Still strugling with Clear Bra!
 

Dear members,

I am yet to find a place where I can get a clear bra installation for a good price. I have one place that is charging 1050 and says "we are more expensive, but they do a better job" and another place which is $645 and says "my price is low because I do it at my own house"

What would you guys do?

I would probably pay a professional to do it. If the guy who does it out of his house seems like a good person I would go with him. But I would go with a shop professional any day of the week.

I was in the same situation as you....wanted a clear bra but didn't want to pay upwards of $1000 to buy and install.

So.....I bought a pre-cut clear bra kit for $3xx and installed it myself. Turned out to be really nice fit and finish. I have no experience with clear bras or window tint installation and mine turned out great. I did have a buddy with me to help as two people make it easier, but we were both inexperienced. I did have to buy a squeegee, baby shampoo, and rubbing alcohol. <$10

9,000 miles later and no chips anywhere. (knock on wood)

I paid to have mine done. I would not go to someone's home to do it. A professional shop can measure and laser cut the bra by machines. If you go to someone's home, he would put the bra on your car first then use a razor to cut it. Chances are he will leave a cut mark on your paint too and the bra edges are not straight.

Also if you do it at the guy's home, there is no warranty with the bra. if something is wrong with the bra, you come back and look for him, how do you know he still lives there two months from now?

Dont bother to do it yourself. you will see bubbles sooner or later. and bubbles will work like magnifying glass under the hot sun. It will smoke your paint to charcoals.

Paid for it to be done by professionals and was VERY happy with the result. I would never take a chance on a 'cheap' car bra....

PS: Get the edges wrapped for a super clean look.

My car has the full front and 24" of hood etc and you can barely see it...

http://www.the370z.com/members/wheee...ove-colour.jpg

Thanks!

That is one sexy color you got there! :tup:

Yup. that's why the color is called, 'sexy cherry'.

Actually in Canada it is Black Rose and my wife has named the car RoZee... :icon17:

[QUOTE=wheee!;412855]I would never take a chance on a 'cheap' car bra.... [QUOTE]

I don't consider 3M cheap.

[QUOTE=Premo34WV;413511][QUOTE=wheee!;412855]I would never take a chance on a 'cheap' car bra.... :rofl2: 3M is definitely not cheap! What I meant was a "discount" or "cheap" install price! Meaning a less than professional install. As for your DIY skills, kudos to you for doing a good job! I would have never attempted it!!! :tup:

I got mine done for about $600 at a professional shop. If the guy knows what he's doing and stands by his work I wouldn't hesitate to take it there. He doesn't have nearly the overhead that a shop does so of course it will be cheaper.

invisishield.com they have a cheap clear cover

what do you mean by "wrapped"?

Wrapped edges go all the way around and are not cut on the hood. Usually just for the hood. Looks way cleaner.

Great looking car - what rims are those? I don't recognize them as the standard package rims that I see on the 370Z's here in Florida. And, with this clear bar installed how do you wax the car - is the clear bra waxable and how does it shine compared to the normal finish on the car?

Thanks!

why not try installing it yourself? it's not rocket science if you get the pre-cut ones.

Auto Paint Guard Inc. Tampa Florida Clear Bra 3M Paint Protection Film Car Bras

The rims are winter wheels, Enkei EK2 Eurosport 18" with Dunlop Graspics... the sport rims are in the garage! Check the sig....

Waxing should not be required on the clear bra. I use a simple wipe on product that goes on while the car is still wet after being washed. It polishes as you shammy it dry and looks great on my Lincoln MKX. I have not had the chance to try it on the Z yet though. The MKX shines equally brilliant with the wax but i do the whole vehicle with that product, bra included. As for a hard wax, I will have to try it and find out this spring.... I don't think that it would HURT the clear bra, but I don't see a benefit either as wax fills in the pores of the paint to make it shine and the plastic film is smooth already.
:tup:

good site. I got a clear bra for the front fender, partial hood today. Pretty expensive! i want to do the two doors, to save money, i might buy a pre-cut bra and do it myself.

You can re-paint your whole car for $1,000!

Hi - I was offered the 3m Clear bra by the dealer when I bought my car yesterday. I am paying $900 for partial hood, headlights, front bumper, mirrors, full fenders and it is wrapped. He said normally the price from the dealer is around $1495 to have done but because they screwed up a little with missing options on my car they brought it down to $900 after tax so I'm bringing mine back to the dealer tomorrow to get done! I had been quoted by a professional shop in the local area for $1300 w/o headlights wrapped edges. Nissan in this area has a couple guys that only do Nissans but my dad had them put in the verbiage that "customer expects wrapped edges as well if there are any imperfections in the job that the job will be redone at no additional cost to the customer." So when I pick it up Monday afternoon I'm going over every part of that clear bra to make sure it was done right! Then I can finally start to enjoy the car w/o worrying about chips on the front.

No kidding. That's why I'm not bothering with a bra. And touch up paint is far cheaper if you get a stone chip(s).

Lots of competition in Houston. Lots of high-end cars. Lots of debris on the freeway. I guess we're fortunate to have good prices on this stuff. I got Venture Shield half hood and fenders, full front bumper and mirrors for $450. It was a no-brainer at that price.

A $1000 repaint will be cheap and show it. Touch-up has never worked for me. I guess I just don't know how to do it right. I have sandblasted the fronts of my last three really nice convertibles. I'm not doing it with this one. So far, the clear bra has been great and well worth the expense for me.

I think that would be overkill if you got your whole front fenders and hood done. I paid $400 for front bumper, half the hood, half the fenders, and mirrors. I love it, its on a Black Cherry roadster and is hardly noticeable. I just use the Turtle Bug & Sap remover on it if I ever get anything stuck on it.

Try Phil if You are Close Enough
 

Don't know if you are close to Phil's Shop, but take a look at how it's done right in your area: Clear Film Installs

Pay the piper the first time around and you'll be very happy in the long-run.

I've bought goodies from Phil, and he does a person right.

I found an installer in Allentown PA..not too far from where I live in NJ. He is doing the install for $800 flat.

There are tons of videos for both research an how to apply it, youtube ftw.

Some things you should NEVER do ,like in this video 3:20 minutes in,cutting the clearbra on a car is a sure sign your in the wrong place,most professional installers have a machine that cuts the patterns to the correct size, more then one person n the forums have had there paint cut by bad installers.

YouTube - Applying Clear Paint Protection Film by DECALFX.COM

Razor blades an paint don't mix well .

Hello. The application of the clear bra to be honest isn't really a "do it yourself" type job. A beginner isn't going to get the film to lay down perfectly without stretch marks, lift lines, dust, miss alignment etc. However some people love to try and do it themselves. Perfection not might be everyones goal, but at least it is protected. That is how I got into the business 10 years ago, bought a kit online and ended up in the trash. :eek: At any rate if you feel you are still up to the challenge, shoot me an e-mail, I can help you out with pricing etc.
Thanks
Ryan@autopaintguard.com

I agree with you, Zigen5. I did the same thing on black and it looks great. I also got the back half of the rocker panels done since I was already showing marks there as well and paid $640. Although some people don't like the almost invisible line the film makes and end up covering the whole fender and the whole hood.

Any advice on polishing the car paint that is not covered by the film? Would you do it? Will it make the paint look noticably different or would you simply wax it?

Also, the guy that installed my film said you could wax the car and film with a synthetic wax and as long as you go away from the bra it will be unnoticable at the seem. Any thoughts on waxing the bra?

I'm trying to get the local guy that tinted my window to do the clear bra. He is affiliated with Llumar and he gets the pieces already laser cut. Trying to deal on a price.

I had mine done in NJ by a guy who does it out of his house but is a licensed 3M installer and the work is warrantied. A local shop recommended him to me because the shop didnt have an installer. His price was about right for what I had done, $800.

no reason to frown on someone who works out of his house. No need to rent shop space when a lot of their work is on the road. The guy that does mine runs his business from home, and does installs both there and on the road, including almost all of the high end auto dealerships in Atlanta.

That and I run my powdercoat shop from home, I just refuse to throw money away on rent when I can do it perfectly fine in the space I have.