• Home
  • Halo Installation Manual

Halo Installation Manual

Halo Installation Manual

Disclaimer: This "Halo Handbook" has been developed internally and based on feedback and input from the installers here in Australia and the experienced installers in USA, Europe and Asia.

We respect that each installer, however, will have their own technique and skillset.

What is critical, however, is that you MUST ensure enough product has been sprayed onto the surface for peelability and durability (refer Halo EFX Chart). Not following this SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) or deviating form it may result in a less-than-ideal result.

 

Intro: Halo EFX is a bi-polymer peelable automotive paint - often referred to as liquid wrap or sprayable vinyl. It forms a removable coating that looks, feels, and acts like traditional car paint, and with the ability to be removed like vinyl wraps BUT with no sticky residue or damage.

Halo gallons are untinted and clear out of our manufacturing facility. They are then tinted by the installer, using any of the following:-

  • Dry Powder pigments
  • Paint system toners (must be binder-free) - 250mL of pure tint per gallon, beyond that and you start to affect the peelability
  • Tint concentrates

As above, pearls, pigments, tints and colour additives can be mix into to Halo Clear and applied over any desired base colour (usually black but the desired colour can often call for a white or grey or colour-matched base).  

 

Halo EFX Gallon Usage guidelines

We have prepared a simple usage chart on this page to help guide customers to the correct of amount of product needed per project application. Using the correct amount of product is EXTREMELY important. Failure to do so could result in less durability and poor peelability, and an overall finish that is below what installers and customers expect.

 

Let us look at a Toyota Corolla for example. The correct amount of product needed for this project in a satin finish is a minimum of 4 gallons.

THIS AMOUNT OF PRODUCT MUST BE APPLIED REGARDLESS OF NUMBER OF COATS. Coats ultimately mean very little; the only way to know how much product has been sprayed onto the car is by how much product has been sprayed onto the car. There simply is no better way of measuring it.

Please see detailed recommended usage guidelines.

 

 

Surface Prep

- Clean surface thoroughly and allow to dry (best practice is to allow an overnight drying time). Any leftover residue such as oils, dirt, grease, etc., may impair Halo’s adhesion to the surface/substrate leading to unwanted lifting, frying, texture or cracking. We suggest using a product similar to “Silicone Off”, PrepSol or any 70% or higher isopropyl alcohol and a CLEAN lint-free microfibre or waffle-weave towel. Denatured alcohol also works very well, as does a quality wax/grease remover. Be sure to clean inside cracks and around the edges as well.

  • **** Please note that although Halo EFX does a fantastic job at helping to fill in and cover small paint damages, as with traditional automotive paint, surface imperfections such as deep scratches, chips, dents, etc., WILL show in the end if not corrected prior to applying Halo EFX.

Taping / Masking

- Be sure to tape and mask off any areas you do not want painted just as you would with a traditional paint job.

Although not 100% necessary, it is better to remove things like headlights, brake lights, license plates, badges… It is common practice for us to remove bumpers, side skirts, and bonnets. Doorjams must also be taped up well if not spraying them.

Any peelable coating can strip plastic of it’s protecting layer, so again we recommend taping or removing headlights and taillights to protect them.

Careful attention must be made to areas where two parts or body panels are either touching or the gaps between them is very small. Take note of these areas, as they will need to be peeled when wet or carefully cut. Areas with a panel gap or break will naturally cut/break with a clean line.

Application

- Set up spray gun with a 6-8in spray fan with a distance of no more than 4-6in from surface. Use 50/50 overlap passes.

Tip sizes – 2.0 (can be thinned for final pearl coats with Xylene and a 1.8 tip)

Pressure is largely gear/skill dependant, though we recommend about 15psi or higher.

Flash time 10-15 minutes depending on temp and humidity.

Panel by panel application is recommended for all base colours unless you are using pearls. If pearls are used, the pearl load can be modified based on product flow rates, and we strongly recommend walking the full car rather than panel-by-panel to avoid pearl build up in the gaps.

  1. Open gallon tins, stir/mix well. This is a very important step, and a mixing wand bit on a drill is the best method. 2 to 3 minutes stirring time is adequate.
  2. First 2 coats should be light, even coats. These are your tack coats and will limit sags and runs in heavier coats. It will also give something for the wetter coats to bond to. Aim for 50-75% transparency here.
  3. Every coat after the second coat should be applied as medium wet coats until all products is used. It is very important to wet out each coat as you are spraying. Failure to do so can lead to unwanted texture. At the same time, applying the product too heavy can lead to Orange Peel. Always be thinking “Wet, but not heavy”.
  4. Pearl step - It is recommended that pearls be used in the final 2-3 top coats with 50 grams of pearls per gallon (Halo Clear) used. However as each project is unique, varying the pearl load per gallon and number of coats can yield outstanding but very different results. Always start with the manufacturer’s guideline on the pearl load and go from there.
  5. On the final coat, while the paint is still wet, peel tape from masked edges to create a clean line. Be careful not to rush this step. If the taped areas appear to have dried, they can be re-wetted by an application of more Halo, or of a quick naptha/xylene mist.

Be extra cautious of white-particle pearls given their tendency to achieve white-out very quickly. We recommend lightening the pearl load and spraying more coats to more accurately judge your colour coverage.

  • When applying pearls, it is very important to apply the product evenly with a 50/50 overlap. Walking the length of the vehicle is also recommended. Application in this method will help avoid striping of pearls. It is also advised to apply pearl coats slightly less “heavy” than the base coats, and with a spray gun distance of 7-8 inches from surface. Again, modify your technique by shooting test panels first.

Advanced tip - If you want your pearl coats or pigment colour coats to lay out with better consistency and uniformity and avoid blotchiness and mottling, we advise to thin the Halo Clear with Xylene and shoot them with a 1.48 tip. This forces the pearls to agglomerate into a tighter matrix.

Said another way - when you thin out the solution you're giving the pearls less room to move thereby forcing them to align in a tighter more refined pattern, thus becoming more uniform. Taking this one step further: You only need to adopt this tool in the final coats of your application. Do not do this from the base up. The first 8-10 coats are simply base building for peel-ability, nothing more. You can always thin some for the first 8-10 coats if ambient temps are so high you're getting unwanted texture.

Texture will magnify itself as each subsequent coat is applied, so keep this in mind.

15% to 20% thinning recommended.

 

Usually we suggest getting a panel, and spraying it in 2 or 3 sections. Section 1 can be lightly sprayed so u see how it behaves if you don’t put enough on, section 2 could be off the gun, and section 3 could be buffed. Even peel a small section to see the thickness and how it protects underneath etc.