I want to put a front mask or bra on my car. Considering putting a silver or black one on. Looking to cover the front lic plate area (no cut out) but not cover the lights but am a little scared it might mark the paint. Do not want to mark the car up with hardware either. Any recommendations, purchase places (I've got Ecklers and Mid America already). Would like to benifit from your experience when making a decision.

 

I bought the Colgan Mask from Mid-America. My 2000 FRC is torch red and mask is same color along with mirror covers. No brackets required and easy to put on. Just keep covered area waxed well in between trips and you're good to go. Mask is a custom fit. I'm pleased with product. It costs more but I've seen some of the cheap ones and they're not for me. Hope this helps.

 

SpeedLingerie for me. I like the color match and the fit is perfect. Installation and removal is not a problem at all by myself.

If you install one, and you drive in the rain......take it off !

Grit, grime and moisture are not a good mix for the paint!

 

Have you thought about getting the 3M film put on? No concerns with dust, moisture, etc.

 

I have the GM bra..fits great...got mine from Fitchner

FWIW a forum member with the Colgan Carbon Fiber bra had it come loose yesterday and put 3 chips in her hood....BTW the thing never fit well and has come off before...just FYI

 

no!

 

I have a speed Ling. on mine. It has saved my front from numerous paint chipa and other dings.

I wax the front often and use the car wash to wash the inside of the bra to get any dirt out of the flannel.

I get a few small swirls, but I run it all the time. (not wet). I can eaily buff teh swirls out..


It take 5 hp to use one.

 

Go with the 3m clear bra. By far the best. Make sure it is 3m, not generic. Tha triditional braws allow dirt/dust and moisture to get traped underneth the bra, causing the paint to get heavily sctatched over time. If the clear bra is installed properly you can't tell its even there. You are better off with no bra, driving behind dump trucks than a vinal bra. The chips will be less noticable than the scratches it put into it. At my work they have a guy come in and install the 3m clear bra's. I have seen him do them on ferrari's, lambo's, bentlys, porsch's, benz's bmw,s ect and it does a great job.

 

ok, I have to disagree with this part I had a GM bra on my 99 for most of its life and it always looked perfect.....it fits tight and stays dry underneath even during the heaviest Florida downpours...it is a 2 piece bra and for the most part where the hood piece and the fascia piece meet it forms a pretty good seal....the majority of moisture / dirt comes in from the sides near the wheel wells. I always removed it and washed it if it got wet or dirty as well as part of normal maintenance. I also washed it in my front loader machine and dried it on low..never an issue....I have had 2 of them now since 99 and only replaced the first one as it was looking worn around the edges from normal wear.
The myths that people contiinue to put out there are from the ill fitting car bras of the 70's and 80's....most quality bras made today fit much better. Also 99.9 % of the Vette owners maintain their car to the point where the accumulation of dirt etc is unlikely.

 

Exactly, you alwise washed it. If you didn't it would get sctached. Those style bra's are very high maintnence. I was a head detailer at a small body shop for 3 years and I probly had to buff out 300 or so cars because the bra's damaged the paint. about half of those had scrathes so deep they couldn't be buffed out, even with wet sanding first. The clear bras are no maintnnce. You just wash the car as normal, like its paint. It is impossable for dirt to get underneath it.You can't even tell they are their other than the edges are slightly visable.

 

well yeah thats just it.....and not to make this big ole pizzin match but I have always taken good care of my cars and MOST Vette owners are very **** about their rides although I have seen some that make me In your business I am sure you saw both ends of the spectrum..people who had their car detailed because they wanted to keep it nice and people who were to fkin lazy to even hose it off if a bird crapped on it more likely than not the latter group had the issues you described although there is that percenatge in the first group who wouldn't know the first thing about car care except they liked a clean car. Also people who don't know better would buy a cheap bra that didn't fit well because they couldn't see spending $$$ on something that looked just like something that only cost $ and supposedly did the same job.
Anyway I am just posting my experience....like I said earlier in this thread a friend of mine here paid $$$$ for a Colgan CF bra and it didn't fit well....or rather tight like my GM bra...yesterday that $$$$ bra came loose and put 3 nice big nicks in the hood. Needless to say that person is

Anyway....good luck with whatever you decide to buy tsts



oh yeah..the Cleartastic stuff definetly works..

 

Go with the 3m clear bra. By far the best. Make sure it is 3m, not generic. Tha triditional braws allow dirt/dust and moisture to get traped underneth the bra, causing the paint to get heavily sctatched over time. If the clear bra is installed properly you can't tell its even there. You are better off with no bra, driving behind dump trucks than a vinal bra. The chips will be less noticable than the scratches it put into it. At my work they have a guy come in and install the 3m clear bra's. I have seen him do them on ferrari's, lambo's, bentlys, porsch's, benz's bmw,s ect and it does a great job. [/QUOTE]


I bought a Colgan about a month ago and Wash my car every week. Each week I've been finding a lot of small pieces of graval traped under the bra. I just removed it again, before reading this thread, and have noticed pits and scratches. Unless you plan on removing the bra daily to clean, I'd say it's not worth it. Waste of $100 for daily driving.

 

I think the Colgans just don't fit as well....the Speed Lingerie fit the tightest as far as bras go...the GM fits damn snug....the 3M stuff is by far the best for not showing that you have "protection"

 

Thanks guys, nice range of opinions and experience. GM Bra seems to be well liked, some recommendations for Speed lingeree and some questions raised about Colgan. Besides the obvious reason for installing a Bra my secondary purpose has to do with Laser speed traps, I've read that they don't like cars with bras, especially black ones. In general, I'd like to go with a GM product if they come recomended; I'll wait and see if this thread provides any more good information like that above.
Thank You everyone.

Can someone explain more about the 3M Bra, Is it a process (spray) or something else? Does it affect laser beam operation like that spray on stuff used to thwart laser guns?

 

I don't care what you put on your car..teh laser is gonna get ya...only thing I heard that MIGHT help is a jammer but never actually used one or seen it in use so I can't speak on that subject

 

cleartastic


http://www.cleartastic.com/

 

I'm also considering a shifter or blocker, I just want to have as much of an "edge" as possible working for me. I'll read your thread for Cleartastic. Thanks

 

We have two sets of Speed Lingerie (mask and mirror covers), one was for my 00 DBG coupe and one for our 01 torch vert. We only use the torch ones on highway trips, but I was using the DBG a lot before I traded the 00 (now I need MY, but that's another story). Anyway, for a while, I got lazy about taking the mask off, and it had rained on it alot. When I finally removed it, there was some grit that had gotten under the edge close to the wheel wells, and my paintlooked a little dulled (but not really scratched). I used a little polish on it and it then looked ok again. But it has made me a little cautious about using masks. I have to wonder how many times you can use polish or scrath removed before all the clear coat is gone. I guess it still better than the chips and dull marks you get from rocks and big hard bugs. Speed Lingerie does fit much better than other masks that I wasted my money on. And I like the color match. We bought some cleartastic once, but I didn't come with good instructions and had many little pieces plus it didn't seem to want to stick well.

 

yeah that is just a link to Cleartastic..forum sponsor

as for the shifter as I understand it you have to activate it when you get hit by laser..kinda asking alot when you are crapping your pants as the radar detector screams out if you ever heard an X50 go off in laser mode you will know what I mean...scares the crap out of you

 

I've got the E-Z fit mask from Ecklers. It's thin nylon but does a great job for bugs and track junk. Plus it rolls up into a tiny bag and fits in the right storage bin when not in use. I only use it for track days or long trips and it goes on and off in about 1 minute. I had a black one, now they make colors so I bought a blue one, looks great. I had the GM bra but it came with the wrong snaps so I returned it and got this one, I love it.

Cleartastic needs to be installed by a body shop or pro - I tried to do it behind the wheels and it is not easy at all. I now use a clear shelf paper from Target on track days, a $5 roll lasts a season and it take it off when I'm done.

You can see it on my car in my avatar if you look close.

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...&dept%5Fid=174