Front bumper protection & adjustment

[Danelaw]

When my car was new 2 years ago I used 3M Paint Defender on the front bumper to give it some protection from stone chips. Why did I use a spray on film? Well I don't like the lines the self-adhesive-type protection films have at their edges, and I'm some way from a specialist anyway and had little time.

I'm just at the point of taking the film off (3M say 1-year use, but my car is a weekend, European trips and special events use so I ignored that) and it has peeled well where it was applied very thick, but is a nightmare where it was thinner or more damaged. It will take me several hours to remove with my finger nails. When I applied it I wanted it thick everywhere, but on vertical surfaces it can run, so that was not so easy and I clearly failed in places.

The film has clearly worked and saved the bumper from many, but not all, stone chips. A few larger or sharper stones have penetrated as the film is not as thick as the self-adhesive options. 

What next? Well I don't want to go through this clean-up again so if I do re-spray with 3M PD then it'll be going on thick! I may well go for one of the other films instead, or perhaps just suffer the stone chips and have a bumper re-spray if they get too bad...

The second reason for my post as the last few hours of picking at my front bumper has had me looking at the panel gap between the bumper and the front clam. It looks to me like it might be better if I adjust my front bumper up just a little. It's not bad, but not perfect, and I'd like to just close the gap a little.

I've looked at the instructions in the workshop manual for the removal of the front bumper, and they include removing the headlamp units. My question is whether a small adjustment can be achieved without that much hassle/effort? 

[Stuno1]

Can't help with the miss fitting bumper but paint protection film is great and tech has moved on. If you protect the car again you should go with suntec or xpel. Also, if you pay more they will wrap it in to and around edges so you don't have lines.

[agentdr8]

2 hours ago, Danelaw said:

The second reason for my post as the last few hours of picking at my front bumper has had me looking at the panel gap between the bumper and the front clam. It looks to me like it might be better if I adjust my front bumper up just a little. It's not bad, but not perfect, and I'd like to just close the gap a little.

I've looked at the instructions in the workshop manual for the removal of the front bumper, and they include removing the headlamp units. My question is whether a small adjustment can be achieved without that much hassle/effort? 

I received my second-hand Evora with a slightly mis-aligned front bumper cover. Had a local body shop work with the dealer to fix it (at their cost), but it turns out the previous owner had some poor repairs done on the back-side of the cover, which caused it to sag in the middle. It was also missing the impact foam that is normally behind that part of the bumper.

I had a chance to look at the front end while it was all taken apart, and I think the service notes are correct; if you want to adjust vertical alignment between the front edge of the clam and the top/trailing edge of the bumper, it's best to have the headlights out. It isn't that hard to remove the headlamp housings (3 bolts IIRC). Hopefully you'll have an easier time lining it up. Because of the somewhat shoddy repair, mine won't align properly, and the dealer wasn't willing to pay for a complete MY12 bumper retrofit.

On the topic of PPFs...my factory Star Shield is starting to look faded/orange peel-ish compared to the rest of the car, so I'll likely have all of the original bits removed, and the whole front end done in Xpel. There's a local guy that specializes in it, and by doing the whole clam, it makes that hideous seam disappear. 

[2011 Chrome Orange]

I haven't had good luck with 3M Paint Defender removal. But, Windex with ammonia helps (I even reverted to straight ammonia for a small section).

Getting to the bumper for adjustment isn't very difficult. (I have my bumper off now) It takes a few hours at a leisurely pace.

Remove wheels, remove wheel liners, remove lower front bumper to front pan screws, remove headlight rear bracket and then 3 screws for the headlights. Once headlights are out, you can get to the bumper fixing points:

Edited May 10, 2016 by 2011 Chrome Orange

[Danelaw]

Excellent clear photos thanks. All hope of a short-cut gone now so I know this job has to be done properly or left alone. 

I'll keep going on the P-D removal and thanks for the tip.