Delivery Drive—Paint Protection

[ToddR]

There isn’t a general thread, so I’m posting here.

I take delivery of my CW car tomorrow!! I’m flying out of state and driving the car back home, which is about a 6 hr trip. Outside of PPF, what can I do to protect the front end against rock chips for the drive back?

I do plan on getting the front PPFd and thought about using painters tape. There used to be a temporary coating that ppl applied prior to track days that would peel off. I forget the name of it though.

Am I overthinking this?

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[ABPDE5]

There isn’t a general thread, so I’m posting here.

I take delivery of my CW car tomorrow!! I’m flying out of state and driving the car back home, which is about a 6 hr trip. Outside of PPF, what can I do to protect the front end against rock chips for the drive back?

I do plan on getting the front PPFd and thought about using painters tape. There used to be a temporary coating that ppl applied prior to track days that would peel off. I forget the name of it though.

Am I overthinking this?

Meh, yes, but...

Front end PPF is probably worth it. If I did it again, I'd get front end PPF on my DE5... that said, the first serious scratch I got was on the rear quarter panel, so it wouldn't have been protected anyway (and to me, personally, paying more than 10% of the value of the car for PPF doesn't make sense).

At the end of the day, it's a car. It's going to get dinged up. Drive it; enjoy it, and the dings will be worth it. If you spend all day looking at it, and your fear of marking it up impacts how much you enjoy your time in the driver's seat (or how long you spend there), you're doing it wrong.

 

[ToddR]

Meh, yes, but...

Front end PPF is probably worth it. If I did it again, I'd get front end PPF on my DE5... that said, the first serious scratch I got was on the rear quarter panel, so it wouldn't have been protected anyway (and to me, personally, paying more than 10% of the value of the car for PPF doesn't make sense).

At the end of the day, it's a car. It's going to get dinged up. Drive it; enjoy it, and the dings will be worth it. If you spend all day looking at it, and your fear of marking it up impacts how much you enjoy your time in the driver's seat (or how long you spend there), you're doing it wrong.

I'm going to get the front PPFd, but want to protect for the drive home, which is about 400 miles.

 

[ABPDE5]

I'm going to get the front PPFd, but want to protect for the drive home, which is about 400 miles.

Gotcha. From the wording in your first paragraph, I thought you intended to have it PPF'd first.
If you're going to pay for PPF after... definitely cover the front end for that 400 miles. Maybe a front-end cover off Amazon or Ebay for ~100 or so. Painter's tape won't prevent damage from rock chips.

 

[AZCWTypeR]

From experience: Don't apply painters tape, duct tape, or similar to your cars exterior! The sun reacts with the tape glue. The tape will be extremely difficult to remove without damaging the paint finish.

 

[menikmati]

At the end of the day, it's a car. It's going to get dinged up. Drive it; enjoy it, and the dings will be worth it. If you spend all day looking at it, and your fear of marking it up impacts how much you enjoy your time in the driver's seat (or how long you spend there), you're doing it wrong.

I wish this was echoed more.

You can give a temporary protective film a shot: TrackArmour

 

[ToddR]

I wish this was echoed more.

You can give a temporary protective film a shot: TrackArmour

Thank you! I agree about just driving the car. I think what I'm going to do is just pick up the car and put the miles on it without any protection until I get back home. I'll have a PPF appointment shortly next week and do the critical areas.

 

[ABPDE5]

Thank you! I agree about just driving the car. I think what I'm going to do is just pick up the car and put the miles on it without any protection until I get back home. I'll have a PPF appointment shortly next week and do the critical areas.

Fingers crossed for you! PPF AFTER 400 miles is dangerous, lol... the universe has a cruel sense or humor.

Is it highway miles? Try to stay far back!

 

[ToddR]

Fingers crossed for you! PPF AFTER 400 miles is dangerous, lol... the universe has a cruel sense or humor.

Is it highway miles? Try to stay far back!

It is highway miles. Its not ideal

 

[Clark_Kent]

You're not overthinking this if this is a topic you care about. And it seems you do or you wouldn't have started a thread. Telling someone to not go nuts with lightning modifications doesn't make sense if that's their shtick. Different strokes for different folks.

If you're concerned with picking up rock chips before you get the car home I suggest wrapping the front end with TRACWRAP. Painter's tape is completely fine as well; however, it won't hold up as well as TRACWRAP but it's cheap and easy to find. It's a masking tape with low tack adhesion so there's nothing to be concerned about with respect to damaging the paint.

 

[RacingManiac]

Painter's tape is ok for short time, if it gets wet or under the sun for too long though it can get pretty nasty...

 

[rob495]

In the past, I've put 2 layers of painters tape down first, then Duct tape on top. The product
Clark_Kent suggested looks very good as well.

 

[ToddR]

You're not overthinking this if this is a topic you care about. And it seems you do or you wouldn't have started a thread. Telling someone to not go nuts with lightning modifications doesn't make sense if that's their shtick. Different strokes for different folks.

If you're concerned with picking up rock chips before you get the car home I suggest wrapping the front end with TRACWRAP. Painter's tape is completely fine as well; however, it won't hold up as well as TRACWRAP but it's cheap and easy to find. It's a masking tape with low tack adhesion so there's nothing to be concerned about with respect to damaging the paint.

Thank you.
That product looks great. Since it’s an Xpel product I’m going to see if my PPF/Tint guy has some stuff I could grab from him since he is an Xpel installer.
Given timing, I may go the painters tape route

 

[egxflash]

At worst, your front end should be ok as long as you keep WELL BEHIND cars out front. That's how the rocks get kicked up and damage your front/hood.

At that point, I'd be more concerned about rocks that the tires pick up and kick it onto the sides, rear fender and rocker panels.

 

[ToddR]

At worst, your front end should be ok as long as you keep WELL BEHIND cars out front. That's how the rocks get kicked up and damage your front/hood.

At that point, I'd be more concerned about rocks that the tires pick up and kick it onto the sides, rear fender and rocker panels.

I agree.
I am going to cover behind the front and rear tire rockers

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