Diamond Shield Removal

[Dr4Film]

My 2002 Windsor is over 20 years old now and the Diamond Shield was heavily cracked and black. See attached photos.

I should have had it removed years ago but as usual other priorities always got in the way. Since I was contemplating the possible sale of my coach this winter I decided it was time to have it done.

I contacted both The Ugly Shield Removal company and Dazzling Detailing recommended by David Pratt, owner of this forum.

I decided to go with Dazzling Detailing as they come directly to your location whereas I would have had to drive to Fort Meyers FL to have the Ugly Shield Removal company do the job. Paul's contact information is 407-948-9284

Here are the before and after photos of the job.

Simply amazing! It's not perfect but it is at least 95% back to normal.

I plan to discuss with Paul, owner of Dazzling Detailing, about having his paint technician repair both cap tops and the lower passenger side corner as the clear coat and paint have completely come off. I plan to have them detail the entire coach after the painting is done.

Maybe after I am done I won't want to sell the coach! 😁

Sorry about the two photos that didn't upload correctly.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Dr4Film

[Mark B]

Looks great Dr4Film! How much did that set you back? It's one of the many things on my list.

[Dr4Film]

Both were charging the same fee, $1200. That was another reason I chose Dazzling Detailing. It would have effectively cost me a lot more having to drive over to Fort Meyers FL to get the job done.

I definitely recommend Dazzling Detailing to make your coach look awesome no mater how OLD it is.

[ep120794]

Looks fantastic!  I wish the was someone in California that could do this for me!

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Dr4Film, was there any touch up painting done? It looks great. I was scheduled at Ugly Shield Removal in Sept but had to cancel as I stayed locked down this winter.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Dr4Film]

Gary,

Yes. Actually there was some major touch up painting done especially in the lower right side on the driver's side. You can see from the attached photo that quite a lot of paint came off during the scraping process. There were many other areas to but not to the same degree.

Their paint technician actually repainted the entire lower right side of the front.

These were taken during the process. I tried to stay out of their way as this was a LOT of work. Three guys working two full days.

I am VERY happy and satisfied with the quality of the job from Dazzling Detailing.

[Jimmer]

4 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

My 2002 Windsor is over 20 years old now and the Diamond Shield was heavily cracked and black. See attached photos.

I should have had it removed years ago but as usual other priorities always got in the way. Since I was contemplating the possible sale of my coach this winter I decided it was time to have it done.

I contacted both The Ugly Shield Removal company and Dazzling Detailing recommended by David Pratt, owner of this forum.

I decided to go with Dazzling Detailing as they come directly to your location whereas I would have had to drive to Fort Meyers FL to have the Ugly Shield Removal company do the job. Paul's contact information is 407-948-9284

Here are the before and after photos of the job.

Simply amazing! It's not perfect but it is at least 95% back to normal.

I plan to discuss with Paul, owner of Dazzling Detailing, about having his paint technician repair both cap tops and the lower passenger side corner as the clear coat and paint have completely come off. I plan to have them detail the entire coach after the painting is done.

Maybe after I am done I won't want to sell the coach! 😁

Sorry about the two photos that didn't upload correctly.

That is a huge difference, looks great. I have a similar issue but not quite as gross. My build sheet says i have the 3M covering on my 03 Windsor. I have removed 1/4 of it on the drivers side. looks great but a lot of work. Thinking we will be wintering in FL, rather than N Missouri, so my plans are to have someone remove the rest of it. I will check out those guys. Thanks for info.

[Dr4Film]

Jim,

Monaco deceived everyone back in the day when they were in business. They advertised the shield as being 3M but it is really a Diamond Shield that is not as thick with far less quality and durability than the 3M shield.

[Ivylog]

Richard, aesthetic’s doesn’t bother me much but as Jim said ^^^ yours was pretty “gross”. I did the front of my 04 Dynasty using a heat gun and plastic razor blades to get the film off and the citric air freshener to melt the glue. My go to cleaner is now a 50/50 mixture of water and citrus concentrate.

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

I bought my 05 Ambassador new. It didn't have the shield from the factory. I scheduled a"3M" shield in Wakarusa, IN at a Monaco facility The installer said he had the contract to install them at the factory. Was yours a aftermarket installation? Was the paint touch up included in the $1200? I still can see the paint through the shield, it's not as bad as yours was. The installer told me not to use a cleaner with ammonia in it, it would destroy the shield. I've followed that advice from the beginning.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Dr4Film]

Gary, it was factory installed by the original owner.

Copied from the Window Sticker

3M FILM FRONT MASK  - $1,330.00  

[Jimmer]

5 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Jim,

Monaco deceived everyone back in the day when they were in business. They advertised the shield as being 3M but it is really a Diamond Shield that is not as thick with far less quality and durability than the 3M shield.

That is very interesting.  My favorite removal was basic Walmart oven cleaner.  It left the least amount of glue. I did soak with multiple applications for 2 days.

[David Pratt]

Richard, Your Coach looks Sweet, Dazzling Details did a wonderful job, they always do.

Just to clarify what you have posted as I have discussed this same thing before. We purchased our 2005 Monaco Executive new and the Window Sticker Clearly Stated that Monaco installed the 3M FRONT MASK FILM as you also stated above.

The Protective Film started to fail after about five years and many other members had reported the same problem. Bill D, Fred W and I started doing some research and when I contacted 3M about the issue of the cracking and deteriorating film it was disclosed to me that 3M never sold any 3M Film product to Monaco Corp.. On further investigation and speaking with a Diamond Shield Rep we discovered that Monaco only installed the Diamond Shield Product on the coaches at the factory.

When we contacted Monaco Corp about the issue and they admitted to never using the 3M film and only using Diamond Shield. Their excuse about the mix up on the window sticker was it was a clerical error that was never corrected. All this happened before Monaco went Bankrupt. I do not know what product Navistar or REV is using, but if it is Diamond Shield it will start failing at about the four to five year time frame.

What we found out was that the Diamond Shield Film that was installed on the Monaco Coaches is only 4 Mils thick. The 3M Film is 8 Mils thick and will hold up better to the Enviroment.

Dazzling Details only installs the 3M film and has for years. I have been dealing with  Paul Newman (owner of Dazzling Details) since 2004. I have always recommended them to our members as they do excellent work.

Fred White and I had the film replaced almost seven years ago. I have since sold the Exec, but today the 3M film looks as good as the day it was installed by Dazzling Details. Many members of the Monacoers have had their coaches done by them and I have yet to receive any complaints.

Dazzling Details has competitors out there and they all probably do good work, but you have to go to them and when you add in the cost of your time and fuel for them to replace you deteriorated Film they are not competitive. Dazzling Details comes to your location to do the work.

When getting Quotes from the other Businesses that do the film removal and install ask them if they are using the Diamond Shield product or the 3M product. The Diamond Shield Product is thinner and cheaper than the 3M.

Dazzling Details applied the Ceramic Coating on my Foretravel earlier this year and did a fantastic job. Paul was also interested in the film that was on the front of my Foretravel. The Protective Coating on the front of my coach is not film but an actual paint process. The product is called ArmorCoat and is great substitute to replacing the film.

In a recent Discussion with Paul Newman we discussed the 3M protective film and he was also considering he might add the Armorcoat process for paint protection.

[Jimmer]

Thanks for clarification David.

[jim.hamblin]

23 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Gary, it was factory installed by the original owner.

Copied from the Window Sticker

3M FILM FRONT MASK  - $1,330.00  

Sorry Frank but I had to smile, $1300 to put it on and $1200 to take it off😊

[rtmurley]

I had Dazzling Detail removed the ugly diamond shield from the front of my 2009 Dynasty. What a difference!!! They washed and waxed the coach and the coach looks fabulous. Thank you to those that put us onto Dazzling Detail. They did all the work at our storage lot. The shield removal was $1200.