Clear bras...your opinion wanted

[okfiltch]

My car is on a train and will be here soon. Here's my question: what do you recommend as bar as a clear bra? They can be done several ways, and I am like uber-OCD, so I hate how the lines look when you go up the hood. Thoughts, pics, opinions welcome. Thanks!

[Apex Paul]

Here's some pics of a PDI clear Bra install.

[Spooker_Doodles]

Originally Posted by okfiltch

My car is on a train and will be here soon. Here's my question: what do you recommend as bar as a clear bra? They can be done several ways, and I am like uber-OCD, so I hate how the lines look when you go up the hood. Thoughts, pics, opinions welcome. Thanks!

I agree. lol I suggest finding a bra that would cover the whole panel. Every panel that would be covered would be covered to the end of that body panel. That would solve that problem of the line. Don't know if they exist though.



Edit. The post above mine is what I was saying.

[htp autoworks]

I have been installing full hood/full fender VentureShield kits on Camaros for a while now. There are a couple of companies making the full panel patterns and they come out very nice. It is definately the route to go if you dont want the line across the hood. Without a clear bra the paint will get dinged up very quickly.

OK pm me if you have any questions.

[ajp]

Just got mine done today (3M). Actually doesnt look bad. Cant even tell, until you get close.

[sen10l]

Full panel Ventureshield is the way to go. Look for certified installers. It costs $600 to repaint the hood - so why not spend that to completely cover the hood with ventureshield and never worry about repainting ever.

[vdevine]

Search "clear bra" on here.

[patriotpa]

Depends on who's wearing it.

[RPI Designs]

We do offer an alternative to the clear bras. They are nice but difficult to install.

StretchBratm is a quality nylon bra designed for the front of your Camaro. The best feature is that this bra can be installed and removed within 3 minutes, making great for car show. Simply install it for the drive and remove it for the show!

There are three screws that hold the fender liner in place and we replace those screws with a snap head screw. So the mask snaps in the wheel well area and there are two plastic clips at the top of the mask that hook to the upper grill bar. That is the initial installation. Once that is done, simply snap in place to re-install or remove.

Folds up and can be stored right in your glove box!

This product is "better than Vinyl or Leather and cheaper than Film" ; "Made in the U.S.A".; "backed by the manufacturers warranty and customer satisfaction policy".

We want to point out although the product is new to the Camaro market it has been successfully time-tested in the Corvette market for the last nine years.

http://www.rpidesigns.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=1780

[robertway]

I would say it is worth it. I have a 99 Dodge Intrepid with 153k mostly highway miles on it that my Silver 2SS is replacing and the Intrepid looks like it has been driven through Beirut and attacked by a merry band of pebble loaded sandblasters. My intention is to keep the 2SS for at least a decade and wanted to protect as much of the car as I could so I got a few different pre-cut kits from ClearMask.com and did the installation myself (don't have pictures outside yet but will over the coming weekend). I did the entire front end, (upper/lower bumper, front 18 inches of hood and fenders), front 18 inches of the roof, a pillars, full run of the rockers, bottom 4 inches of the doors, gill area on the rear fenders and the full splash are behind the rear wheels, and finally the side mirrors. The install was definitely a learning curve and definitely an exercise in patience. Having been the first time I worked with this type of material, managing it around some of the curves was difficult at times but having patience helped things from going south and botching a piece of material. It did the install of all the pieces over the course of a week as my car was garaged since taking delivery waiting on my after-market wheels and tires so I had plenty of time to do a couple pieces each day. I will say I got a good amount of tips from Thom at htp autoworks who has posted above and I fully recommend you reach out to him with any of your questions, he is a straight up guy and takes time out of his busy day to help folks out here on the forum even so far as conversing on the phone. My car is Silver so the lines are not noticeable unless you are really looking for them and even then depending upon where the light is coming from you can't see them. It is not perfect and I can see some places I could have done a little better but not one person has noticed any of the pieces of film unless I point them out. I had some bubbles I had to deal with but nothing a micro 1cc syringe couldn't handle. Here is a poor photoshop attempt showing the coverage I have on the side of the car;



And as pathetic as the outlining is, here is one that represents the coverage from the front



Here is one where you can just notice the line across the hood and I had to keep adjusting where I was standing to get the flash on the camera to reflect off it just right so it would show up in the picture



I also have the full run of the vertical door edges, headlights, parking lights and fog lights covered up front and am waiting on some bulk material to cover the gas cap lid and a portion of the area under where the gas cap usually dangles and scrapes around, and finally in behind the door handle where finger nails scratch things up. I definitely feel all the work and expense will be worth it considering how long I intend to hold onto the car and I like DIY projects anyway.

Good luck with your decision, I see you have a Victory Red SS and the darker colors tend to show the lines a little bit more but I think it is a very small vanity price to pay for the protection you'll get and resale value later down the road with like-new paint as opposed to a repaint job as well as staring at all the mini bullet holes in your front end later on. You can always easily replace a piece of film later on if it gets really torn up.

[robertway]

Originally Posted by patriotpa

Depends on who's wearing it.

Patriot's got a point here, for example;

+ clear bra =

[viper1cobra]

This is a thread that I started when I did my install.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36742

The install took all day on a Saturday to do the two pieces on the front bumper, the hood, front quarter panels, and mirrior backs. Then it took about a half day to finish with the headlights, turn signals, a pillars, and roof. Thom at HTP Autoworks was very helpful with the install when I ran into problems.

I hope this helps.

[UCI CamaroFan]

No go. I have vinyl stripes.

If I wanted to replace the stripes, I would have to replace the clear bra too. Not worth it.

[vdevine]

Search "clear bra"