I keep telling myself to get a 3M clear bra but when I take into account all the other aspects it wasn't worth it for me. Nice install.

 

Just for you, I got out of bed, covered up (sort of) and went to the garage. Yes, it does overlap around the edges of the hood. The edges on the fenders are not straight up/down, rather a wave like as to make it blend. The hood is also not a straight cut edge, but a slight oval shape to it, again to make it blend better. I'm telling ya, it is barely noticable. While driving on the Turnpike and I-95 today, I had confidence knowing that I'll be "rock chip" free.

I was on the fence about the clear bra. After all, $595 for a thin piece of film. The thought of my S2000 came to mind. It had many rock chips thanks to those darn dump trucks and such. I figured it was much cheaper to get the clear bra than to paint it. Besides, rock chips can really make the car look like **it.

 

how much did you pay?

 

$595 installed. That was for the entire front (hood, nose, fenders), mirrors, and behind the wheels.

 

second that, when you weigh the costs of having the clear bra re-installed when it starts to get pitted or yellow or the termination lines are completely obvious, it's about the same cost to just get the entire front end re-sprayed.
-to each their own, but that's how I justified not getting it...

 

lol thanks for the info droptopgal... the install looks clean

 

thats cheap, i think.
I want a clear bra...

 

Here is a link to a Southern California company that puts the clear bra on the Lexus cars (for the dealership).
http://www.clear-pro.com/index.html

They did my 2006 IS350 and I'm very pleased with it. It also has a 5 year warranty. I had the clear bra on my 2000 Porsche Carerra and it looked great (you could barely tell it was on the car). After 7 years the paint looks brand new. The color was cobalt blue which is darker than my Lexus which is breakwater blue metalic. The clear bra is more noticable on the Lexus with the lighter color but I still wouldn't drive a car on the Southern California freeways without it. Well worth the money. You can also save some money by going direct to the company that does the installation rather than going through your dealer.

 

VentureShield is the best with its LIFETIME warranty. There is no overlapping and the patterns use the least amount of pieces.

http://www.automotivepaintprotection.com/

Koz

 

I second that!
Ventureshield also has a clear coat shinier version.
http://www.ventureshield.com/

I had one on a white car I owned.
Great product but would only get a cleat bra with a dark color.
The edges getting dirty on white was a pain in the **** to keep clean.

 

was the clear bra on the hood a full bra or a half covered hood?

 

I don't know if your question is to me but I'll answer anyway.
I had it going about 1/3 up the hood,a seam edge 6 inches or so from the front of the fenders,seam edges on mirrors and at spots on bumper covers.On white,keeping the seams clean is a hard job.Especially in winter.

 

Usually the clear bra size is only on the front lower part of the hood due to the limited width of the 3M material that they use when they cut their patterns. Some places will extend the clear bra up the length of the hood to the windshield but you will pay for it and it will be in multiple pieces. Usually you don't need this additional coverage since most of the small rocks, etc. hit the lower part of your car. They even make a clear bra for your windshield but it's a joke. It's really small and doesn't cover the glass area where your wiper blades wipe the window. Stick with the standard patterns for your car and you will save money and accomplish about the same end result (in my opinion).

 

I forgot to mention that they put the clear bra on my headlights too as part of the kit. I had it on my Porsche too and the company that installed it guaranteed the headlight against breaking from rocks hitting it.

Here is a photo of the front of my car (top part without the bra and lower part with bra). Depending on the light, it looks dull where the bra covers the paint (probably not a problem on darker cars).



Here is a photo looking down on the top of the hood. You can see the dull part which is the bra. It isn't always so obvious.

UPDATE 10/16/07: The company that installed my clear bra just informed me that they will redo it with a new film that isn't dull like you see in the photo. Evidently it shouldn't look this bad even on light blue metallic. Yea!!

 

Hi Droptopgal,

I wonder how long did it take the installer to finish all the films on your car?


thanks