MMK110464

The stone guards on my 2012 4S are the original ones and they are cracked and yellow.
I was going to remove them myself, but I had the common sense of checking here first. There is no way I can do this job without damaging the paint.
Can anyone recommend a shop/detailer in South Florida with experience doing this job?

TommyV44

Ok...here's what I can tell you...my detailer says he's got a guy that used to go and teach people how...he's that good. I never had the ***** to do it yet and my car is a 2010, so older than yours. The guy next door cleaned mine really well and I'm satisfied for now. If you go there pls let me know...they do a great job on my cars detail wise and the owners are wonderful!

You didn't say which part od South Florida...he's in Naples. Keep me posted please!
​​​​​​https://www.sofreshsocleandetailers.com/

ftc3

I removed my ‘09 ones recently with no issues. Boiling water with microfiber cloth and hold it on. Also use a plastic razor if needed to help peal up the edges. It came off way easier than I expected.

tegraphile

Took off my 2006 originals in 2020.

Used a portable steamer and plastic cards to remove it. Followed with a DA polisher to take off the last of the adhesives. Took a few hours, but most importantly, no paint damage.

jfort

I had a professional do it to my 2010 turbo. He was doing it carefully. Passenger side, he got it off. Driver's side, it lifted paint. $3K repair including taking out the rear side window. Yuck. But it sure looks nice now.

MMK110464

@TommyV44
Thanks for the tip. I see you are on the fence like me. I am in Miami but I might go to Naples if needed.

@ftc3 , @tegraphile , @jfort
Thanks for your input. Two sides of the coin. I might risk it if it was only the 3k, but I am afraid they will not be able to match the paint after 12 years.

TommyV44

Call them and speak with the guy...see what you think! They only charge a few hundred to remove, based on hourly fee)

They are great people and you'll enjoy talking to them...if you decide to do it we can meet and go to lunch....then I might do mine! LOL!

ADias

I took those off and front bra myself with a steamer. Just slowly and patiently peel it off. Peel the film at a shallow angle (<60deg angle). Protect your hands/fingers too.

mbatarga

Finished up this project myself on Saturday. I removed the stock guards several weeks back. For some reason - the passenger side removed in a full sheet while I used a heatgun on low temp and just pulled/stretched the plastic. The driver side was a totally different process. It flaked off in very small pieces. I had to use a body filler scraper and go-gone solvent. Took me almost and hour to get it fully off and cleaned up. I found a YT video for the installation which gave me a few tips - including using blue painters tape to mark off the bottom and edge boundaries for placement to match on both sides.

63mercedes

Auto supershield in boca. don't call anyone else

Edcantera

These guys are in miami and do wraps and PPF and do good work. Check them out.

http://www.firstclassautosports.com

MMK110464

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.
I read through all the posts I could find regarding this topic and concluded that most of the people who went the steam route removed the stone guard film without damaging the paint albeit with great effort invested. I talked to my detailer guy who regularly cleans my car using mostly steam and he assured me he would remove the stone guards with no damage to the clearcoat or the paint. The process for both sides was almost identical to mbatarga's driver side...It flaked off in small pieces and a body filler scraper and solvent were used. It took him around 2 hours and he charged me $180. He then used a rotary polisher to finish the job, which I have to say, came out extremely well.
I ordered a set of PPF pre-cut stone guards from KI Studios (https://kistudios.com/product/porsch...-stone-guards/). I will try to report back once the new film is installed.
I hope this thread helps others regarding this issue.

ADias

Given that it seems you picked black replacements, why not mganetic?

MMK110464

I picked the clear stone guards.

FunWithFiorio

I also had original stone guards on my 2009 997.2 along with original owner PPF. After reading so many posts I went with commercial clothes steamer, 3M adhesive remover, and small plastic squeegees. The stone guards came off so easily that I continued on and removed all the old PPF. The hardest part for me was finding the correct tool to remove the emblem. Admittedly my car has always been garage kept and only has 30k miles so there was no paint damage and/or fading of the original paint anywhere. It actually looks better now that the nasty yellow tinted stone guards and PPF are gone. It was a relief to see that all the imperfections were on the stone guards and PPF as many posters have mentioned. They did their jobs!

Thanks to everyone who has posted about this. It made me finally join rennlist instead of just lurking. It also gave me the confidence to do it myself and apply the new precut 3M stone guards. I also ordered MagnaFins for autocross days.
Still on the fence about replacing PPF on the entire front. Have to see how well I do with Dr. Colorchip. Until then I have TrakWrap.