Paint correction, ceramic coating & clear bra

Killer man !

 

Congrats! Car looks great.

 

That looks great, you can really see the quality of the work in the reflections.

 

Cgt000, gorgeous car. I think anybody that has a black car should have it ceramic coated to prevent the swirl marks. I did that with my black Corvette and it is awesome. Car is now very easy to maintain and never any swirl marks.

Just so everybody knows, they can actually take the swirl marks out of the clear bra. So it is not necessary to remove the bra and risk lifting the paint.

I had a 10 year old 3M clear bra covering 3/4s of my 612. There were plenty of swirl marks and opaqueness to the bra. The ceramic coat guys buffed out the bra, did paint correction on the rest of the body and then ceramic coated the whole thing. The car looks incredible, no swirl marks anywhere and you cannot see where the bra is. Totally invisible. Hopefully the bra is now good for another 10 years.

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You have to watch the old clear bra material. Mine was on the car when I bought her and was so old that it was way beyond saving and too far gone to even remove it with a heat gun. The bra had to be removed with a rubber erasure wheel. Basically a spinning rubber wheel that used friction to melt the clear bra into "goo" which you then peel off after soaking the area with goo gone. It was a big time consuming mess. I hear that the newer bra material is much better and should last much longer but something to keep a watch on.

 

Ron H – It looks like your car turned out very well as did the black car which shows well in the photo.

I have a similar issue on my 2008 612 OTO. The car first sole June 2009 so the clear bra can’t be more than 10 years old, don’t know exactly as I am the third owner. But it has discolored a lot even though not being in the sun so much. I have been told that taking the clear bra off may damage the paint below it? Having got several opinions some say no they can remove the clear bra w/o damage to the paint others say not? Image Unavailable, Please Login

The clear bra on my car is just on the front up to about the front 1/3 of the fender wells but the rest of the paint is good. No one has suggested buffing out the clear bra which seems like the first thing to try. If you don't mind saying how much was the buffing and paint correction on the balance along with the ceramic coating? I know my job is not comparable as I have much less clear bra and way more car to be paint corrected and ceramic coated, but at least it will give me a ball park guestimate. Thanks

 

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Ron H – It looks like your car turned out very well as did the black car which shows well in the photo.

I have a similar issue on my 2008 612 OTO. The car first sole June 2009 so the clear bra can’t be more than 10 years old, don’t know exactly as I am the third owner. But it has discolored a lot even though not being in the sun so much. I have been told that taking the clear bra off may damage the paint below it? Having got several opinions some say no they can remove the clear bra w/o damage to the paint others say not? Image Unavailable, Please Login

The clear bra on my car is just on the front up to about the front 1/3 of the fender wells but the rest of the paint is good. No one has suggested buffing out the clear bra which seems like the first thing to try. If you don't mind saying how much was the buffing and paint correction on the balance along with the ceramic coating? I know my job is not comparable as I have much less clear bra and way more car to be paint corrected and ceramic coated, but at least it will give me a ball park guestimate. Thanks

 

Ron - Who did you have do the work? As I recall you live the SFV or So Ventura County. I might try them if I can't get the clear bra buffed out or if the buff out doesn't make a major improvement. What I am trying to get away from painting the front end of the car as I am not sure how well Gregio Ferro Metallic will match. Of course everyone says they can match and blend in the paint but prefer not going that way if possible.

 

The ceramic coatings are a game changer. Beautiful car!

 

My guy started the same process today morning
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Randy, if you are asking me (not Ron), I'm in Sherman Oaks. The clear bra on mine was only about 12" on the leading edge of the hood. It had a few spots where rocks had hit it and I had thought the paint underneath was damaged. I was pleasantly surprised that the clear bra had done its job and protected the paint as everything was good once finally removed.

As for who did the removal work, it was me. I picked up the 3m Erasure wheel from Pep Boys and went to work. Paint underneath came out great and no damage from the wheel. Just time consuming. Maybe 4 hours ( over 2 days) for a section 12" x 36". I used the wheel and got off about 90% then soaked it overnight with goo gone and was able to get the remaining residue off the next day.

 

Peter, sorry for the confusion w/Ron. Obviously you have some skill sets I have never acquired. I have only used a Dremel buffing wheel on metal parts where no possible damage to any painted surface. I don’t want to “practice” on my Fcar or any other I currently own. My usual sequence on a new project is - first time is a minor screw up, second time marginally acceptable result and third time after making all the possible mistakes in the prior two attempts I usually get a reasonable result.

 

Day one is over .
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Randy, the whole job cost $1200 (cleaning up the bra, paint correction and ceramic coating). Apart from the bra issues my paint was in pretty good condition (other than swirls on it too). So paint correction was minimal. I went with the 3 year warranty version rather than the 1 year or 5 year and that affects the price. My thought was after 3 years I probably would like to have everything looked at again. I think 5 year was about $200 more. I believe the difference in warranty is just the number of coats that they put on (but dont hold me to that).

I thought the price was very reasonable because the bra was really old and tired and covered all of the car except the top 1/2 of the fenders from the rear of the door, the trunk lid and the roof. As I said there were plenty of swirl marks everywhere on the plastic.

If I was you I would certainly try this. Like you I had been told that if I took the bra off there was a real risk of damaging the paint. Also there is then the question of what do you do next. I felt that I would probably want to replace the bra and I was getting huge numbers like $4000 to $5000 to replace it.

I know its a hike for you but the guys that did mine are in Anaheim. I can give you their numbers if you like. If I was you I would certainly try the buffing, not much downside compared to the alternatives.

 

ceramic coating on paint doesn't prevent swirls.

beautiful 612!

 

One last point for those thinking about bra removal or even putting a bra on now. I was told that none of the old bras were that good in terms of not lifting the paint (ie. There was that risk with all of them). Mine was 3M which was considered good in its day and was installed by the Ferrari dealership and they did a really good job unlike what the OP was facing. I was also told that the new bra material is much better and there is much less risk of lifting the paint.

So the take aways are (1) if you can repair your old bra the paint removal risk doesnt get worse over time and is worth considering, (2) if you dont have an old bra and you go with new materials you have much less paint removal risk and so you should certainly consider it as it does offer significant protection, and (3) in either case you should get your car ceramic coated, it is a real game changer in terms of appearance and maintenance.

 

I am sorry ttforcefed, but yes it does. My 3 vehicles (especially the black) are a testament to that.

 

ok., i have had it on 3 vehicles as well and they still swirl. and its not a quality issue - 2 of the best detailers in tristate area did my cars. ceramic on paint swirls, that's a fact. ceramic on ppf, different story.

 

Ron H, Thanks for the information. The price certainly seems reasonable to me relative to the alternatives. Yes I have heard the same numbers on redoing the latest version of clear bra and that is assuming no damage to the paint. Please do send me the information on the guy in Anaheim, my son lives in Belmont Shores and I can stay with him one night if the work took over one day. But I would likely have to make two trips one to have him take a look at my car to see if he thinks it will do any good and another to do the work. I believe you can PM me, many thanks.

 

Today.


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