Project DBA R35 Nissan GT-R: Front End Protection with Premium Shield

By Mike Kojima

We have written articles about getting the paint on our various project cars protected with various films in the past with a great amount of success. Like all things protective film technology is continuously improving and we were lucky enough to sample one of the latest in protective films on our Project R35 GT-R.

Our friends at Service Group Distribution are into film technology and they are the ones that introduce us to new stuff. We got a call from them where they wanted to demo their new Premium Shield film for us. What better car to try it on than our new DBA GT-R?

Service Group Distribution, the distributors of Premium Shield can cut your film to order using their extensive data base of different cars. However we opted to do a custom hand cut installation to really show off Premium Shield's capabilities.

Premium Shield has some new interesting technology. First off at 6.4 mil, it's a thinner and more pliable film which makes a nice mark free installation easier to achieve. Second, the film is more glossy and durable than previous films at the same time.

Premium Shield achieves this by being constructed of multiple layers of polyurethane. The first layer is an acrylic adhesive which is formulated to be easily removable without residue. It resists fading and yellowing with UV exposure.

The next layer is a thin layer of flexible urethane which makes the film easy to install and resistant to rocks and impacts. The next layer is a harder more scratch resistant urethane. The final top layer is a glossy UV and scratch resistant clear coat.

The resulting film is has a gloss to match the paint that washes and waxes well. The film also allows UV light to penetrate it without damaging the film so the paint underneath fades at the same rate as the rest of the car.

We opted to do the entire front of the car which would minimize seams and maximize protective coverage. The great flexibility of Premium Shield makes this possible. The first step was to thoroughly clean the front of the car. This reduces the chances of dust getting between the paint and film.

Next a large sheet of Premium Shield was cut to cover the entire hood and headlights.

The hood was then liberally covered with a mix of soapy water which consists of a cap full of baby shampoo mixed in a sprayer full of water. The adhesive side of the Premium Shield was also sprayed down with the soapy water mixture after its backing sheet was peeled off.