Decals on top of PPF - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Hi there does anyone have any experience of applying decals on top of Paint Protection Film - does it stick ok & would it ruin the PPF if you later decide to remove ? Cheers

Decals on PPF works. But... My ppf was ceramic coated too. That has made it tougher for the decals to stick. I'm careful whilst washing the car for example. A power hose would blast it off, easy.

If I can help, I have always had the PPF ( Xpel ) applied over the decals. On my R, we put Xpel Ultimate ( gloss) on the whole car, and then done the stripes, over the Ultimate, in Xpel Stealth to keep the stripes in their matt Factory finish. Works perfectly and is really "invisible." Obviously as always, the installer is Key ! You will not be disappointed applying over the decals, unless you want the option of maybe changing the decals every now and again ?

Champs said: If I can help, I have always had the PPF ( Xpel ) applied over the decals. On my R, we put Xpel Ultimate ( gloss) on the whole car, and then done the stripes, over the Ultimate, in Xpel Stealth to keep the stripes in their matt Factory finish. Works perfectly and is really "invisible." Obviously as always, the installer is Key ! You will not be disappointed applying over the decals, unless you want the option of maybe changing the decals every now and again ? Thanks for the info. Problem I have is the PPF is already on the car and as such if I decide to put decals on they need to go on top of the PPF - I think it should be ok - had advice from decal supplier saying fine (trust him - he wouldn't say this unless it is - does all the Reading cars and they always PPF and then decal) Cheers

I have full Xpel Ultimate PPF on my 991 RS and applied decals on top (rear wing and front doors). I didn't want to disturb the bonnet badge so had the PPF put over that. The installer also added back the standard Porsche rear wing protectors over the PPF which help to keep the car looking original.

RSVP911 said: Champs said: If I can help, I have always had the PPF ( Xpel ) applied over the decals. On my R, we put Xpel Ultimate ( gloss) on the whole car, and then done the stripes, over the Ultimate, in Xpel Stealth to keep the stripes in their matt Factory finish. Works perfectly and is really "invisible." Obviously as always, the installer is Key ! You will not be disappointed applying over the decals, unless you want the option of maybe changing the decals every now and again ? Thanks for the info. Problem I have is the PPF is already on the car and as such if I decide to put decals on they need to go on top of the PPF - I think it should be ok - had advice from decal supplier saying fine (trust him - he wouldn't say this unless it is - does all the Reading cars and they always PPF and then decal) Cheers Hi Richard I reckon that we have been talking to the same chap today (Rick) who assures me that it is fine to put decals on top of PPF.

robgt3 said: RSVP911 said: Champs said: If I can help, I have always had the PPF ( Xpel ) applied over the decals. On my R, we put Xpel Ultimate ( gloss) on the whole car, and then done the stripes, over the Ultimate, in Xpel Stealth to keep the stripes in their matt Factory finish. Works perfectly and is really "invisible." Obviously as always, the installer is Key ! You will not be disappointed applying over the decals, unless you want the option of maybe changing the decals every now and again ? Thanks for the info. Problem I have is the PPF is already on the car and as such if I decide to put decals on they need to go on top of the PPF - I think it should be ok - had advice from decal supplier saying fine (trust him - he wouldn't say this unless it is - does all the Reading cars and they always PPF and then decal) Cheers Hi Richard I reckon that we have been talking to the same chap today (Rick) who assures me that it is fine to put decals on top of PPF. We certainly have - I called Rick when you were already on to him - small world - very happy you've decided to put decals on your Miami GT3 - it will give me an even better idea of what mine might look like if I get one - best of luck

I realise this thread is old now but the question isn’t… I plan to put some Le Mans themed decals on my Vantage as we are driving down this year, but it has a full body PPF. Given they will say Le Mans 2023 I will obviously take them off afterwards. Is it likely to damage the PPF / leave a milky residue or anything? Has anyone done it and removed successfully? Tq

I have full PPF on my 992 (Topaz). Was advised by everyone (sticker man and a trusted car detailer and PPF installer) not to use temporary stickers on it - have always done stickers for Le Mans on previous cars. I ended up doing the main stickers on the pan roof and rear window. Once they were removed when we came back, I felt that it needed something else so got my OPC to put some over the PPF on the doors which I don’t intend to remove it’s the official tequipment sticker…

Thanks. That’s what I did a couple of years ago but no pan roof on my Vantage. Really wanted to do more this year but risking a £5k re PPF!

Just not a problem. I have installed directly on top of ppf a few times. Generally the decal vinyl is pretty lightweight and the ppf is heavy duty stuff. No issues or marks/shadowing when removed

The problem with putting decals over PPF is that stone chips put holes in your decals so they end up looking a bit scruffy. When I fits bought my GT3 I had the PPF done by a company in the midlands who the OPC recommended and put the decals over the top. They didn't do a great job on the PPF so three years later I had it re-dene by Max Protect who did a much, much better job...they recommended decals underneath. Glad I followed their advice...much better in my opinion. Give the decals a slight "3D edge" which sounds a but s t but actually looks very good.

Cheib said: The problem with putting decals over PPF is that stone chips put holes in your decals so they end up looking a bit scruffy. When I fits bought my GT3 I had the PPF done by a company in the midlands who the OPC recommended and put the decals over the top. They didn't do a great job on the PPF so three years later I had it re-dene by Max Protect who did a much, much better job...they recommended decals underneath. Glad I followed their advice...much better in my opinion. Give the decals a slight "3D edge" which sounds a but s t but actually looks very good. Agree with this - they look better below PPF - however, much harder to remove if you get sick of them. FWIW Max Protect, have said to me it’s very easy to remove a decal that’s on top of PPF - no problems (I guess though, it depends on the quality of the base layer PPF)

Thanks a lot. The decals are for a weeks trip to Le Mans and likely will say Le Mans 2023 so I can live with stone chips on the decals. Will post photos!

elitedetailer said: There is no right or wrong way to do it, it's more a case of whatever look and needs suit you. We have worked on scores of cars where there are decals involved, many of these decals have been supplied by our friend in common Rick and we have applied them underneath and in most cases on top of the PPF. Going to the point about the decals marking the PPF, we have only every witnessed this on some of the Middle Eastern cars we have had in, the extreme heat cycles have a part to play in leaving the decal glue imprints on the PPF. You basically have to weight it up. if you prefer the car to look completely OEM then go with the decals on top of the PPF. Remember, most decals are in a matte finish espepciallly on GT models, and you can see this contrast of matte decal against the gloss paintwork, this gives the car a more "textured" look and Porsche purposely did this when they designed the graphics. The drawbacks are as mentioned they will get marked and chipped over time, however you can always buy some more and re-apply. We have never had any issues with the decal peeling away from the surface of the PPF unless they have been pressure washed close up with the lance but this can also damage the PPF... With option two by applying the PPF over the decals the advantage is that the decals are protected with a layer of PPF over them so they are less likely to chip and pick up marks. However, the drawbacks are that when you apply the PPF over some decals depending on the thickness of them, there will be a small 1-2mm air gap or step down from the PPF as it meets the paintwork after going over the decal (decal is raised and sits higher than the paintwork level), this in turn makes it quite noticeable and you can notice that it does not look "factory". Secondly, you also lose the matte finish of the decal as the gloss PPF will have eradicated this, so the whole area will end up being gloss, and non "textured". Finally if you ever did want to change your decals one will need to remove the PPF as there is no way of accessing them without having to remove the whole panel piece of PPF - This will also become more costly in the long run. So there you have it, go whichever route you prefer. Side note slightly off topic: Did you know on the 997 GT4 RS 4.0. that the decals are exposed as normal as they sit on top of the paintwork, excluding the two GT silver decals which surround the mesh grills below each headlight. These are in fact clear coated over and feel completely smooth to touch. The reason for this was because Porsche didn't want to get complaints from customers about all the front bumper decals getting all chipped after driving. This is why when you see some 4.0's without the decals, the front decals on the bumper are still visible. Top info thank you

There is no right or wrong way to do it, it's more a case of whatever look and needs suit you. We have worked on scores of cars where there are decals involved, many of these decals have been supplied by our friend in common Rick and we have applied them underneath and in most cases on top of the PPF. Going to the point about the decals marking the PPF, we have only ever witnessed this on some of the Middle Eastern cars we have had in, the extreme heat cycles have a part to play in leaving the decal glue imprints on the PPF. You basically have to weight it up. if you prefer the car to look completely OEM then go with the decals on top of the PPF. Remember, most decals are in a matte finish espepciallly on GT models, and you can see this contrast of matte decal against the gloss paintwork, this gives the car a more "textured" look and Porsche purposely did this when they designed the graphics. The drawbacks are as mentioned they will get marked and chipped over time, however you can always buy some more and re-apply. We have never had any issues with the decal peeling away from the surface of the PPF unless they have been pressure washed close up with the lance but this can also damage the PPF... With option two by applying the PPF over the decals the advantage is that the decals are protected with a layer of PPF over them so they are less likely to chip and pick up marks. However, the drawbacks are that when you apply the PPF over some decals depending on the thickness of them, there will be a small 1-2mm air gap or step down from the PPF as it meets the paintwork after going over the decal (decal is raised and sits higher than the paintwork level), this in turn makes it quite noticeable and you can notice that it does not look "factory". Secondly, you also lose the matte finish of the decal as the gloss PPF will have eradicated this, so the whole area will end up being gloss, and non "textured". Finally if you ever did want to change your decals one will need to remove the PPF as there is no way of accessing them without having to remove the whole panel piece of PPF - This will also become more costly in the long run. So there you have it, go whichever route you prefer. Side note slightly off topic: Did you know on the 997 GT3 RS 4.0. that the decals are exposed as normal as they sit on top of the paintwork, excluding the two GT silver decals which surround the mesh grills below each headlight. These are in fact clear coated over and feel completely smooth to touch. The reason for this was because Porsche didn't want to get complaints from customers about all the front bumper decals getting all chipped after driving. This is why when you see some 4.0's without the decals, the front decals on the bumper are still visible. Edited by elitedetailer on Thursday 19th January 13:22