Reviews: Clear Guard's Paint Protection Kit

Everyday your truck's paint is under siege from stones, rocks, bug acids, road debris, and the elements. Before long, your truck's finish becomes chipped and dull, and can lead to costly repairs and a reduction in you trucks's value. Clear Guard Paint Protection Kits provide an almost invisible barrier that protects vehicle's finish without altering your car's aesthetics.

Each of Clear Guard's kits are designed specifically to fit your vehicle, and are manufactured using Avery Dennison's Stoneshield^TM polyurethane film. This unique material offers excellent protection, and will not crack, yellow, shrink or peel over time.


Installation Instructions

MPORTANT: Please read the instructions thoroughly before beginning application.

1)Prepare a slip solution in one of the spray bottles, filling it with water and adding 2 or 3 large drops of baby shampoo. Prepare a alcohol/water solution in the second bottle using rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol) using 1 part alcohol to 1 part water. 

2)Thoroughly clean the surface using 3M Adhesive Remover and a soft cloth. NOTE: The surface MUST be free of all grease,wax, tar, or dirt. Dry with a lint- free cloth. 

3)Wet the hood thoroughly  with the slip solution. Wet your hands and fingers and make sure they stay wet thorough out the installation process. (WARNING: Handling the shield with dry fingers will leave permanent visible marks on the adhesive.) Then, with the material rolled up, keep fingers wet while pulling a small amount of the shield away from the liner on one end.  With the rest of the kit rolled up in one hand, use your other hand to hold the end of the material that you have pulled loose from the liner down on the appropriate end of the hood. Then, slowly begin to pull the liner towards the opposite end of the hood, forcing the material to be rolled out on to the hood. If your kit has a relief cut in it, be careful when rolling out the material on the hood so as not to stretch or tear the material in this area. You may have to use your fingers to free the material around the relief cut from the liner. Once you have gotten past the relief cut you may proceed normally. 


4)Now that you have the material laid out on the surface, it will be necessary to apply more of the slip solution between the hood and the material to allow the kit to be easily positioned on the hood.  Lift the material from the hood one side at a time to spray the material and the hood with the slip solution. It may require a bit of gentle tugging to lift the material from the hood, but care must be taken not to excessively stretch the material. Also, spray the top of the kit with the slip solution prior to positioning the kit, so that the squeegee will not drag the kit out of position.

5)Now that the material moves freely on the hood, you may easily position the kit into place. The kit should be centered with about a 1/8" gap between the front edge of the hood and the kit. 

6)Once you have the kit in place, make several small vertical strokes with the squeegee in the very center of the hood until you have an area 3-4" wide from top to bottom that is free of the solution. The shield is now "anchored" to the paint in the center and will not move freely, which means that you do not have to worry about the kit sliding out of place.


7)Now that the material is anchored in the center, lift one end of the material back to the point at which the material has adhered, and spray the adhesive side of the material and the hood with the alcohol/water solution. Spray enough of this solution to wash out any slip solution that was under the material. This is done to promote quick adhesion and to help prevent the material from lifting back up around the edges after you have squeegeed an area. 


8)Lay the material back down on the hood taking care to ensure that the product is lying strait and flat. Check to see that there is still about an eighth of an inch gap between the front edge of the hood and the kit. Also, make sure that you keep the top surface of the kit wet so that your squeegee will slide easily over the material. Please note that when using the alcohol/water solution, the material will dry very quickly, so it will be necessary to work quickly to achieve the desired appearance.


9)From the center of the area that is now free of slip solution, make a horizontal pass with your squeegee to the edge of the hood. Then, starting back in the center, make short, upward, overlapping strokes from the middle to the top edge moving toward the end of the hood . Now, do the same with downward strokes from the middle to the bottom edge until you reach the end of the hood. Keep in mind that firm pressure is needed, in order to avoid leaving water or air bubbles trapped underneath the material. 


If any area around the edges has lifted back up, you should wrap a paper towel around your squeegee and go over the edges again. This will absorb the moisture around the edges that interferes with adhesion.


Repeat steps 5 through 8 for the opposite side of the hood.