Has anyone tried it on their 308/328 or have it on their car now, and is it recommended? Thanks:)
My last Corvette had film from a German company called Haartz on it for 3 years. The nose film was thicker and had an orange peel, but the hood and fender film was very clear and I plan to put this film on my 308s nose area. The film is half way up the hood and fenders in the pic. The Haartz Corporation - DefenZall? Paint Protection Film Image Unavailable, Please Login
A friend of mine did a 3M clear bra on his 355 after having the nose resprayed from serious road rash. It worked great for him. He was so pleased that when he bought a brand new C6 Z06 Corvette, he had a 3M bra put on it the day he got it. It did a great job of preventing road rash. When he traded the car in a couple of years later, the dealer gave him a bonus on the trade-in value because the front end was pristine. IMHO, if your car is clean up front and you want to keep it that way, a clear bra is the way to go. Well worth the investment.
My dad applied one to the nose of his cherished 64 E Type. Not even the concours judges noticed it. He swears by it, since he puts thousands of miles on his car a year and yet still wins highest marks at shows.
I had a shop apply to some danger areas like the lower rockers and the rub areas around the engine bay. In general, rock chips do not bother me. I touch them up on my cars every few years. Typically costs around the same amount to repaint as to have high end clear bra installed. I like the clarity of the raw paint and wax.
Thanks so much, I think what I'll do now is have all my Road rash, rock chips, ans some little scratches fix by a well known paint and dent detailer and have a shop apply the 3M clear bra. Since I do a lot of long distance driving on my 308, I can benefit from this.
A local guy, out of Thousand Oaks I think. He does (did) it for the local car dealers. But I'm sure you could find good guys down near you too. Maybe ask at your local car lots or maybe Alan at the Newport shop. Bob
Hi Mike, Some friends of mine in Ventura did the front of their 328 recently. Overall, it came out really well but they had a bunch of rock chips that had been touched up and the clear bra made these really pop visually especially in the sun. I know it was so bad on the black vents on the hood that he removed it there. I think it was much less of an issue on the red painted sections but I'd have to ask again. The problem stemmed from the chip repairs being just a little lower than the surrounding original paint - the the repairs are flush, I imagine there wouldn't be an issue. Just something to be aware of. I can find out more at next weeks cars and coffee if you like.
I work in a luxury/sports car dealer, and have had a lot of experience with clear bras... They really are great if a high quality product is well applied, and they can be a disaster if they're done poorly. I agree with other's in this thread that the 3M product is of a very high quality and lasts very well. We've gone through some vendors who used other products which started to turn yellow in as little as eight months. The quality of the installer is also a major point. When properly applied, the seams are almost invisible (depending on the color of your paint), and are very straight and even. An inexperienced installer will often leave edges that are uneven or jagged, which can actually pick up dirt thus highlighting the seam. Poorly installed product also my contain small creases or bubbles on curved surfaces such as rear veiw mirrors and the corners of bumper covers. Ask a lot of questions about the product used, the warranty and the installer's experience. Also ask to see samples of work, if possible. On the scary side, I had a white car develop very bad yellowing after about a year. When the installer removed the film, we discovered that the paint had actually yellowed under the bra. After they bought us a new hood, we found a new vendor... Another thing to consider: Some installers use laser-cut templates that are model specific, while others actually "freehand" the installation. I've seen good and bad results each way, but if they're freehanding, you want to make sure that they know what they're doing. The best work I'ver ever seen was freehanded, as the templates sometimes leave more margin for error, which results in the film ending a half inch away from all of the edges. Just do your research and ask a lot of questions!
Hi Chris, When I have my body/detail shop, finish all the touch up, I'm going to make sure they go through the entire front-end to make sure they're all evenly touched-up. I'm only interested in having the front valance and the top front nose forward of the hood vent clear bra.
I am considering a clear bra just for the front light clusters, anyone done that? Would it help at all?
I purchased thick clear lens film from Griot's Garage for my 328's fog lamps and directional lenses. I had to custom-cut it but it looks great and protects those expensive NLA fog lamp lenses. Cheap insurance.
Thanks for the info. No Griot's Garage here, I'm afraid. Surely I can find something similar. What would this thick film normally be used for? Looking great meaning you don't notice it? Is it adhesive? can you tear it off without any problem? Am I asking too many trivial questions?