In what manner did you adjust it? I was thinking about elevating the thing but then I looked at the brackets and noted that they were already at the far end of their throw…and this is with me having already chopped the rear of top down as much as 3/16" in some places. I’d have to make longer brackets to make it higher.
I had to google that. You mean the putty they use for making dental molds?
PPF was never advertised to last forever, and needs to be replaced as a maintenance item depending on the environmental exposure. 10 years is really pushing it and that’s why you had the problem removing it.
If you removed it before it dried out (5-7 years), it would have come off easily and the surface would been ready for the replacement.
I had 3M film done to the front of my Saturn, in 1992: in 1993, it was removed to paint the car a different color: it stuck so hard, it took the paint, right off.
It was recoated in same, and in 2011, when I spotted the car, around town, and chatted up the new owner about the wild color, the 3M film was perfect.
Before you try a lube-type solution, try baby powder. Works for interior plastics/rubber parts that rub noisily. May not be appropriate for your issue as I’m sure it won’t work once wet, but thought I’d through it out there.
BTW, your car looks fantastic.
Yeah, it doesn’t have an exact life-span. But the bottom line is that it doesn’t last forever, and if you wait too long, it will cause problems with removal.
As to why you had a problem and many people don’t after such a short time on the car? Well, that could be a variety of reasons. Since it’s a Saturn, I would first suspect horrible paint quality since GM around that time made absolutely horrible paint jobs, and cars for that matter. Also, if you don’t use the right technique when removing the film, you could pull off the paint. You remove it with heat and by stretching it, not peeling it off like a sticker. Also, there are some real dimwits installing PPF, and if they used an adhesion promoter on the paint, then it’s extremely hard to remove. And trust me, there are PPF installers that will do something that stupid.
Like many things, the stuff works great when you use it right. When people don’t, they just want to bash the product instead of taking responsibility for using it wrong.
In my case, I was fortunate in that I restored the top at the same time I did the shell off restoration, and made sure there were no high spots on the trial fitting in the rough along that hip line and trough, with the gasket in place. Not sure if there are variances in the gaskets that are available, but it worked out without too much disk effort along the perimeter line. Less pressure is, of course, better, without daylight anywhere along the path.
Just as an fyi, I’ve had good success with this Dupont Rubber Saver, which also works for all the weather-stripping on all my cars.
I do this once every year. If your hardtop is frequently off and on your OTS then this won’t work for you. Fwiw.
As to the topic I took a 70 mile fall run around Niagara today. Hardtop on and 75 year old b-i-l riding shotgun. Great sunny and dry fall day. Still a good number of folks oggling the falls. Roads were pretty much empty. 40 km/h twisty back roads to 100 km/h highway, best part the Niagara River Parkway. What I did with my E-type today.
That enemy of the monocoque chassis, salt, has been used on our roads for the first time this autumn. So my car will be in temporary hibernation until either this dusting of salt has been washed away, or spring.
Time now to begin that list of winter projects.
I did the same thing except I used 3/8 black vinyl tape in place of your blue, lower profile and makes turns easier. I’m guessing the paper tape would be less inclined to invite the non stop balloon folding clown sound.
…and she does it AGAIN…
I second the previous recommendation for baby powder. Works well in my experience.
There are (at least) two common formulations of baby powder… talc and corn starch. Not sure which is being recommended. I recall that talc is ‘1’ on the Mohs Scale and I would be wary of that (though useful when mounting tubed tires).
Nick I was there a couple of weeks ago, sadly without an E Type. Went to the Shaw theatre in Niagara on the Lake, very pretty area.
… as a precision indicator meter, excessive movement between the windscreen side of the door and the rear bulkhead might indicate (by the balloon clown methodology) some fatigue issue with the primary support channel beams under the door, either in torsion or bending… sounds pretty bad by your excellent description.
But I’m still Pollyanna, the optimist, and would blame it on the stripping.
Shell now stripped and going into paint. I envisage fun and games getting the cage back in once the tub is painted.
! Bottlid and doors are finished, colour as per original is silver RAL 9006. Looks better than phot.CIMG8313|666x500Old socks, over the ends of the roll cage parts: what I used when installing/uninstalling cages in showroom stock cars.
Good idea, will steal this when fitting
Ta
I think it’s simply a factor of it being rubber on rubber. I had similar annoying sounds coming from the long bonnet seal until I started applying wax under the bonnet edge, despite my bonnet fitting 95% perfect and being very snug.
Edit: now that I think about it, it could easily be hop, not lateral shifting. It does it on bumps not hard cornering. That rear edge is quite flimsy. I can reach behind and move it and 1/8" with almost no pressure. It’s too bad no one has produced a glass rear window for these things. Although it would add weight, it would be a lot stronger and would stay clear and scratch free.
… that makes sense. Mine is quiet, so don’t really know what else to chase for you, other than I’ve reversed the rear window seal and eliminated the chrome press in thingy, which may be a tighter fit? Dunno.
Edit: I happened to just watch the YouTube Built by Many episode 1? 2? (I need a life, I guess), and noticed that he was driving SNG’s hardtop equipped OTS which was quiet like mine… so looks like it can be done, and it’s not just the luck of the draw.
