You have decided on Paint Protection Film (PPF). You have decided enough with the perpetual chips in the paint that seem to come out of nowhere each time you wash your car. You want to cover the leading portion of the hood with 3M's self healing Scotchgard Pro Series Paint Protection Film as this is where the vast majority of impacts occur. Now what?
You have watched the instructional videos here. You are going to order up some self healing 3M Paint Protection. But how much to order? We get that question a lot so thought a blog post would help a lot of people out.
To know how much to order, you need to measure the area(s) you want to cover and see how that matches up with the available roll sizes. In the case of covering the leading portion of the hood, we need to measure the maximum width at the chosen coverage depth.
In the above graphic the blue lines represent the maximum width of the hood. The red lines represent the chosen depth of coverage.
Once you have chosen a roll width (depth of coverage) you need to get to the length of roll needed. To do this you need to find the forward most starting point. Usually this is the middle portion of the hood as shown above, but it could also be in an area where the edge of the grill is. There are a lot of different vehicle designs, so be sure to double check where yours is. You can accomplish this with the aid of an assistant and a tape measure. Standing at either side of the vehicle hold out the measuring tape (or any other long straight edge and notate the forward most area. This would be the forward most red line in the graphic above. You can notate the tip with a piece of painters tape. From that point measure straight back the depth you have chosen to cover - 12", 24" or 30". Mark that spot with another piece of painters tape.
With help from an assistant measure the width of the hood at the chosen coverage depth - ideally with a cloth tape following the contours of the hood. Alternatively you can use a piece of rope / string, mark the end and measure that with a tape measure.
In the above example the target coverage depth is 24" and the width from side to side is approximately 70". Ideally for ease of handling a few extra inches in each direction is desirable. For the above application a 24" wide roll, by 72" long would be the minimum length. A longer roll will give you more flexibility in both the application and any wrapping to the back side of the hood that you plan, along with some extra material for other small areas.