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  • 2005 - 2014 S-197 Mustang -General/Talk-
  • 2010 - 2014 Specific Tech

paint protection / clear bra ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Meltdown70
  • Start date Start date Sep 8, 2011
M

Meltdown70

New Member
Aug 25, 2011
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1
Colorado Springs
Sep 8, 2011
#1
  • Sep 8, 2011
  • #1
I'm looking into the 3m clear bra for my 2012 GT. Any suggestions or warnings? I know there are other brands out there too.
 
P

pmorritt

New Member
Feb 3, 2011
12
0
1
Sep 27, 2011
#2
  • Sep 27, 2011
  • #2
first --do not do it yourself! Once its on its on. I paid about 600 for the clear bra and install. Hood, fenders, all of bumper. Have a pro do it-its that hard to get it correct on the first try.
 
S

Supraman7675

New Member
Oct 6, 2011
2
0
0
Oct 6, 2011
#3
  • Oct 6, 2011
  • #3
My 12' Gt had a clear bra installed on the hood, bumper, mirrors, and about 7" high on the side of the back bumper where mud and debris fly up past the plastic trim. The place that I had this done at did the hood first because they knew it would be the hardest with all of the curves in it. They tried it first with a brand called "Venture Shield" this brand is reletively thick but on the downside it leaves creases and stretch marks on the curves and makes your paint appear to have orange peel (atleast with my car being black). The place that did this application said it looked horrible so they took it off. They did everything else on the car in a brand called Avery. This looks very good and you can barely tell it is there. BUT MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR THE WHOLE HOOD. I went to several places and they all try not to do the whole hood because they have a computer cutter that cuts out all there peices and the typical hood cutout only goes up the hood about 8-12", and when you ask for the whole hood they have to actually take a strip of material and cut it up by hand for your hood. I could not get the whole hood anywhere. (Venture brand has peices of material that are this long, my hood is +60", but like i said Venture brand sucks!) Scotch 3m and Avery do not sell rolls long enough to cover the hood completely. The best I got was 49" which is, of course a lot better than the 1ft computer cutout, because if you think about it how sick would you be if you paid $700-$900 for this and you ended up getting multiple chips 1-2 inches above where the computer cutout ends. Don't get me wrong this computer cutout will probably catch 80% of the chips but why risk it? After my hood was done in the Avery it looks very good but close up you can see what looks like water marks, this is not the case, these are simply imperfections in the material itself only visable when the car is just cleaned on an overcast day. But keep in mind that no film is completely invisible and the chief purpose is protection. -Just my $.02
 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
Admin Dude
Jan 4, 1985
42,973
21,152
234
Box behind Walmart
Oct 6, 2011
#4
  • Oct 6, 2011
  • #4
Why on earth would you do the whole hood? It's meant to be a rock/chip guard and not seal the entire car for freshness.
 
T

tfalk

Founding Member
Jan 19, 2001
1,798
3
39
Under my Saleen or FFR Coupe
Oct 6, 2011
#5
  • Oct 6, 2011
  • #5
$750 to have it done on my 2011 Saleen Convertible... already saved me a couple of spots.
The line on the hood is about 8 inches up from the front edge... In daylight, it's pretty much invisible
unless you are really looking for it. On the hood, it's most obvious if you are standing by the
fenders looking towards the front, you can barely see the edge.
 

Ateup

Active Member
Sep 21, 2009
748
2
28
Oct 6, 2011
#6
  • Oct 6, 2011
  • #6
Noobz347 said:
Why on earth would you do the whole hood? It's meant to be a rock/chip guard and not seal the entire car for freshness.
Click to expand...

I was gonna post the exact same thing.
 

julieloiuse

New Member
Oct 18, 2011
25
0
0
NC, USA
Oct 19, 2011
#7
  • Oct 19, 2011
  • #7
Just let the experts do it...!
 
D

devildog1679

New Member
Sep 6, 2011
10
0
1
Oct 29, 2011
#8
  • Oct 29, 2011
  • #8
Just had venture shield put on my Kona, looks great.
 
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