For the guys with and without paint protection products and some mileage under the belt:

Do you think getting a full hood is overkill? I am probably getting mine done this week and installer seemed to steer me away from full hood saying the kit which includes front bumper, 20% hood, partial fenders and mirrors would be sufficient. I have been staying off the highways during my break-in but I'm wondering if the 370 hood is susceptible to rock damage higher up on the hood. I mean, for the most part, where do you guys seem to find your chips appearing (besides front fascia of course). Oh yeah, what about rear panels/doors? Obviously, the price is substantially higher so finding the right balance is what I'm after.

Thanks

steveg78,

Honestly, the success of a good clear bra relies upon two things:

1) Good product, and even more so,
2) A very competent installer.

Find a car gathering event close to you and show up to look at the rides. You should be able to find owners who have done minor to custom clear bra installs. They can can also tell you the pros and cons, BUT more so you can see how the results turn out on what you are looking to do.

The cost to get the whole hood done is probably more than it would cost to paint it.

Ive also read that on darker cars its not as clear appearing as it is on lighter colors.

I have the half hood (probably more like 40% hood - it's about even with the back of the headlights) and I don't see a need to go higher. The edge of the clearbra is noticeable when the car is dirty, less so when it's clean. On a darker color it might be more noticeable. If the price isn't much different I would recommend doing the entire hood but it's overkill if the price is significantly different, the chips will be more prevelant on the bumper/lower hood. As long as you do at least the lower hood you'll be good.

FricFrac I am going to be MORE than happy to reply to your above post with PROOF that the film does work. I dont know what your experience is with paint protection film but I can tell it is very limited. I have been installing film for years and have had numerous customers come back for repeat business... and why is that? Because the film does stop rock chips. If it didnt then why would the industry have lasted so long??? If it didnt do the one thing it was designed to do... then why would it still be around? Why do I have customers come spend $1800 for a full front end wrap if it doesnt work? They have had film before... so obviousley they had good results with it or they wouldnt be coming back. My Jeep SRT-8 has 83,000 miles on it and has been from California to New York and guess what, not a chip on it. But dont take my word (as I am not taking yours), here are a few examples of how well the film works.

Gravelomoter video (this is what all auto makers use to test their paint) It simulates rocks hitting the surface of the car at over 100+mph.

YouTube - Gravelometer Test

Sanblasting a hood with film on it....

YouTube - Avery Paint Protection Film - Strength Test 2

Yet another durability test... with a screw driver.

YouTube - Avery Paint Protection Film Strength Test - PRO-TECT Film

There are numerous videos proving my point... and all it takes is a quick search on google. I suggest you do some research because from what I can tell the only experience you have with a clear bra... sounds like you were sold clear vinyl and not paint protection film. It looks nearly the same yet offers no real protection against rocks. Paint protection film will stop rocks, up to a certain size (and at that point it will do body damage as well), from chipping your paint. But feel free to go on without using anything.

I dont doubt that the film works to a degree, but what Im not clear on is this. If the film stops the damage, which is good, does the film itself get damaged , thus giving the appearnace of damage to the area? I mean if the film is damaged and is on the car then whats the point, it still looks bad? Now if the film doesnt look damaged then I can see the advantage. but on one of the videos posted earlier in this thread, when they peeled the film off the area to show that the area was ok, which it was, the film looked damaged. So unless you can replace the film every so often at a low cost, Im not sure.

It usually takes one hell of a hit to distort the film. I order StarShield on all of the Lotuses (Lotii?) in stock here, as they have really soft paint, and chip easily. The film has plenty of spots where it covers the sides aswell, as when you're turning it's easy to throw rocks up the side of an Elise/Exige.

I haven't seen one that had the appearance of rock chips in the film. I've only seen issues with it where the car took a good hit (tagged a bunch of wood etc).

For reference, the Evora that my friend was driving around the western US for Lotus had StarShield, except for a little band on the front bumper where the Europlate was supposed to go. The front looked perfect, and that little section looked like it got hit by a media blaster...

Depending on what object actually hits the film there might or might not be damage. If it is a sharp object is can damage both the film and the paint, BUT the damage will be reduced because of the film. What it does best is save your front end from the perpetual peppering of pits and chips that come over time. After having a clear bar I will never own another vehicle without it.

This is just my personal experience. My '06 350 had a front bumper that looked like crap, chip city! The hood was fine and I drive the interstate M thru F to work. The 370 has a perfect front bumper after one year with the clear bra applied when new, the hood is also flawless. I would opt to not do even a partial hood, but that is just me. I have no chip issues anywhere else either, nor did I on the 350. YMMV.

John

Enough texts and more pictures with the clear bra applied and months/years of driving, people.

Come on - show us the pictures!

There is nothing to show, it looks like a brand new bumper and you cannot see any bra lines, as the installer was top notch :tiphat:

I'm sold based on what I've seen here. When I had my 90 300ZX it was chip city and looked horrible after all the years. The price I was quoted was the usual $800 for whole fascia (bumper), 20% up the hood, the fenders (I believe just about even with the headlights, I have to check on that) and the side view mirrors. I've only got 863mi on it and have been babying the F*#! outta her and staying off major highways during break-in. I know there's always a chance of that rouge rock flying up higher but I'd say 90% of the tiny road particles will be in the clear bra section. Just today I had a rock hit my windshield in my Jeep. I guess in a Z that would have been clear over the hood but if I can limit the damage and it's cost effective, I see a value in the investment.

I know I have asked this before but it seems to get unanswered every time I ask. So here goes again :hello:!

Other than the hood and the bumper, what other places should be well protected? Are the rear fenders need to be protected? etc. etc. etc. :ughdance:

I'm going to ask you again to listen. You are not hearing what I'm saying. You are so hell bent on disagreeing with me you don't even realize I'm supporting your product. Of course you already stated you wern't going to take my word for it although I've shown you pictures of the REAL 3M product. Re-Read my last post.

I stated repeatedly that the product is very good at REDUCING rock chips. It will not STOP them. That is very important for people to know because if they are expecting the vehicle to be impervious they will not be happy to see that completely preventing damage is impossible.

To say your Jeep doesn't have a single chip in it doesn't really mean anything. Its entirely possible to have driven that distance and escaped rock chips - unlikely but entirely possible. That makes it a poor argument.

The product on my car is the 3M product - in fact it was installed by the regional 3M distributor for Western Canada. Its the real deal regardless of if you like it or not. The pictures are simple proof - how can you argue that?

Yes and this is what I'm trying to say. Get it - it greatly reduces the number of chips in your paint! I would get it again in a heartbeat. Its just important to note that it REDUCES damage and doesn't eliminate it.....

Clear bras are a necessity in the south with all of these bugs around. Summer sucks down here....

Yes it is... Don't forget road construction lol..

any of the southern cali guys know any good installers around here with good deals? Hook a brother up :happydance:

Headlights, mirrors and windshield pilars. I've had the 3M product on 3 different vehicles now and can't say enough good about it. I'm having the full hood, full front fenders, as well as bumper and lights done on my new 370Z. It's more expensive to do the full panels but that way you don't see any lines. Not a big deal if you have a light color paint but the lines do show on dark colors....like my black Z. As far as cost, it going to cost $1050 for everything.

Thats a damn good price for FULL hood and fenders. I'm gonna ask the installer again how much for full hood again to make sure I heard him right... 500 extra sounds pretty steep to do full hood for me.

In addition to the areas mentioned above, I suggest the rocker panels on low to the ground cars like the 370Z. Rocker panel protection has really saved my 370Z off and on the track. To me priority to coverage is bumper, hood/fender, lights, and then rocker panels/wheel openings if you have the $$$ available. Full hood and fender coverage is not something I recommend or normally go with as covering the leading third of most hoods is more than adquate. Most impact damage from road/track debris will be focused to areas with large frontal areas like 370 bumpers and then to areas where the tires kickup debris. As the hood tapers off to a horizontal angle, the liklihood of an impact also decreases a bit. That being said, you never know whats going to happen...

I did not participate in the dispute about the effectiveness of this product, but the good stuff works (Xpel, Venture, and 3M). The cheaper stuff, not so much...

The only advantage to doing full hood/fenders is you don't see any lines. Like i said before, on light color cars most people would not see the lines. On the darker colors they are noticable. Just a matter of personal prefererence but i say if you have the $$$ then do the full wrap. My installer charges $550 for partial hood/fender, bumper, lights and mirrors. Adding FULL hood and FULL fenders adds another $500.

Not sure if it was posted earlier, but given a choice on a dark paint,which looks better? the bikini cut(has a curve) clearbra or the straight cut,they say the bikini might be a better choice for a dark paint , any feed back would be great.

The idea behind the bikini cut is the the trailing edge of the hood film is less visible. The downside is that you have slightly less coverage in the center of your hood than you would with a straight cut hood. On the contrary, the bikini cut cut offers slightly more coverage on the fenders. If installed properly, either cut will look great. The type of film will make more of a difference than the cut. Does your installer offer a "premium film"? Most manufacturers offer two grades of film. Two different manufacturing procedures provide one film that has less texture (orange peel) and this is the premium film. It really is better and makes a huge difference on dark colors like your car. I'd say go for the bikini cut with the premium film!

So I had some road debris hit my front bumper and sctrach the doodoo out of it, so I am getting my front bumper repainted by Nissan for $120. To me it might just be cheaper to get things repainted at times. And the debris that hit my bumper would have not been stopped by the clear bra so either way it would have had to be repainted.

Got my clear bra put on this past Saturday. In doing my pre-installation cleaning, I already found a couple tiny nicks at the lower most part of the bumper. With just over 1200mi on her I was glad that I was getting the clear bra. Looks good and hardly visible. When I first showed up to pick it up I couldn't even spot the seam on the hood until the guy pointed it out. It was bikini cut on the hood.

I realize I am very late to this party but I thought I'd offer my opinion anyway. :)

I do not use and likely never will use a "clear bra" product. I believe they are fine for basic paint protection such as from bugs and some very minor road derbies but I believe their effectiveness is very limited as compared to their cost.

When I want REAL protection for the front end of my vehicle I use a high-quality vinyl bra - over the 30 plus years I've been driving high-performance vehicles I've literally saved myself many hundreds of dollars of damage to my vehicles that a clear bra would simply not have provided effective protection against.

That said, I've nothing against clear bras and I realize that for those who drive their vehicles every day, they probably make more sense than a vinyl bra (they certainly require less "work" overall). That said, I find their usefulness a bit lacking for me.

can you get a good up close pic of the line?

I was wondering which I would get the straight cut or bikini,some say the straight cut is more visible with a dark paint,think I'm going to get a bikini clearbra

Has anyone had their doors done, and do you think it is worth the cost ,I'm sure most of us walk the entire length of a parking lot to keep our cars as far away from door dings but ,but it never fails there are days where you cant park far enough away without someone parking next to you an swinging their door open into the side of your car.

I will try to get a pic if the weather shapes up tomorrow. It's covered up right now. There are some pics of the seams I think of a blue 370z. I'll post mine so guys with PG can get an idea of what it looks like in that color. It is my understanding that the lighter the color, the harder to see. I would imagine silver and PW would be very hard to tell where the seam is.

Does anyone that has Ventureshield use their car as a daily driver? The closest installer in Tampa recommends either clear shield or 3M because he says it will hold up better. Where as ventureshield is not as strong, and it scratches easily. Is this true?

Just had my Ventureshield put on last Tuesday. It does scratch very easily and is very prone to staining.

I had a couple of bee/bird droppings on my car and it stained it, cannot get it off. :mad:

I think my installer did a pretty bad job too, since on my passenger headlight there is material hanging off the side and there are lots of air bubbles and what looks like finger prints underneath. I'll try and get pictures tomorrow.

DO NOT GO WITH ClearShield. Any installer that would try and sell you that garbage does not know what he is doing. ClearShield is made by Bekeart... and is one of the worst films in the industry. 3M is ok if you can live with the orange peel in it. But Venture is the route to go... and get the Ultra which is their topcoated film. Much more resistent to scratching, stains, and so on.

Send me a PM with your phone number. I am a ventureShield installer and it sounds like you got the lower end film. I will be happy to help you with your issues with your clear bra. There are some easy fixes... yet it sounds like your installer did a really poor job. So I will speak with you about your options on that.

Here's pics of the 3M .5mil product that was installed on my Z last weekend. As you can tell, depending on the angle, it is sometimes very hard to find the seams. Check my album for more pics. Sorry if the image quality isn't top-notch, I used my blackberry during lunch.

http://www.the370z.com/members/steve...00324-1300.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/steve...00324-1301.jpg

Running a vinyl strap-on bra full time is NOT an option for me. Regardless, you can't insure 100% protection with anything. I like to know i at least have some protection every time i drive. In the last 4 years i've had 3 different cars with the 3M clear bra. I've yet to have anything penetrate the bra on any of my cars. My truck now has over 30k miles and the front end still looks new.

What is it that makes ClearShield so bad?

Hello Guys.
I read some of the threads and would like to chime in a little bit. I've been installing paint protection for 10 years now, and this is all I know and do. I currently stock 3M, Venture, Clearshield, Xpel, Avery and Llumar. I use them every day for different applications. For example, today I have a 2009 Alpha 8C to do. I am covering the full front end with Venture shield. I consider venture as a garage queen film. It is pretty to look at but don't touch or dare to drive in love bug season in FL. The clear coat is very weak, scratches easy, turns yellow etc. Did I mention i'm doing an 8C today? 2nd time since the first roll of 60" isn't good, (dimples in film.) So I bought 2 more rolls and trying it again. I'm not saying venture isn't good, but for Florida driving with love bugs and the heat on a daily driver I wouldn't recommend it at all. I only install this film on garage queens and I do a lot of them. Check out my site.

For every day use, I use 3M and Clearshield films. They both come with a 5 year warranty and THEY PAY THE INSTALLER FOR LABOR AND REPLACEMENT FILM, THEY EVEN PAY FOR THE INSTALLER TO REMOVE THE FILM IF GOES BAD. So if 3M does this kind of warranty on there Scotchgard film, why don't they do the same warranty on the Venture?

For every day drivers, I only recommend my customers the films that have the best warranty and that are easy for the customer to clean. 3M and Clearshield doesn't scratch and if treated and cleaned correctly 3M doesnt' turn yellow. Clearshield in 5 years of installing it, haven't seen one turn yellow yet. I have 3 personal white vehicles and 3M and Clearshield are miles past the others in terms of durability etc. I could go further into why clearshield doesn't turn yellow, but don't have time right now. :)

Attached are some pics. Yesterday I had a 3.5 year old tundra come in. He had damage on the bumper from a minor accident. Notice the film is clear as can be. 3rd picture is a C63 lorinser that also came in yesterday complaining of the venture having ripples in the film. Didn't have it when the car left. Dunno.

At any rate PPF is an excellant product and is def needed if you want the paint to maintain its beauty. The main thing is to find an installer that is very good. Installs shouldn't have any dust, lift lines, stretch marks, grab marks etc in the install. Based on your car and driving, different films may be required.

I can also help find someone an installer if needed.
Hope this helps.
Ryan Burroughs
Auto Paint Guard Inc. Tampa Florida Clear Bra 3M Paint Protection Film Car Bras

So I guess it makes sense that you would install 3M and ClearShield on your daily drivers since they also warranty the labor involved on removing and replacing the film. I am curious though on the yellowing you speak of. I have used VentureShield and their Ultra line for quiet sometime now. I have never had one come back from yellowing... or any reason for that matter. I do my fair share of "garage queens" and a lot of cars that are daily drivers and even some that hit the track often. Yet no warranty issues in well over 5 years. I'm pretty sure I get the same heat/humidity here in East Texas as you do in Florida. We also have love bugs here... and still no problems with that either. To be fair though I do give a bottle of sealant out with every install which prevents and bugs, bird droppings, or road tar from staining the film. If it is so "weak" and turns yellow then how is it one of the top two films on the market in regards to sales... even if installers know up front they are not going to be paid to remove and replace film??? I would think installers would shy away from it seeing how the installer is out a lot of time and money by dealing with constant warranty issues from yellowing and fading. I mean it is a lifetime warranty they are standing behind...

You are also the FIRST installer... of many I have met over the years that actually promotes ClearShield, otherwise known as Bekeart. Bekeart from my first hand experience is terrible... so much so that I wont tough the stuff anymore. It kind of explains why Bekeart only holds about 5% of the paint protection film market. If they are so good and dont yellow then why doesnt it sale more? People overall are fairly knowledgable about PPF especially in the larger cities... so I would think if the film was good it would sale itself. 3M I can understand because well... it's 3M. They are huge company that recently bought out ventureShield. (If you cant beat them buy them out, LOL.) But Bekeart is simply a terrible film... in many regards.

Anyway thats just my .02. I will continue to offer VentureShield Ultra sine my clients are VERY happy with the results. If a better film comes out... and Avery Dennison has a new film that uses the topcoat throughout it... I will go with it. I actually have some Avery on order and will test it for a while first before offering it... since I have to pay for my own removal and re-application if the film goes bad.

By the way, post some photos of the 8C when you get done. There arent too many of those running around and I am sure everyone in here would love to see the car... and photos of your work.

After reading all this talk about different films i decided to call my installer. He's also been doing this for many years and very knowledgable on the subject. He's done 3 vehicles for me all in 3M. When i questioned him about installing the Venture on my new 370 (i have an appointment tomorrow) he said i'll install anything you want and then went into a list of pro/cons for each film. He also said the 3M film is absolutely the best choice for a daily driver because it just holds up better, lower maintenance etc. He said the Venture Ultra is fine for a weekend or occasional driver. One thing of note... he said the Venture is the only choice for a FULL hood wrap because the 3M only comes in 48" widths. At this point, i'm still undecided on which film to go with. Yes, my car is only an "occasional" driver but i've been very happy with the 3M product. Just not sure if i'll be happy with the way it looks on my black car. Decisions...decisions.