Dif

This is in reference to a thread about clear bra installation.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...plied-fyi.html

I posted in the thread I was going to try doing it myself, .. and good or bad, post the results.
Thanks to everyone who posted in the thread about their own experience putting on clear bra film and wishing me luck.
One thing was consistent, everyone said it was Not going to be easy.
I agreed and had no illusions it would be easy.. and it wasn't.
It's easy to put on, but not easy to put on properly and get good results.

I bought a kit containing film for complete front bumper, 1/3 hood, fenders and mirrors.
The mirrors, hood and front fenders took me about 6 hours.
My results:
I started Saturday, .. first with the post under the passenger mirror to get a feel for it.
Being a small piece it was easy and came out perfect. Same with the driver side.
Now, for the mirrors themselves, ... not so good
Results were not all bad but just not perfect as it was hard learning to properly stretch the film to the curves.
Caused imperfections in the film because I was pushing and working the film too much.
Next I did the front fenders and the results were the same as the mirrors
Now for the hood piece.
It was the biggest piece but laid on easy, the hood being a fairly flat piece.
I took my time and thought it looked really good until I wiped all the soap/slip solution off.
Then saw bubbles under the film ... Not good
The film was pretty well stuck down now and I couldn't squeegee the bubbles out to the edges.
Surprisingly I was able to get some of them out, .. but not all.
Also noticed cloudy areas/spots under the film of the different parts that were applied and I kept trying to correct this.
A couple times I removed the film before it really stuck good and started over with slightly better results.
Being a little discouraged seeing what I was up against, decided to wait, let things settle and try the front bumper another day
After a couple hours passed I went back to get a fresh look at how bad things were.
I was surprised however that everything looked better... not great or real good, but better.
The cloudy areas/spots had disappeared and the film was a lot smoother on all pieces installed.
The bubbles in the hood piece did not go away.
I didn't except them to but,.. I was again surprised that they were smaller now.
Ok, I called it a day and went off to think about my results.
Fast forward to Sunday morning.
Wow, everything looked even better now.
Some bubbles were actually gone, and the rest were now very small.
Was it really good now ? No way. But now it was not real bad anymore.
On the mirrors and fenders, the film was flat and clear but imperfections are in the film,.. which I know now are from overworking it.
Need to be less aggressive when tacking down the edges on curved portions and simply keep working it gently.
The hood still has a few small bubbles and some spots where the bubbles deflated and now look like a bug landed in wet paint and then flew away.
Am I totally happy with the results, .. no.
Have I given up, .. no.
I have paint protection that looks good at a glance but imperfections on close inspection.
Happy I tried it myself and feel better I should be able to replace some of the pieces with better results.
My biggest mistake was trying to make it look perfect as soon it was done by working the film too much which only made it worse.

Make it flat with no bubbles ... the film will settle, clear up, and smooth out more on it's own in a couple days time.

I could be all wrong and only posting my experience and thoughts.
I'm sure a professional installer can make it look Great right away with the film looking even better as it settles in the following days.

When I get around to doing some of the parts over again, and the front bumper I'll post my results again.

That's it's for what it's worth and hope it helps the next DIY 'er

AirBusPilot

The bubbles can be trouble if you try and force them out, as you can stretch the material around the bubble. I'm pretty impatient, so I used the syringe trick, but you have to be very careful.

Most of the flaws will vanish over time, especially if the car gets to sit in the sun.

There is a trick for the mirrors, but I can't remember the sequence! I think if you start at the outside and get it laid down, then stretch it inward toward the car it works, but doing it opposite causes the outside part of the mirror to have "fingers". One my mirrors has it, the other doesn't.

The bumper is extremely difficult, I"m still shocked mine looks so good as I thought for sure it was a lost cause. One thing is the cutout for the flag was too small. I don't know if my 09' has a larger flag, but it wouldn't fit over it properly. You can imagine the horror of finding this out while you have that bumper piece flapping around. The only thing I could do was grab a razor and cut that piece out that leads into the scoop, along with the flag opening (the razor never got near the paint as I pulled the piece up to cut it).

There is a tack down sequence for the bumper in the instructions. Have that handy and follow it. The big stretch will come when you get the center tacked down and then place your hands on the front bumper and stretch it around the curve (under the headlight area) and line up the side marker lights. Get it tacked down at the far edge. Keep it wet, both sides and don't linger too long in one spot until it's all down.

AORoads

Great and honest write up, Dif! And thanks. YOu may want to pull the car out in the sun and let the bubbly areas bake. For small bubbles that's what some installers recommend, and they do go away! See how it looks after a day in the sun.

Dif

Thanks for your input and I know what you mean about the fingers.
That's were I ran into trouble over working the film to make it lay flat.
Like getting painted into a corner, no more room to fit the amount of film still sticking up
I used the syringe on one bubble but it's one of those spots now that looks like a bug was stuck in the paint.
Appreciate the info on the front bumper and studying the sequence in the instructions.
I'll have to check if my cutout for the flags is a tight fit or not like you mention.
Going to have to be in a real good mood before I tackle it

You're Welcome and Thank you.
Car will be in the sun today and we'll see what happens

rxfish

Good luck getting the peices replaced at cost that you would like to do over as advertised! This past weekend I tackled the bumper with a DIY kit. Learned a lot, but it did not come out as well as I had hoped. I think I can do it almost perfect now, learning from my mistakes. I may buy the replacement bumper kit from ClearbraUSA, since the other business will not answer phone, answer e-mail, or call back with my messages. Anyone have any experience with Clearbrausa? They use Ventureshield Plus as there film!

Dif

Thanks for the info. Sorry don't know about ClearBra USA.
Haven't attempted my front bumper yet.
Can almost live with my fenders and mirrors, it's my hood I'd like to do over.
Actually I bought 2 different kits.
One for the whole front bumper and one for the Hood, Fenders and Mirrors.
From what I learned so far, if my Front bumper turns out good, I'll only re-order the kit for the Hood, Fenders and Mirrors.
That kit was just $132.00
Worth it to me to be able to give it another go with hopefully good results.

Dif

Well, gave it a go installing the the front bumper piece.
As hard as I tried the results were the same as the other pieces installed
It's all looking better day by day but will never look perfect.
Certainly not good but liveable for now and at least it's protected from rock dings for the time being.
Next step will simply be a Professional install by a qualified installer
That is all

VatorMan

Thanks for the update-One of the reasons I have an appointment to have mine installed tomorrow.

AirBusPilot

Can you post pics? I'd like to see what you think is fubared.

Dif

It's not quite fubared, or maybe it is but it does leave a lot to be desired.
Definitely operator error
If the bumper gets better as the days pass and then look like the rest of the pieces do now, it's almost livable.
From 5 feet away it looks ok, but up close it's very noticable.
Some of the areas came out perfect, but the biggest problem that occurred are the bubbles.
Even after trying to make sure to get them all out, it seems like some appeared where there wasn't any before
Also there's some areas that look like wispy clouds under the film. ( too much soap in the mix ? )
The cloudy areas should go away though, .. they did with all the first pieces put on.
Here's some of the pic's I could get to come out. Too much glare/shine and couldn't really capture the true look.
Not saying much, but the pictures look worse than it does in person.
In the 1st picture, 90% of the little spots are just dust. Had it outside sitting in the sun.

AirBusPilot

If those are water bubbles just let it bake in the sun. It might take weeks, but they should go away. If they are air bubbles, I don't know, they should lay down with finger pressure.

It'll look 10 times better once it bakes for awhile.

longdaddy

doublepost...

longdaddy

a lot of "shallow" bubbles dissipate with time

in general it is better to leave small imperfections than trying to get curved/large pieces 100% perfect and end up over-stretching or scratching the film

if you can squeegee smaller bubbles into a larger one, you can pop it, although it will leave a visible mark

one more thing - if you want to experiment/practice, you can buy rolls of film and cut your own pieces

Dif

Thank You both for your input, greatly appreciated
Looking at everything today, it is all looking much better
The hood, fenders and mirrors have been in place for 6 days and they look better everyday.
The bumper has only been 2 days now.
Aparently I must have learned something because the bumper is looking as good as the rest in only a couple days.
It all didn't turn out like it should, but does not look like a sore thumb now.
I've also learned to get out the bigger bubbles with the Syringe and not leave a noticable mark
I'll just be leaving well enough alone and see what happens with more time and some baking in the sun.
If nothing else, I like that I have some protection on the car now
Thanks again

longdaddy

that's an awesome idea!

AirBusPilot

You probably already know to fill the syringe about half way with the alcohol/water solution first, then (you can even bend the needle some for the right angle) carefully poke into the bubble, then withdraw the bubble liquid while simultaneously using finger pressure to lay it down. It's a little tricky, but if you do it right it's nearly invisible.

Dif

Yea, there was a Syringe included in the installation kit.

Didn't know that , but do now
What I did was poke the needle into the bottom edge of the bubble, level with the paint, and had the angled part of the needle facing up.
That way the pointiest part of the needle went in easier being level with the surface.
Then with the needle inside the bubble, rotated the needle so the angled part was facing down against the paint, and then pulled on the plunger.
As it sucked up the liquid at the level of the paint surface, it made the bubble collapse flat against the paint in the process.
Removed the needle and gently pressed where the bubble was with my finger

AirBusPilot

By partially filling the syringe first it keeps you from adding air to the bubble.

gospeedgo

Experience is everything with this product. I had the same issues when I did my first car. You can get most of the bubble out with a very thin Insulin Syringe.