Thanks for you thoughts guys. I appreciate your feedback!

 

Some of us live in bug prone areas. They're worse than a few rock chips at stripping paint. You should see the front of my F150.

I look at it this way, if it was a regular bra I'd see it big time. With the Clear Mask, I only barely see it when I'm close, but have protected the front from bug juice (and rocks). And I don't have to worry about paint fade from a regular bra that has wicked moisture into the cotton lining (happened to me twice).

 

Hmmm, we got megga bugs here in the Everglades... Good point.

 

LadyBoss302 - Have you had clear bra installed yet ? Installation on my B302 is planned for the week after New Year and wonder if I could compare notes. The installer is going to do a custom cut/free hand installation.

 

I am close to planning it for the same week. The installer comes with good recommendations (especially important in south Florida). I believe he will be using a kit. The extended version as I have been told is 30" rather than 24" over hood, includes fenders, mirrors, bumper. With a 10% off for holiday he said it will run me $625 that does not include some of the roof as some folks here thought I should consider adding.

Where are you located?

 

On mine, it includes front part of roof and A-pillars in addition to the partial-coverage front end (full bumper, partial fenders, partial hood, painted portion of side mirrors and grill). I 'm going to pull the grill off to give him better access; he also wraps the edges. He's adding the small area on the front fenders behind the tires. All these for $670. I'm going to see if he can add exterior door handle pockets and top part of rear bumper between the taillights to protect that area from loading/unloading the trunk.

I'm in Columbus, Ohio. My installer came with quite recommendations; in fact I'm going to watch his installation on a 2nd Aventador comes Monday.

 

That sounds good, what product is he installing 3M?

 

That Aventador is one AWESOMELY impressive machine.

 

I believe he uses multiple films depending on the complexity of the curve. I heard him disliking Venture Shield just because the material is difficult to stretch.

 

You can look at the product I would have installed at toughfilm.com you can even give the make and model of the car etc to get a price. The guy's name is Abraham for all you FL folks, tell him Janice sent you :-) he seems like a descent person to work with. I will follow up with a post when its done and give feedback.

 

Well, the Aventador owner rescheduled so the installer is going to work on mine on the 26th. I'll update afterward.

 

Installation took a lot of hours; the installer put quite an effort with the front bumper as the material had to stretch over large complex-compound curves. I removed the grill and the side markers so the material was applied to areas normally uncovered. As a result, there is no line at the horizontal part of the bumper (as it is obstructed by the grill) and there is no line around the side marker pockets.

Additional pieces were installed at the door handle pockets to protect from nail scrapes and on the rear bumper top area (down past the second crease) where it meets the trunk lid to protect from loading and unloading.

The painted part on the side mirror is covered on the horizontal part as well and due to the curvature, they are two-piece.

The grill is one-piece and the line at the bottom was cut very close to the edge (~1/16" from the edge). This could not be wrapped around due to its sharpness and mold line.

Edges of fenders are wrapped around into the fender well lip and A-pillars are covered up to the top of the windshield.

Hood coverage comes up about 2 feet and the material is cut around the hood stripe to prevent tenting which will allow dirt and water to enter. The material wraps around the leading edge and the sides. As a result, there is only one visible line and the part of the line around the hood stripe is obscured by the stripe itself. Black on orange is significantly more visible than the line of a transparent material.

The installer ran out of time for the small pieces behind the front tires (from the top of the rocker panel to the bottom of the stripe); he will add those when he works on my Pontiac Solstice GXP in the near future. The roof piece was cancelled as I didn't see any need for it. As a comparison, my C6 Z06 sits a lot lower and there is no stone chip on its roof.

 

Wow, I am glad there are people who know what they are doing. That sounds like a thorough install. Are you pleased with how it came out?

 

Well, I wouldn't call that thorough; more like reasonable plus

I do like the way things done. Body parts most prone to stone chip were covered and so were high-wear areas. I'm curious as how the Solstice would turn out; the installer felt that the bumper would be quite a challenge. I did tell him it would be fine to use multiple pieces.

 

Tom,
Did you use Clear Bra Ohio, or AAP?

 

Larry,

None of the above. AAP uses precut kits and I'm unsure about Clear Bra of OH. My installer is Julius Poa; he's mobile. His info can be found using an internet search or I can PM/text you.

On a slightly different note, a few Columbus people are entertaining the idea of getting together this Saturday morning for a small Cars and Coffee. I'll let you know if/when I get more information.

 

Yellowing and discoloration are characteristics of older types of films. The new films do not discolor etc... I've had one on my other car for almost 3 years... Still same, granted I probably detail my cars wayyyy more than most here.

FYI, wax is NOT recommended...tho is ok. Preferably, using a sealant is better and does not contain the yellowing agents found in carnauba waxes.

Congrats. Got pics?

 

It's almost a futile attempt trying to capture a properly-installed clear bra on competition orange. It's invisible and it's probably best inspected in person.

 

a buddy of mine has a clear bra on a black caddy v, his poor wash technique makes it very noticeable since the car is swirled everywhere but under that bra material. the clear bra did have some swirls though.

 

Indeed. By being smart about how you care for the paint using proven and proper wash and wax techniques, the clear bra stays invisible. I had clear bras on 2 cars for the past 6 years.... no wax lines, no swirls, etc. I guess I cheat, since I'm an avid avid avid detailer.