Anyone had imperfections in headlights? Or is this protective film?

[SYCO GT]

Weirdest thing. A month or two after I got the Venture Shield applied by Sticker City (which was soon after I bought my 2006), I noticed some lines near the surface. I always kind of assumed that they were an imperfection in the clear film itself, but today, when I was washing the car, I took a really hard look at it. I wonder if it could be the lens itself. Both lenses have it to a greater or lesser degree.

Does this look familiar to anyone? I didn't want to remove the film yet, but suppose I should before my factory warranty expires. In any event, just wanted to see if this was a familiar issue. I am not aware of any rocks or stones hitting either lens, either before or after the protective film was applied. It's more noticeable from certain angles, I took the pictures from the more noticeable angles.

Thanks in advance!

Sticker City is about an hour from me, so I'm not trying to be lazy, just looking for more info.

 

[STORMCAT]

I've seen this in protective film before...

 

[PL510*Jeff]

heat stress from headlights being on. Happens with or without protective film.

 

[Exoticare]

Known Issue.. Many dealers have replaced lights during warranty period.
There was a bad batch of the headlights.
They are stress cracks..

 

[fjpikul]

I've been waiting 6 months for a left side headlight under warranty. Mine has fogged quite a bit.

 

[SYCO GT]

Thanks everyone, I will remove film and submit the warranty claim.

 

[cudacharlie]

I hesitate to tell you my experience with Venture Shield and Sticker City, but feel I should in order that I may prevent any GT owners from going through what I went through...

Three years ago, I got a Dodge Magnum SRT8 in Brilliant Black, and got info on Sticker City by seeing their ads on the LotusTalk forum, and noticing that the owner drove an Elise. I researched protective film, read about 3M's products, and decided that's what I wanted. Sticker City was listed as a 3M installer, so I made an appointment.

When I got there, the 3M product was pooh-poohed as being last year's tech, and subject to yellowing and other problems, and I was told that the new hotness was something called Venture Shield. Somehow I let myself get talked into a full set, mirrors and headlights included.

To be fair, this car lives outside, and it's a black metallic paint (worst case scenario), but still... within six months, the Venture Shield looked like arse, yellow, thick-looking, just awful. The headlights were so cloudy and full of bubbles within the first year that I'm surprised they pass light. From the end of the first week, the film's edges became visible in any light, and pretty soon it looked like one of those black+white cookies at the deli... like it had had its nose dunked in chocolate milk!

I was so embarrassed by my epic fail at picking the right film that I decided to remove it. I use tons of 3M adhesive products that never leave any residue, so I broke out the heat gun on a sunny day and went to town....

.... what an unbelievable mess. The Venture Shield's adhesive failed to release, despite various temperatures and conditions (indoor, outdoor, in sun, in shade, etc...), and over the course of three days I wound up with all of the film removed, but an almost complete layer of adhesive residue all over the front of the car... you know when you try to pull a sticker, and the sticker comes off as a piece of shiny plastic, leaving ALL of the adhesive on the surface? That, believe it or not, is what happened to me. All over the front of a black car. In some spots, the Venture Shield actually removed paint with it, in chunks about an inch long along the front lip... totally fubar.

I felt like (ok, I AM) an idiot... both for letting myself get talked out of the 3M product, and for failing in such an epic manner at removing the Venture Shield cleanly.

It took two days of "thumb work" to get all the adhesive residue off.... Goo-Gone, Tarminator...nothing worked except Cali sun and hard rubbing with the thumb... the entire front of the car.

I still have the Venture Shield film on my headlights, all yellow, cloudy, and full of bubbles.... they will probably have to be replaced. I'll see if I can upload a pic to this thread tomorrow to show what I'm workin' with.

Long story long, I had the worst possible experience with Venture Shield as recommended and installed by Sticker City.... I can't speak from experience about other products, but I'm looking elsewhere next time.

Syco, I hope that stuff comes off cleanly... good luck!

Anybody have a recommendation for protective film OTHER than Venture Shield?

(... or a release agent that works on their adhesive?)

 

[Empty Pockets]

heat stress from headlights being on. Happens with or without protective film.

+1 The film holds in/multiplies the headlite heat just like a blanket.

'Same thing can happen with sky lights on a roof. In fact, Randy's photos COULD have been pics of the sky lights on my detached garage about 8 years ago. They looked identical.

 

[SYCO GT]

Thanks Cuda. I've been pretty happy with the appearance and apparent quality of the Venture Shield film. Of course, I haven't tried to remove it yet. I also looked at a lot of vehicles with 3M and Venture Shield, and decided that the Venture Shield looked smoother and less orange peel-ish. Yikes, that sounds crazy. Thanks for the heads up. I will let you know how it goes.

Has anyone removed and replaced their stock Ford GT headlight assemblies? I've done it myself easily on other cars, but somehow the GT always looks more intimidating. I wonder about access to the rear of the headlights, but haven't looked in the front trunk yet.

 

[HHGT]

Thanks Cuda. I've been pretty happy with the appearance and apparent quality of the Venture Shield film. Of course, I haven't tried to remove it yet. I also looked at a lot of vehicles with 3M and Venture Shield, and decided that the Venture Shield looked smoother and less orange peel-ish. Yikes, that sounds crazy. Thanks for the heads up. I will let you know how it goes.

Has anyone removed and replaced their stock Ford GT headlight assemblies? I've done it myself easily on other cars, but somehow the GT always looks more intimidating. I wonder about access to the rear of the headlights, but haven't looked in the front trunk yet.

Randy, FYI, they are not in stock and are on back order. Sorry.

 

[cudacharlie]

As promised, pics of Venture Shield aftermath... remember, though, this car lives outside in SoCal sun, but then again, I specifically told them about this at the installer, and they assured me that this stuff would weather better than the paint underneath... that was the point, right? It didn't work out that way....

Anyway, here are some crappy iPhone pics of the still-filmed headlights and the missing chunk of paint that Venture Shield took with it when it left the building.... I wiped the headlights down with Quick Detailer before the pic, but look at the blurry view of the components inside the assembly. Not good.

 

[BlackICE]

Yep, rock chips beat having a bad clear bra installation any day! Sad to see these pictures. Knowing this, if I even have a clear bra done, it would only be by someone that Shadowman recommends and uses on his own cars. Kind of like the Shadowman seal of approval.

 

[SYCO GT]

Has anyone done a removal and re-install of a Ford GT headlight?

Easy? PITA?

 

[fjpikul]

Syco, PITA. The major problem is pulling out the fender liner. Once you get past that, all else is easy.

 

[BlackICE]

I think finding a headlight at any price is a bigger problem.

 

[junior]

SYCO; The installer we ("GT4JR" and I) hired used 3M, perfect install from the get go, when my car was damaged by freeway debris, I called the installer out, he removed the damaged film and installed a new one (3M also), 1/2 hour later and I was done. (No glue mess, no paint issues), he's not a forum sponsor, I'll PM you the name if you're interested. He's mobile and has the F-GT various panel templates on his laptop with a film printer in his van. :cheers

 

[soroush]

Syco, PITA. The major problem is pulling out the fender liner. Once you get past that, all else is easy.

+1 if you do get the liners out buy another set and split them so they overlap that way you can put them back in two pieces makes life alot easier the second time around

 

[Shadowman]

We remove it all the time and the process we use is steam and it works very well. Prior to steam we too used to experience the left behind adhesive; it was a mess.

As for Venture, Expel, 3m; they all have their quirks and at the end of the day even though the plastic plays a role the installation process is IMO key.

The headligts checking is a huge issue; so much so that the gals in Canada where daytime running lights are required experienced a near 100% failure rate and most have since been turned off.

Certainly with film on the headlights they can retain more heat however most are used at night when this problem would be minimal at best.

So what to do; clear bra or repaint; at the end of the day this is subjective however I like a well installed clear bar and then make sure that clear waxes are used as many will color and distort the film over time. Zaino Z-6 spray has been a great product for this application.

I have many gals; both my own and customers with many many miles on them that have a section tended to once in a while for example after a less than stellar track event, a flying object that leaves a mark, or ? however for most it is never touched.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[Jones]

S-man,

So do you think the flaw is in the film or the lens?

Jones

 

[Shadowman]

S-man,

So do you think the flaw is in the film or the lens?

Jones

Hi Jones

If asking about the pictures presented in this thread I would speculate that

SYCO GT is the headlight lens however cudacharlie it is hard for me to tell because the headlight looks dirty aka bugs etc. I see what I call fisheyes in cudacharlie's as such I suspect that the film is showing wear however is it excessive; maybe.

Now as I say that it is the film is IMO showing wear let me be clear; film has a service life as does paint and it is in direct correlation to how it is treated.

SYCO GT keeps his all black gal flawless all the time as such I would expect many years without significant issues aka normal surface wear and tear however cudacharlie's gal; as he stated she is black which IMO is one of the worst colors to have on a gal that lives outside which is where cudacharlie said that she lives, and then add to this from the looks of her she is not tended to on a regular basis as such the film on cudacharlie's gal will show the same wear and tear as would paint that was treated to similar the elements everyday; maybe she even received a drive through car wash or two which is IMO terrible for clear bar; regardless of the brand.

Is clear bra the perfect install it one time and forget it; no and yet IMO if applied properly and tended as recommended then the benefits are great.

Use cudacharlie’s gal as an example; remove the old clear bra and then wash and clay bar her surface and she likely still appears as new and then wrap her again and repeat the process whereas if the gal being black had simply been exposed to the elements everyday without clear bra she would likely need a paint job; I would rather replace a bit of plastic.

Takes care

Shadowman