3m protective bra

Although pricing will vary depending on type of coverage, $300-$400 for even a pre-cut basic kit is still on the flea market side. Pricing really does reflect the type of work a company does. This industry is getting saturated with installers and it's tough for the consumer to find someone qualified to work on cars. One general rule of thumb to keep in mind for the f-chatters - is the cheaper it is, the risk of getting an inexperienced installer increases.

From time to time, we get customers calling and inquiring about pricing and wonder why our rates are higher than everyone else in the area. To make it short, "don't you think these guys would like to charge $1500 instead of $400? Why do you think they can't charge as much?"

 

Sam and Wilson came to my house yesterday and did the clear bra install for my car ('03 360 Coupe). I decided to do the custom install with the full hood to minimize the visible lines. It turned out great! They were very professional and listened to my concerns. They even replaced the factory installed film on both the side intakes.

I wanted to post some pictures here, but there is really not much you can see.

Thanks again to Premier Mobile and to F-chat for being the source of the info!

- Cliff

 

great to see these guys still busting their arses for the ferrari comm. klepoy, did u do the pre cut or custom? on my 996 and 355, they cut it all by hand and i honestly couldn't see it when i came out when they were done. i had to look for it for a while before i saw the edge around the corner.

 

speedvet, some areas were pre-cut (side mirrors, headlights), but they also had to do a lot of manual cutting, especially the piece for the entire hood and the full bumper. the job looks very clean.

 

great to see everything worked out. any pictures?

 

Bras are for women and Porsche

12 cylinders or walk

 

As others have stated....this is a job best left to people that are trained. I am also a trained installer on this product and can tell you that until you practice proper stretching of the material, and clean cutting, you have no idea how much time and patience this takes. I did one recently for a customer that bought a Honda Ridgeline truck and when I was finished he said, 'I never in my life would have imagined it was that involved to do,' and was glad he did not attempt it. Good installers are hard to find, so when you find one stick with them. I was at a recent Ferrari show and saw some TERRIBLE installs and can only imagine what the people paid for them. Application of this film is an art form....just watch someone install it and you will understand.

 

I noticed several cars at the Concorso with clear bras. There was no problem seeing the bra - although it obvoiusly does look better than those black vinyl things that so many Porsches wear. I don't get it, if you get a few chips you have the front touched up. With the clear bra the front of your car is always going to look like it has a piece of shrink wrap on it. I'd stick with the stone chips.

 

Well, this has been talked about quite a lot in the past, and the line probably goes right down the middle on who would rather live with chips than film. I'm a film guy, can't stand paint chips (or repaints for that matter). But to each his own.

Gary

 

Great idea, I also found it works well to cover the rear intakes with the stuff, that way I don't get any leaves stuck there-they just blow away.

 

We may want to debate the women part of this statment.

 

Most installations are visible........it really breaks down to a few things on visibility:

It all comes down to two things whether the bra will take away from the appearance of the vehicle:

-clarity of film: ppf's clarity has gone a long way from its inception. There are some films on the market that has excess orange peel texture and is quite visible on any color while more advanced films do not. It is literally night and day between some film manufacturers, which account for its visibility.
-hiding the seams: body panels have gaps and this is where the trick lies. We are able to fold the film and tuck it around the entire panel (in some cases, we would remove the panel itself for the installation if the gap isn't big enough). This is extremely difficult to do and most companies installing this do not know where or how to attempt such custom work.

Again, film takes away from the vehicle's appearance when there's a seam and it exhibits orange peel. Whenever we do a full panel custom installation, this is when even the pros can't tell there's film on the car. Sometimes we psyche ourselves out as each person's assigned to one panel......when we go around the vehicle, sometimes we have to look several times to find that the film is installed

 

You are right. Women should not wear bras. Porsches can becuase they are female.

12 cylinders or walk

 

The 3M bras are great. IMO they work better on lighter colors. My partner has them on a red C6 and silver C6. You can see it pretty clearly on the red, but you have to look to see it on the silver.

Not for me though, as I believe road rash adds character. If it bother me too much I have the front resprayed every couple years.

 

Sam is absolutely correct!!! It is all in the installer. I had the 3M film put on my 512 and they are still fighting it. Three times on and three times off- the last removal resulted in the removal of some paint!! Car is back but I don't know if I will put the film on. It appears to me that the film installer does more damage than a rock hauler with a loose load.

 

Too bad you missed us Don....we just completed our Rennlist and Elise Tour in Austin this past weekend.

 

would you guys come to Denver to do a custom install.. ??

PM if interested

-A

 

If there's enough interest - 10-15 vehicles depending on exact location.