Avoiding stone chips?

If you don't want chips, stay off of the highway. If you must drive on the highway, the 3m clear bra, has pretty good reviews from users here.
Personally, I tend to stay off of the highways whenever possible and I don't have a chip problem. (no bra either)

 

Ferrari paint, especially from the 80s, is junk. Soft and very vulnerable to chips. If you want to avoid them, either plasticwrap the front of it with the 3M stuff, or don't drive it.


Mine has chips on the BACK deck. Sheesh!

 

Joe,

The only way to avoid stone chips is not to drive your car. Go ahead and get the clear 3M tape applied to the front of your car. Cover the lenses too. The technician won't damage your car with the razor blade.

I've never applied the 3M tape to my 308. It gets chipped and has been touched up in the past. I had just the bumper done on the 550. On the way home, I got a stone chip on the hood just byond the upper margin of the bumper. That's gonna happen. I know someone who also 3M'ed the front third of his 550's hood and fenders in addition to doing the bumper. He got a stone chip on the hood 5 mm beyond the margin of the tape.

The windshield is always at risk. There's very little that can be done about that.

Just drive your car and enjoy it. Take it on the track if you really want some patina!

Barry

 

How fast do you go in reverse, Tillman?

 

I know how you feel man. When I went looking to buy a car I looked and bought at the top of the market. When I bought my 83 308 GTS a few years ago it had been completely stripped, repainted and put back together with out even the slightest mark anywhere on the car. I've hand whipped it down after every drive. But I too, see the small marks, chips and such. I don't think anything can be done other then for me to remember the words I told myself before I bought the car..."I'm going to drive my Ferrari when I get it!" and "What the hell am I saving it for, Drive it".

I absolutely stay off the back of other cars especially trucks, but I have found it's just best to be in front of them all!

I also try to avoid as much debris as I can to keep it from hitting the sides of the car.

My car has painted bumpers and top, so in time, as maintenance I will have them repainted and try to do what I can to hold on too her beauty.

Chris

 

LOL! I thought I was the only one who had that problem!

I thought they used lacquer in the 80s?! That stuff is hard as rock. As far as paint, the new stuff isn't any better. My BMW (04) has chips all over the front air damn. You can scratch by running your finger nail over the surface. Stuff is crap.

Oh, my local guy said he'd charge about $200 to do the lower spoiler, the nose and the lower fenders behind the rear wheels.

 

I find new chips in my paint every day! Here in the north east, whenever I'm driving around town, I can literally hear the rocks bouncing off the car. But it's better with the tubi....I don't hear it as much!

I think we should all wrap our cars in 3m. that should have been standard with all the new cars. Are those things easy to remove?

Ace

 

Joe
I never understood the 3m bra-I personally think it makes the car look horrible. Dont feel too bad about a chip here and there, a friend of mine was over the other day and joked that I have more chips than paint on my TR front bumper. Next winter I will get it sprayed....again. The nice thing about black is that it is a lot easier to match that color than most other colors.

 

Maybe it's just my age, but I just don't worry about paint chips. Drive, get chips. Don't drive, get no chips. There seem to be two schools of thought here: Those that are obsessed with the art/beauty of the breed, and those who are obsessed with the machinery. The former will be worried about paint chips, the latter about that "funny noise". It's a prime example of pleasure/pain.

 

That's not a healthy attitude to have about a car.

Right.

 

Ditto.

Ditto.

FWIW, the front valance on my 328 has been resprayed at least three times, most recently during my ownership.

 

I would bet that with 15K miles and zero stone chips the front end was resprayed before you bought the car. Red is hard to do, but with black it can be matched so you would never know.

Front-end resprays are just par for the course. I saw a couple of 360s having it done over a Bobileffs back before the F430 came out.

As Tillman! posted, Ferrari paint is about the least durable I've seen (other than the early waterborne paints on Mercedes in the late '90s, which seemed to chip while the car was parked under a cover...)

 

Am I the only one who believes that stone chips give cars character?

You can always remove them at a body shop for the same price of a clear bra...

 

My 308 has a lot of character then! Not for long though. I am considering either a protective film or just accept it and maybe respray the affected parts within a few years time.
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It is a loosing battle. Just accept them. No one else is looking to see your stone chips. I had a Porsche 930 some years ago and those cars really take a hit. Mine looked like someone took a sandblaster to it yet I still got compliments on the car. It is just us anal retentive types that suffer from the chips.
Here in New Mexico we have to be more concerned when the car is outside at rest. Our sun is so strong and we have some serious wind gusts and dust devils that will sandblast your car. A dust devil hit my Toyota tacoma and made the glass look like a 200000 mile vehicle with pock marks including paint removal. Cars in the parking lot next to me lost glass - mine was just blasted. I also have no choice but to park at work under trees that leave sap and bird crap all over my car. It is just a loosing battle. I drive my car and deal with the patina. Anytime I have had any garage queen car or motorcycle I end up selling it because it is way to nice to subject to the Santa Fe conditions. I've always been happier with all my classic cars when they have a patina. Sort of like an old leather jacket that becomes your best friend. I'll take a rusty, dinged and dented Ferrari GTO and drive daily versus the guys that have mint examples under glass in their museum-like garages! If you notice in some auctions, as-found original crusty cars generate a lot more excitement than mint restored ones - sort of tells a story. Maybe one day my daughter will inherit a car of mine and will be able to look at it and know that I put all of the wear on it.

 

Oh man do I feel this way too! But I had read online that washing your Ferrari by hand is the one of the most enjoyable things you can do, feeling every curve, seeing all the fabrication details. And I know how finding yet "Another Chip" can take away from that. I have a few dings that have come up and one small chip in the windshield that hurts a little, but I'm still going to drive this car's wheels off!

And I agree, the 3M stuff looks like crap.

 

I bought my 430 new and drove about 100 miles to get home and it had its first tiny chips. My wife was a little bummed but I said the only alternative is to not drive it in which case I might as well sell it. Colorado is really bad in terms of rock chips. The roads are covered with pebbles and stones all made of very hard granite. Cars take a beating. You can reduce chips somewhat by just staying out of traffic as much as possible. In my experience, the worst hits come from vehicles coming the other direction on two lane roads. I agree with others about 15K and no chips. I don't see how that is possible. The front is low and the paint Ferrari uses is not very durable. My 430 now has 14K on it and has lots and lots of chips. Chips happen.

Dave

 

Are you guys calling the 3M clear bras the same thing as the invis-a-shield stuff? I see the invis-a-shield stuff on a lot of cars and you have to get real close to tell that anything is there. The failry flat sections on the fronts of 3x8's and mondial's makles it easy to install by someone who knows what they are doing. I an thinking of getting it done to my 328, if after awhile you don't like it just take if off. For now I just use some touch-up paint and polish to deal with my chips, but I do have some clear protective coverings for the driving/fog lights, because as well all know they are almost impossible to find at any price.

 

Same stuff, Doug.

Wise move. What film thickness did you use?

Barry

 

+1

I don't see what you guys are talking about with the ugly factor on the 3M shields. Is a couple of lines here and there more ugly than pimple face stone chips? I know its far from an ideal solution but in the front, it can't do anything but help with the chips. My only fear is removing the darn thing. I was even thinking of getting a car bra but I know those thing look ugly and can easily scratch paint if a rock gets under it.

On a separate note, what sort of car seat covers do you guys use to reduce the "patina" on the side bolsters? Oh heck, let me just cover the entire car while I'm driving down the street....where's that photo....

Ace