove mine probably 200 miles before putting the splash guards on. Then waited until 900 miles to add the XPEL. Even after that much driving the damage was minor.

There were some small chips, nothing all the way through the clearcoat, but you could see them if you knelt down and looked.

I probably could have just put the XPEL over the area and it would have looked fine.

But I wanted touch up paint anyway, so I got a bottle of OEM AC Delco summit white touch up paint from Amazon, and I already had the Langka Blob Eliminator (from Amazon as well). I used a 000 artist brush to apply small blobs of touch up to the chips - maybe 6 small chips total between both sides. Later that day, I wiped down the blobs with the Langka solution until they were flush with the factory paint. Chips were much less noticeable after that. Couple days later I had the XPEL on and both sides look perfect.

Alternately, you can use Dr. Colorchip. Works just as good.

[Zack46]

Congrats on the car.

[LT4Greg]

Congratulations on a good looking 1LE and in my favorite color too! You will really enjoy the car and I say take it out on the road and drive!!!