Exactly Patrick. For me though I don't want The whole fender or hood covered.

 

A good body shop can paint the bumper just as well as the factory. But I understand your point. I like the idea of clear bras and would totally have one if it didn't cost upwards of $800 like I've seen

What about when you wax the car, does the wax have the same "glaze" effect on the clear bra surface as the paint? Not sure if that is a stupid question or not

 

Why not?

 

Not to match faded paint. Paint fades, even after being protected, after years of exposure to the sun. No body shop can match paint fade. It won't match. Heck even the factory paint on plastic doesn't 100% match the paint on metal. This is especially apparent with metallic paint.

 

That's the responsibility of the bodyshop. They're paid to make it match. I've seen numerous bumpers painted on my buddies' cars and the ones that get good work done, you can't tell. And I keep my car garaged. Plus I'm only talking 3 years here.

 

You're right, it is their responsibility. But if you have clear bra you don't have to go through that...

My 00 V6 was Laser Red. I was hit on my right front in 2005. Insurance would only pay to repaint the right side. The right side paint looked perfect. But it didn't match the faded paint on the rest of the car. They stayed the value of the car was less than the cost of a complete repaint (which it truly was). I took such good care of that paint prior to the accident. After that I just didn't give a F anymore. I even took it through automatic car washes!

 

Actually yes they can, and have been doing it for 30+ years. A body shop that can't blend and match paint colors isn't a good shop unless the paint is in such poor condition that the whole thing needs to be painted anyway.

 

You're right...the cost is insane. Most of it is labor though, as it takes anywhere from a 1/2 to a full day to do a vehicle (hood, fenders, mirrors, bumper, roof, pillars, doors, rockers, trunk, lower panel, etc). But I'd pay it again and again everytime I get a new car. It's the first "mod" I do, prior to leaving the dealership for the drive home (unless I painter's tape).

As to "wax" for the clear bra, theoretically, with the latest quality of plastic, you should be able to wax the clear bra just like any other painted surface. However, what I do (and recommended by the clear bra installers/experts themselves) is to use sealant, not wax...and to use a sealant that doesn't have a certain chemical, I forget the name. Anyways, it's what I use. So in 3 years of daily use on 2 of my cars, the clear bra remains perfect, with no yellowing or hazing of any sort.

I prefer the "feel" of real paint. Plus, I can buff the paint anytime I want to. The clear bra, you "can" buff as well, but it doesn't like correction as much as paint does, plus you can also buff away the protective layer that it has (against UV). In addition, imo, paint looks better than clear bra when properly polished, glazed, sealed, and waxed.

So, that's why I only want parts of the hood or fender covered. Not the whole thing.

 

Gotcha. Makes sense. For me, with silver, I wanted the whole hood done. It's plenty glossy, even with lowly Griots products lol. Silver isn't going to have that deep gloss anyways, so no big deal

 

did the MMD styling bar.

 

Looks great!!!

 

thx buddy. It matches up well with the MMD wind deflector. The install was fairly easy, but i had lost the arbor to allow my drill to connect to the 2" hole saw bit :S so there was a slight delay while looking for that

 

I hate technical glitches. I usually end up with 2 of everything...way to convenient living across the street from Canadian Tire.

 

Did the sound tube delete and got some Floyd's floor mats with the running pony logo.

Now I am waiting on my air/oil separator and flip key blank to come in.

 

The key is which BRAND A/O separator...

 

Added a led light to the trunk, it's a lot brighter now.

 

JLT? Is that a good one?

Passenger side, since I heard that was the one that gets the most blow-by.

 

Since I see that you only have 15 posts, you're new to the forum, and probably haven't seen all the traffic in the last few months regarding Air Oil Separators. It's a hot topic. Do a little research on it, and you'll come to find that JLT is the least performing one.

Bob's, Moroso, and lately, RX has been thrown to the mix. Read up and choose for yourself. Personally, I have a Bob's and love it.

 

That thing has been on my list for 2 1/2 years. Time to buy!

 

It was pretty easy to install (like less than 5 minutes) and was cheap also ($8)!