Dodge Charger Super Bee in for clear bra, window tint and ceramic coating

The front of a car takes the worst of the rock chips and road debris. The owner of this 2023 Dodge Charger Super Bee chose a front end clear bra package, then added paint correction, a Gyeon ceramic coating and ceramic window tint. Here is how the four services fit together and why they go on in this order.

Decontamination

Even a new car carries contamination from transport and from sitting outside. Film and coating both bond to the surface, so the paint has to be clean before either one goes on.

The detail team washed the Charger and clay barred the paint. The clay lifts what a wash leaves behind, the bonded grit you can feel on the paint as a rough texture. The car was blown dry and sent to the clear bra installers.

Clear bra

The installers print the patterns on the plotter so the film fits each panel. They spray the paint with solution, line the film up, check the alignment and squeegee the solution out so the film adheres. This is repeated across the whole front end.

The owner chose the hood, front bumper, fenders, headlights, mirrors, rocker panels and door cups. That covers the face of the car, where stone chips land, and the rockers, which catch what the front tires throw back. Film goes on first because it needs a clean, uncoated surface to adhere to.

Paint correction

Paint not covered by film was machine polished to take out swirls and scratches, then wiped down to remove polishing oils. Most of a finish's gloss comes from the correction, so the paint should be right before a coating goes on.

The reasoning is simple. A coating bonds to whatever is under it, so a swirl left in the paint is a swirl that stays. Correcting a new car often takes less work than correcting an older one, but we still look at every panel.

Ceramic coating

The coating went on the painted surfaces and the film. The windshield and rim faces each got their own Gyeon formula.

Using a coating made for glass on the windshield and one made for wheels on the rim faces matters, since those surfaces see different conditions. The windshield needs to shed water, and wheel faces need to shed brake dust. The paint and film share the main coating.

Ceramic window tint

To finish, our tint installer fit a full coverage ceramic tint package. The patterns are cut on the plotter for each window, the solution goes on the glass, and the film is squeegeed down.

The coverage included all the side windows, the rear glass and the windshield. Ceramic tint cuts heat and UV, which keeps the cabin cooler in summer. That left the Charger glossy and ready to drive.

Why this order

Each service prepares the car for the next. Decontamination gets the paint clean, the film goes on the clean paint, the correction and coating finish the rest, and tint comes at the end so nothing in the earlier steps disturbs it.

Doing it all in one visit also means the car comes out of one set of bays, from one crew, and does not need to be dropped off several times. Film, coating and tint together is what we call The Beyond Package.

Thinking about the same job

Front end film starts with Basic Front, which covers the front bumper, hood, mirrors, headlights and fog lights. Full Front adds the full front fenders, and Full Front Plus adds the A-pillars, roof edge and rocker panels. Full Body covers every painted panel. We also install tint in several shades, from 70 down to 5 percent, and we will help you choose one.

All of this is done in house by our full-time staff in climate-controlled bays. Send the form with your car's year, make and model and the services you want, and we will tell you what the job involves.