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Old 01-16-2013, 08:49 AM   #1
bushz
 
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3M clear bra

Has anyone had this put on their Camaro? Does it work, is it worth it? And does it get placed over the hood stripes?
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:53 AM   #2
hrpiii
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1. Yes, love it. I have it all over the front of my car (front, hood, front qtr panels, A pillars, 5" strip above windshield, side mirrors)
2.Yes works great if you do a lot of highway driving or it's your DD.
3. NO, it does NOT go over the stripes.
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:55 AM   #3
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I am also looking into a 3M clear bra. I talked to NightShades, a vendor and member on this site. He said the material IS placed over the hood stripe, but is hardly noticeable.

There are several threads on here about whether clear bras are worth it. Almost everyone says they are very happy they did it.... To me, it's really a question of whether you can afford it and if protecting your paint is a priority. But I want to see a car with one on it to determine if it detracts from the cars "look"...
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:01 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mpsmith1 View Post
I am also looking into a 3M clear bra. I talked to NightShades, a vendor and member on this site. He said the material IS placed over the hood stripe, but is hardly noticeable.

There are several threads on here about whether clear bras are worth it. Almost everyone says they are very happy they did it.... To me, it's really a question of whether you can afford it and if protecting your paint is a priority. But I want to see a car with one on it to determine if it detracts from the cars "look"...
If the clear bra's put on properly, there won't be anything TO see. That's the whole point.

The film protects the paint but is 'invisible'.

I had it on my 2011 2SS/RS Vert, and I now have it on my 2013 ZL1 Vert.
I had the front facia, the mirrors and the gills done with Avery Nanofusion, and to me it's well worth the cost.

The clear bra is applied over whatever surface you want protected. If you have stripes on your hood and tou decise to apply the clear bra to part of or the entire hood, then yes it gets applied over the stripes.
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:02 AM   #5
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A lot of people use it. I dont because I dont like the way it looks (the edges start showing, getting wax and dirt buildup etc).

I dont drive on the interstate that much, and I never follow closely behind trucks. 12k miles later and I have NOT 1 chip, and people on this forum swear the camaro paint will chip by just looking at it.

I do drive on the highway all the way to work, just not the interstate.

Granted it may make bugs easier to take off, but I am a detailer and wax it often so those arent a huge deal.

A guy at work has a professional clear bra installation on a white car, and all the edges are yellow, and I think hes had it on for a few years but the edges started to curl and it looked awful.

Id rather just not have it. IMO its not worth sacrificing the looks of the car for the minimal protection it would offer me.

Also, people swap the bumpers and hoods on C5 all the time (v6 -> SS or SS-> ZL1) or switching hoods, so whats the point of protecting it? They would start to look bad after like 4-5 years from rock chips or bugs, why not just replace it with a new one?

I had my 4th gen for 6 years (and the car was 14 years old) and proper detailing kept it looking great the whole time.

Getting an aftermarket hood, front fascia, and racing stripes made the front brand new, and almost made me regret taking such good care of it that whole time to just end up throwing the parts away haha.

Just my .02 cents

I think protection should be over the entire panel, or none of it at all. Going halfway up the hood you are just asking for the paint/clear to age unevenly
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:09 AM   #6
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I definitely think the clear bra is worth it. The only problem is which one to get and how much to get covered. I got the Xpel and love it. They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for, in my opinion. Unless you are about 6 inches away you'll never see it. I have the entire front bumper, door handle cup, tailgate area, rockerpanels quarterpanels, mirrors, and door edges. The only thing that I can honestly say you can see at all is the door cups, and that is because they extend out from the cup about 1/2 inch. I ended everything else at the creases of the car. I loved it soo much I had my wifes brilliant black cx9 done. Showed that to my brother-in-law. He loved the fact that it couldn't be seen so much he got his metallic black BMW done. He was so impressed he said he wished he got more of the car done. Xpel has a 10 year warranty against yellowing cracking curling up etc.


I forgot to add that some of them, Xpel included, are self healing. I have no idea how that is even possible but minor scratches and nicks supoosedly self-heal. I understand that some people are skeptical but think about this. When we dropped the new BMW to get it there was a brand new Ferrari sitting there. It was trailored there to get the entire car done. The owner of the shop said it would probably be cheaper to put the bra on than try to repaint some of the car to get a perfect match. Some of the older ones were very prone to yellowing but as with everything technology has come a long way.

Last edited by Hercules; 01-16-2013 at 03:07 PM. Reason: replying from other posts.
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:13 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hercules View Post
I definitely think the clear bra is worth it. The only problem is which one to get and how much to get covered. I got the Xpel and love it. They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for, in my opinion. Unless you are about 6 inches away you'll never see it. I have the entire front bumper, door handle cup, tailgate area, rockerpanels quarterpanels, mirrors, and door edges. The only thing that I can honestly say you can see at all is the door cups, and that is because they extend out from the cup about 1/2 inch. I ended everything else at the creases of the car. I loved it soo much I had my wifes brilliant black cx9 done. Showed that to my brother-in-law. He loved the fact that it couldn't be seen so much he got his metallic black BMW done. He was so impressed he said he wished he got more of the car done. Xpel has a 10 year warranty against yellowing cracking curling up etc.
am also kinda considering a clear bra, but recently a Marine Corps ring i had broke, it also came with a lifetime warranty, sadly they are out of business. (granted its been about 20 yrs ago i got the ring!!)

thanks for the info!
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Old 01-16-2013, 09:17 AM   #8
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I ordered my kit from http://www.clearmask.com/vehicle_page.php and had it installed by a local body shop and have only one complaint. Where it crosses my white stripes you can see the color difference but since it's my DD I can live with it. I drive between my home in GA and home office in Detroit pretty often and I'd hate to see what the front of my car would look like if I hadn't had it installed.

I had it installed a week after I bought the car Sept 2011 and it's still tight and no curls on any of the edges and with the polish they sent with the kit I have no build up either.
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:47 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vroomapunk View Post
A lot of people use it. I dont because I dont like the way it looks (the edges start showing, getting wax and dirt buildup etc).

I dont drive on the interstate that much, and I never follow closely behind trucks. 12k miles later and I have NOT 1 chip, and people on this forum swear the camaro paint will chip by just looking at it.

I do drive on the highway all the way to work, just not the interstate.

Granted it may make bugs easier to take off, but I am a detailer and wax it often so those arent a huge deal.

A guy at work has a professional clear bra installation on a white car, and all the edges are yellow, and I think hes had it on for a few years but the edges started to curl and it looked awful.

Id rather just not have it. IMO its not worth sacrificing the looks of the car for the minimal protection it would offer me.

Also, people swap the bumpers and hoods on C5 all the time (v6 -> SS or SS-> ZL1) or switching hoods, so whats the point of protecting it? They would start to look bad after like 4-5 years from rock chips or bugs, why not just replace it with a new one?

I had my 4th gen for 6 years (and the car was 14 years old) and proper detailing kept it looking great the whole time.

Getting an aftermarket hood, front fascia, and racing stripes made the front brand new, and almost made me regret taking such good care of it that whole time to just end up throwing the parts away haha.

Just my .02 cents

I think protection should be over the entire panel, or none of it at all. Going halfway up the hood you are just asking for the paint/clear to age unevenly
Just to add my own experience, I bought an Infiniti G35 that had the clear bra installed already. I don't know what brand or how old it was. But it was a white car.

The edges will catch everything and be pretty dirty all the time. But more importantly, the film WILL yellow eventually and have to be replaced. Having it removed is not cheap or fun, it will be extremely time consuming. You will be sitting in the sun for hours or paging someone a lot of money.

The other issue is some kits are cut/trimmed during the installation, probably all of them to a certain extent depending on the brand. If the tech does a half assed job they will end up cutting the paint at the same time which you won't notice until you remove it probably.

The other thing, and I do believe this is pretty unlikely, but there is a chance of paint coming off with it.

I never removed mine, I ended up trading the car in so I don't really know what would have happened, but I know I did enough research to not want to experience it.

I'm not saying don't do it, I love protecting paint as much as the next guy, but do a little research on the end game and decide if it is still worth it. I prefer to save the dough, and just stay out of the danger zone behind cars.

Just sayin'
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Old 01-16-2013, 11:00 AM   #10
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I have a clear bra on my truck and i love it now ive only had it on their for 4 months ive had the truck for 5 and in that one month i had one chip small one but since this is my daily driver and only vehicle at the moment i want to keep it nice for a long time. Mine is hardly noticible from a distance or also what angle your looking at it from. I was told by the person that installed it to make sure it doesnt yellow over time is to keep it waxed just like the paint and to clean the edges where it meets the paint time to time. The whole point of a clear bra is to prevent chips in the bumper and it is removable if it does yellow which should take a long time if taken care of.
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