Anyone have this on the front bumper, lower part of the hood? I saw a C6 with it on the weekend and thought it may be the way to go with black paint. I seems once/twice a week there is another stone chip on the front of my FRC....

TIA

 

yes i have it and installed it myself, took some patients but it sure does a great job! my car came with it on it but it was showing some age, i pulled it off and there was not a single mark after 74k miles, i reinstalled using 3M's product

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...yesterday.html


Search using "clear bra". Lots of threads for you to browse.

 

I ordered the $40 ebay clear bra.....will let you know how it goes once I get it!

 

Although I love the idea of using this product (had it on 2 cars), I will say this. I recently peeled it off the front bumper of my everyday car, an 06' Eclipse (beautiful UV blue color), and I could not believe my eyes when it took the top layer of clearcoat off with it. This may have happened because the car is used everyday (75,000 miles). Maybe it was almost "baked" on there. I'm really not sure. I've heard of this happening to others but thought it wouldn't happen to my car. I was wrong and it really did some damage to the front of my car.

This is the second vehicle I've had the clear protection on. It is an excellent product for what it is, but if you have a mis-hap like I did, you will be paying to have your front bumper re-cleared or re-painted anyway. If you use your car everyday, it certainly helps protect the paint, BUT... after 3-4 years, it will start to turn "cloudy looking" and beat up from the rocks hitting it and you WILL want to remove it. This is where the trouble comes in. It is not easily removed because it stretches as it peels and it is a very tough material. Once you get all of it off, there will be residue from the glue on your paint which is another hassle to remove.

If you only use the car occasionally, it may be worth it to you. There are pros and cons to this product. I like it and I don't. Good luck.

 

My garage queen 02 (27K miles) had the complete 3M kit professionally installed when new. It's turning yellow (over Speedway White) factory paint -- especially on the lower panels for some reason. It seems to handle road rash fine, but the yellowing is an issue. Not a fan.....

 

Good review by Shirl. I have the 3M clear bra on both my C5 and my DD. It has been on the C5 since it was basically new and on my DD since new also (2008). The film does protect the front end from damage and so far has remained clear and in very good shape. I did have to take the front fascia portion off my DD due to getting a small crack in the fascia repaired and it was a PITA to get the adhesive off once I got the film peeled away from the car.

It is also not cheap to get installed unless you can do it yourself, which takes some skill to get it right.

 

every time i take out my vette i get a damn rock chip

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...yesterday.html

 

That $40 kit is not paint protection film and should not be called a clear bra. You just bought a kit made out of clear vinyl. You simply cant get paint protection film for $40. I have been installing clear bras and vinyl for a long time and have always warned people to stay away from ebay kits. Most of them are junk and they market clear vinyl as paint protection film. That vinyl will NOT stop rocks and will be really difficult to remove inthe future.

If you really want to protect your paint you need to buy a kit from a reputable installer/dealer. Ventureshield Ultra and Avery Nano Fusion are two good films... and Xpel makes a good film as well. I recommend the Avery for a self install if you can get it. But expect the film to cost you a lot more money.

 

This product is excellent for daily drivers as well as garage queens. For anyone wanting to protect their vehicle it is a must with today's water based paints. It will save you a lot of time and worry... and will increase the resale value of your car. Shop around and ask questions regarding this product. Its been on the market for 20 years now (some areas more than others) and it works. There are good films and bad ones, the key is to finding a good one with a good installer.

 

Read the bold!! I will need to paint the front clip in the spring of 2013 anyways! Money is tight! Wife has been off work with a broken foot for 5 weeks now!!!

Again, I'll advise what the material is when this stuff shows up!

 

Sorry for your situation. I wasnt trying to come at you or anything. But what you have in bold is simply falase advertising by the person who sold it to oyu. It is not a clear bra. It is clear vinyl and is only made for vehicle wraps for advertising. It will not protect your paint and it will be a PITA to remove. Just lettting you know...

Hope the wife gets to feeling better. Mine is 6 weeks from giving birth to our first child so I know how having a wife down can be. Take care...

 

It's all good, I know you were only giving us a friendly warning!!
Congrats on the child!

 

You should use steam to remove film

 

My car was already 10 months old when the film was applied by a professional. The clearcoat and paint on the Mitsubishi is VERY high quality. Such high quality in fact, that I was pelted with a load of 1"-2" rocks by a reckless tandem and not one of them chipped the paint on the hood or bumper. This occurred BEFORE the film was installed.

In addition, when I peeled the film off, the TOP layer of clearcoat w/blue paint came off, not the ENTIRE paint job. This was 3M film installed by a 3M professional.


Finally, the RIGHT ANSWER. 3M is too adhesive and can damage your car upon removal.

When you removed the film, the paint underneath was probably near perfect (rock chips do go through the film on occasion and booger up the film and the paint under it).

However, most importantly, you failed to mention that the REST of the paint on the car was sun-faded. I'm glad you mentioned this also, because now I remember that I had to have the entire hood and bumper of my other car re-painted to match the part that was covered by the film for 4 years.

If a car sits in the sun or is driven for 4 years, 6 years, or any number of years for that matter, the paint under the film WILL NOT MATCH the rest of the paint on the hood or adjoining areas. Keep this in mind, because not only will you be paying for the film (in the ballpark of $1,000), you will eventually be paying for paint work (another $1,000 or more). So in essence, you are spending a lot of money TWICE: once for the film and then once again for the paint job.

It is advisable for anyone looking to use this product to talk to customers who have used it. There are pros and cons to using this film.

 

Shirl I am sorry you had a bad experience with your clear bra. But I can tell you that you are misled with a lot of the information you have posted. Paint protection film would have gone out a long time ago because it would not serve the purpose it is intended to serve. If after this post you are not satisfied I will be more than happy to provide you a long list of clients that you are welcome to call and find out their long term experiences. Film has been around for about 20 years now so there are a lot of people who have used it for a very long time.

First, factory paint does not always mean it is a good paint job. If you ran behind a vehicle dropping 1-2" stones and did not receive any damage on your vehicle that is amazing. A 1" stone will not only chip the paint it will dent the panel it hits.... and the damage a 2" stone would do would be much worse. Now I worked on a 2004 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas edition once. After the film was on for 24 hours I noticed a flaw in the material so I went to remove it. When I did it lifted the clear coat in a single sheet. The paint underneath it did not look right so I recommended the owner take it to the dealership and have it looked at. They did and low and behold admitted the paint job was very poor and for some reason the clear did not bond to the paint. The entire car had to be repainted... and this was a $90,000 car, not a Mitsubishi. Point being that any car can have a poor paint job on it... and if it cant take the equivalent of a bumper sticker being applied and removed then it is a poor paint job. It happens...

Second, yes 3M is a strong adhesive. I agree. But that is not the case with other films and even so it still should not lift paint.

Finally the film has a slight UV inhibitor to prevent the adhesive from yellowing... but it still allows sunlight through. I have been installing film for 9 years now and not once have I ever seen paint fade at a different rate than the rest of the car. I gave an example of a 6 year old car that sat in the sun everyday and the paint was perfect under the film once removed. The paint faded at the SAME rate the rest of the car did. Again if paint faded at a different rate the case paint protection film installers would be out of business. Why protect a car to only end up with two tone paint? And now that I think about it, if the paint were to fade at a different rate then it would be OBVIOUS while it is on the car as the film is clear. So you would see a two tone car with film on it... again that just isn't the case. Now a leather bra will cause that as it blocks the sunlight from reaching the paint... but that's ONLY if it is left on all the time.

If you would like some more information or to talk to any customers that have used it for long periods of time I will be happy to provide that to you.

By the way I have worked on hundreds of cars over the years (including replacing 3M film that had been applied to other vehicles) so I do have a little experience in this. I have honestly never seen any paint fade difference. The only difference you will notice is the paint that was under the film will be as new as the day it was put on. The paint that wasnt protected will have swirl marks in it as well as any other damage that may have occured.

 

Well, I guess my cars must have terrible stock paint and my film was no good, even though it was made by 3M and professionally installed. If that is the case, then it should be noted (once again) that this can happen to ANYONE.

I appreciate your input on the matter and my opinion still stands.
There are pros and cons to using this product.

I wish you luck with your business.

 

It doesnt mean that the paint was terrible... sometimes during the painting process contamination gets in it which causes the clear to not bond properly with the paint. And sometimes it is simply a bad paint job. It happens... and the possibility is always there that paint can lift. I have just personally expereinced poor paint jobs much more often than adhesive lifting paint... especially these days with the sheer number of paint shops out there that only try and make a quick buck. I mean you would expect for paint to be strong enough for a bumper sticker to not lift paint off the car. This is about the same thing. If this were a common occurance it wouldnt take long for the industry to die off... word of mouth via the internet can travel fast.

One thing is for sure, there is nothing for certain in life except for death... and higher taxes.

 

Installing my $25 (plus $15 shipping) ebay kit right now.

Very easy to do. Easy to work with. So far so good!!

Will post up pics after!!!!