UCSB

Last weekend I installed a full clear mask/bra on my brother's Prius Plug-in. It was a very extensive kit for the entire front-end, hood, mirrors, door handles and back bumper. It even covered some of the chrome and plastic pieces on the front of the car. The kit was more extensive than you would get with a standard OEM installation. It took about 8 hours. But, could be done faster. The results were excellent. He is very happy with the results. The Prius is much more difficult than an RX to do because of the extensive use of curves on the front end of the car.

A few observations for anyone thinking of attempting this project. The project is much easier if two people are working together on the car. Some of pieces are large (like the front bumper) and handling these pieces is easier with two people. If you follow the instructions that are online or on the DVD that comes in many kits, everything will go reasonably smoothly.

The car and material are very wet when you place the material on the car. The material can be easily moved into place (larger pieces may need a little pulling to stretch over the car just right). You squeegee the fluid and bubbles out from under material. This is very easy to do. The only difficulty on the project comes when you encounter abrupt curvy areas (especially areas where the curve creates a depression). Here you need to slow down and work the material until it adheres to the vehicle.

If you just want to protect your hood, it would be a trivial (and inexpensive) project to apply a small kit. It is easy to get perfect results on flat surfaces like the hood.

Anyway, I thought I would share my experience in case anyone is interested in attempting this project on their own. So, if you are buying a new vehicle should you just get the factory (or port) installed clear mask? Yes, I think that is a good choice. If I remember correctly, that option is about $500. It is probably not worth all of the extra work and risk of installing your own kit. If you own a car and now want to add the kit, is it worth installing your own kit or having a professional install the kit? Unless you are comfortable with DIY projects, go to a professional installer. But if you are not willing to pay for professionally installed kit and have a friend or family member that can help with the installation, then at least it is feasible to install it yourself.

My brother went the kit route because the OEM mask on the Prius is only on the hood. He wanted the entire front-end plus all of the other areas listed above covered.

DunWkg

Did you roll over the edges of say the hood? How'd that go?

UCSB

The kit he ordered had generally 1/8 th of an inch offset from the edges (you can order either the offset or wrap kits). But, many of the areas on the installation required a wrap. Some of the wrap areas went pretty smoothly. But, others required focused work. Those were the wraps on depressed curve areas where the tendency of the material was to pull up from the surface. In those areas, you switch from a water/soap mix to a water/alcohol to activate the adhesive faster. The RX would be much easier to do than the Prius because it is primarily large expanses of reasonably flat surfaces. Wrapping on the hood would be pretty easy because the material would adhere to the surface to the edge of the hood and there are no depressed areas on the hood. Even on the 1/8 th inch gap kit, you can reduce this gap if you want. When you are applying the material, you can stretch it a little. So you can minimize the gap on the edges of the hood. I just left a very small gap on all of the edges. You can't really see the small gaps.

When my brother sold my daughter his last Prius (non Plug-in), he gave her a full kit for that car also. So I will be installing that kit in the near future.

InRBigness

I think it can be done for a competant person but mine took 2 days and 2 people to do. I am normally a go for it kind of guy and my try this on another car but I am glad I had someone do mine.

Good job UCSB.

Sevn86

It is possible but I wouldn't do it myself. Leave it for a professional.

Tropicsun

I have ordered the 3m hood kit to install. I will let you know how it goes next week.

GoHuskers

Where to order these kits and how much?

Thank you and good job.

Tropicsun

I went to several sites and selected invisiblemask.com. I got the hood,fenders and mirrors for $118.00. If all works out I will get the bumper kit.

UCSB

I have one of the kits my brother purchased here at my house and it was from: http://invisiblemask.com/ He said the kit we installed last weekend was from the same supplier. The kits are offered by other companies and on ebay.com.

They offer different materials (3M, etc.). The film we installed was the 3M VentureShield film. It had a backing that you peal off and it said VentureShield. We also had two full installation kits (two water bottles, squeegee, cloths, etc.). Having two sets of spray bottles and two squeegees was a big help when installing the bumper kit. The two squeegees was the most important supply when you have two people working on a large piece like the bumper. One set of supplies would be fine for the hood/fender kit. The kit comes with an instructional DVD. There are many more videos over on youtube.com.

UCSB

When I started this thread, I was thinking of people that might want to just install this kit or even just the hood piece (instead of the bug deflectors that used to be offered) as a inexpensive and quick solution for the upper surfaces.

When you go to install, start with the small fender pieces to get a feel for the installation process. Then move on to the hood. The mirrors will require the most focus. The mirrors are an example of the most difficult surface (outside of depressed curves, rare on RX) to install.

One thing to remember is that if something starts to go wrong, you can lift the film up and start over (before it sets). My brother did this with one piece and got a perfect result. Make sure that you follow their instructions for removing any wax from the surface before applying. We would clean the surface with the alcohol solution and make a visual check before applying the film. When handling the film try to avoid having it double back and adhere to itself. Probably not an issue with the smaller pieces you will be installing, but avoid if possible. We had one piece stick to itself, no damage to piece or to the project. But, I won't let it happen again.

rx11fan

Hood, fenders and mirrors are a piece of cake. Bumper doesnt even come close. I ordered entire kit (ventureshield) from ebay for about $250 and I first thought I will get a local tint shop do it. I started with the mirrors and it was easy so i went with fenders and hood. There is no real stretching involved for these three areas.

However, bumper was a real pain. I thought I almost wasted $100. After an hour or two, I was able to complete it, but its not perfect as the hood/mirror/fender which are almost invisible (on my gray). There was one bubble and little lift ups on one side. It was a real pain because of the shape of the bumper it self. If I had to do it again, I would pay a window tint guy to do it. Shouldnt be more than $50 for one bumper.

Overall, I am really happy that I got it. No more paint chips etc. Definitely worth the price. Good luck,

UCSB

IMO the bumper really takes two people if you want a really nice job. It is a large piece of material for one person to handle. The second person can also spray the material down while one person is pealing it off the backing. It also helps to have someone to hold it in place as you are positioning it. On the bumper there are some curves and having someone there that can hold down the material as it is setting in problem areas is very helpful. They can also tap down installed areas. This allows you to keep moving through the bumper installation. My brother and I both worked on the bumper together. He took one side and I did the other.

rx11fan

Good point. I learned it hard way. If it sticks to itself, its messes up the film and it was very hard to pull it apart. After my experience, I wouldn't do the bumper without a second person helping while laying the film down on the bumper. After spraying and laying it, you can do it all yourself.