ACR - Clearbra options?

[Socrates]

To all of those with an ACR:

I'm assuming most have gone the route of using paint protection film? If so, what brand did you go with (most seem to have used Ventureshield from what I have been able to find in past posts, and it's what I currently have on my SSG)? My only problem with the Ventureshield at this point is the amount of orange peel it has. Just curious if there are any other viable options.

I'm assuming most did the entire front bumper, 1/4 of the hood, side sills and rear quarters?

Also, did you have the front splitter/canards covered as well?

Thanks in advance.

 

[85 of 200]

Ventureshield has the less amount of orange peel compared to must of the other brands.

 

[wallbanger]

here we go again... i have only wonderful things to say about clearmask

 

[ACR steve]

I had Avery Top Coat on my white car . It is suppose to last the best. Full Hood, full fenders, full nose, full side sills, behind wheels , 1/4 roof, front leading edge of wing , top splitters. The best thing to do i do it to every car. Its great you can track it and clean it with no worries.

 

[Newport Viper]

the best install I have seen....on the fenders the clear runs as a slant and not straight across the fenders. hope that makes sense. it blends much better.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

I did the entire facia, first section of hood, 12-15 inches back on the side sills and also the front splitter where it comes up on the sides at left and right. Highly recommended.

 

[Socrates]

Thanks, all. I have done the full front fascia, full side sills, rear quarters, top 1/4 of the hood, and headlights, on my previous cars, and that has seemed to provide great protection from most situations. I'm still confused on the brand l to go with, but Ventureshield seems to be the preferred brandl for installers in my area.

Also, I'll most likely do the front splitter/canards as well.

 

[SSSSE YA]

Tom where are you ?????

 

[fireball]

I hate that stuff - I think it looks terrible, especially on darker coloured (CDN spelling) cars. I have no doubt that it protects your car though.

I don't have plastic seat covers either - it also protects your car.

The sad thing is that I really don't want any chips in my paint but I'm just not willing to put up with the look of the film. So I get the front bumper of my cars painted every 4 years of so.

Greg

 

[ASPIRATIONS]

Thanks, all. I have done the full front fascia, full side sills, rear quarters, top 1/4 of the hood, and headlights, on my previous cars, and that has seemed to provide great protection from most situations. I'm still confused on the brand l to go with, but Ventureshield seems to be the preferred brandl for installers in my area.

Also, I'll most likely do the front splitter/canards as well.

What ACR did you buy.???

 

[99 R/T 10]

Hey Justyn, congrats! You gotta post up pictures! From what I heard, she is a beaut!

 

[Red Mist Viper]

Justyn, Congrats! That ACR has true street presence; it won’t be confused with a vette to be sure. jim

 

[Martin]

I was at a recent Porsche club event, and a bunch of the cars had that stuff on them. To me, it stood out like a bad hair transplant - maybe OK from a distance, but when you got up close from certain angles, it really showed. Not necessarily a terrible look or anything, but I could definitely tell it was there. One guy got touchy about it because I asked him about the clear bra even though I hadn't gotten closer than five feet from the car...

I do have a question about it, though. Has anyone had long-term experience with it? For example, when it's time to remove it, is it easy to remove? And, after it's removed, is the paint underneath a different shade than the rest of the car? I'm assuming that those clear bras have some level of UV protection in them, which is going to mean that the covered paint is going to change shade at a different rate than the uncovered paint.

 

[Newport Viper]

It should be OEM. Get ventureshield.

I have had it on for 3 years. Side sills too. It is the first mod any viper ownet should. Viper paint chips easy and looks like a$$ fast. All high end cars have clear on them now. No one will care. And you will htae the chips

 

[Nowayforya]

Hi Socrates,
I hope the following information helps.
I recently removed ClearMask, which I sell, from my wife’s red 2004 Thunderbird. Its her daily driver. I removed the material because someone had keyed the hood. The person or persons keyed the car at night and evidently they didn't see the material.
The paint under the material was not scratched.
After 5 years, the material showed no signs of yellowing and there was no difference in the paint where the material was on the hood. The removed material was perfectly clear even after 5 years of daily exposure to the elements.
It does require some hard pulling to remove the film but no adhesive remained on the car.
This is not the first time I have removed ClearMask from a car due to damage with no problem but it was the first time for a car that the film has been on that long.
I haven't had any personal dealings with Ventureshield but I understand from others that it is a very good product. There are many paint protection films on the market that you need to stay away from.
I have ClearMask on all of my cars including my 08 SRTC. I would not use it on my cars and recommend it to my friends and fellow Viper Club Members if I didn't think it was the best product out there.
Please feel free to send me a PM and I will give you my contact number if you have any questions.

Hal

 

[snakeplissken]

I used 3M on mine. I did the front,mirrors,doorsills. No splitters.

 

[Socrates]

While I'm not crazy about the appearance at times (and the inherent wax build-up that I'm currently experiencing on my SSG around edges/cracks), I do like the protection it provides. It has saved my Lotus many times now and I couldn't imagine not having it on the ACR, or at least I hope.

Mike/Jim - -

 

[texas_venom]

Tom where are you ?????

I am here. Been working today so just caught this thread. As far as VentureShield goes, it has much less orange peel in it than 3M
. Expel and Avery do not hold up... I wont install them because their durability is sub par. My honest opinion, and what I have put on all of my cars, is ClearMask AR. It is the only film I can say does not yellow, is free of orange peel, and optically clear... and thats after 5 years experience in installing it. Its also a little more durable than VentureShield Ultra (topcoat). The only drawback is it only comes in 30" widths at this point. So for wrapping full hood and full fenders I have to use VS Ultra. Either way you go you will be very happy you did it. The gentleman above from Canada obviously has not seen a good install. He is also failing to take into account that the new colors on the Vipers are almost impossible to match. Let your bumper go and see how difficult it will be to match SSG, VV, graphite and so on down the road. I have already heard of people not being able to match the paint on some of these colors and it will only get worse as time goes along. Not to mention you will be without the beast for a couple of weeks while they are trying to match it.

If you have any questions or would like to see ClearMask AR on your color of Viper, PM me and I will be more than happy to send you some photos. I have done just about all of them up to this point so I have plenty of photos.

Thom

 

[Greg 99ACR Red and Silver]

I had the 3M film professionally installed on the hood of my snake. It was great when I tracked my car frequently, but it yellowed after about 4 years and was a total hassle to remove - adhesive stuck all over. I still have the film on my front fascia cause it looks OK, but the hood just looked bad with time.

Perhaps that was because I live in a hot climate, but I don't think so.

 

[Martin]

I guess my biggest fear with this stuff is that ten or twelve years from now, I'll be worse off than if I had never installed it. I have a B/W GTS that I've driven regularly and, I don't know if I'm the luckiest guy in the world, but I have yet to get a single rock chip in it. On my new GTS Blue ACR (hopefully getting it soon...), I'm wondering if I'll be kicking myself ten or twelve years into the future. I like the idea of having permanent protection on the fascia and rockers, but if it costs me as much as a paint touch-up job ten years from now to remove the stuff, that just wouldn't be cool. I just can't believe that the stuff will last the whole life of the car (say 20-30 years for the sake of how long I figure I'll be around) and when it has to come off, I'm just not convinced that I wouldn't be better off if I had never installed it. Anyone have any comments that might convince me otherwise?

 

[texas_venom]

I guess my biggest fear with this stuff is that ten or twelve years from now, I'll be worse off than if I had never installed it. I have a B/W GTS that I've driven regularly and, I don't know if I'm the luckiest guy in the world, but I have yet to get a single rock chip in it. On my new GTS Blue ACR (hopefully getting it soon...), I'm wondering if I'll be kicking myself ten or twelve years into the future. I like the idea of having permanent protection on the fascia and rockers, but if it costs me as much as a paint touch-up job ten years from now to remove the stuff, that just wouldn't be cool. I just can't believe that the stuff will last the whole life of the car (say 20-30 years for the sake of how long I figure I'll be around) and when it has to come off, I'm just not convinced that I wouldn't be better off if I had never installed it. Anyone have any comments that might convince me otherwise?

Honestly I am not sure what your concern is about. If you dont go with the protection you WILL get rock chips. Simple as that. I am sure you would not wait 10 years to repaint the bumper... at least I hope you wouldnt. So in 10 years you are talking multiple paint jobs, multiple opportunities for the paint to not match, and a lot of time the car will be in the shop. By the way, we are not just talking about repainting the bumper. We are talking about the hood, fenders, mirrors, bumper, rocker panels (which will look bad in under 1,000 miles, feel the underside of them and you can tell how bad they get), the lights... and so on. It would cost you much more to repaint those areas of the car than to potect them. In fact one light housing will cost you more than entire clear bra install. If you ever need to remove the film, peel it off. You might have some residue left on it ( a lot if you go with 3M material) but a little adhesive remover takes it right off. Then your paint looks brand new.

So I guess I do not understand your issue...

 

[Socrates]

For those with an ACR:

For the front bumper, did you (or your installer) remove the side cannards? There are no ACR-specific patterns from the film manufacturers, so a regular SRT Viper bumper pattern must be used (which of course wouldn't have the cannards), which would mean either trimming around them, or removing them completely and reinstalling.

 

[Lawrenzo]

For those with an ACR:

For the front bumper, did you (or your installer) remove the side cannards? There are no ACR-specific patterns from the film manufacturer's, so a regular Viper pattern must be used (which of course wouldn't have the cannards), which would mean either trimming around them, or removing them completely and reinstalling.

Nobody answer him until he posts at least 1 picture of his just delivered ACR

 

[Martin]

Honestly I am not sure what your concern is about. If you dont go with the protection you WILL get rock chips. Simple as that. I am sure you would not wait 10 years to repaint the bumper... at least I hope you wouldnt. So in 10 years you are talking multiple paint jobs, multiple opportunities for the paint to not match, and a lot of time the car will be in the shop. By the way, we are not just talking about repainting the bumper. We are talking about the hood, fenders, mirrors, bumper, rocker panels (which will look bad in under 1,000 miles, feel the underside of them and you can tell how bad they get), the lights... and so on. It would cost you much more to repaint those areas of the car than to potect them. In fact one light housing will cost you more than entire clear bra install. If you ever need to remove the film, peel it off. You might have some residue left on it ( a lot if you go with 3M material) but a little adhesive remover takes it right off. Then your paint looks brand new.

So I guess I do not understand your issue...

Perhaps it's out of ignorance, or perhaps the quality of the paint on today's Vipers is horrible compared to my '97 GTS - but that car is 12 years old, it's been driven regularly, it's never had a bra of any kind on it, and there is NOT ONE rock chip on it anywhere. Like I mentioned above, maybe I'm the luckiest guy in the world in that I've never gotten a rock chip. Or, if the new paint is crap, maybe I should indeed get the clear bra. I just don't know... If the paint is as good or better than on my GTS (an assumption I would tend to make because materials technology seems to get better as time goes on), I'm unsure as to whether I want that stuff on my car or not. Like I mentioned, I haven't heard from anyone who's had it on for 10 or 12 years and had it come off easily - and I certainly don't want to install/uninstall the stuff every couple of years. If I do it, I'm looking for at least a 10 year lifespan and no bad surprises when that 10 years is up. If the paint is crap on the new cars and the surface of my car is going to look like a lunar landscape in 1000 miles, then it's a no brainer.

That's about as succinctly as I can state my issue. Just looking for information to make an informed choice.

EDIT: Just for the record, my 150,000 mile Jeep doesn't have many rock chips on it, either (none on the hood, and just a few small ones on the front bumper) - and I drive that thing offroad (although I do try and stay in front of others, and I don't aim for gravel trucks ) On the other hand, I had an '85 Bronco that was literally cratered with rock chips within a month of owning it. So, is it the paint on Vipers today that is weak?

 

[Socrates]

Nobody answer him until he posts at least 1 picture of his just delivered ACR

Ha, you're right, fair enough -- hopefully tonight!

By the way, a little birdie told me you were buying my SSG - any truth to that rumor? If so, congrats!!

 

[texas_venom]

Perhaps it's out of ignorance, or perhaps the quality of the paint on today's Vipers is horrible compared to my '97 GTS - but that car is 12 years old, it's been driven regularly, it's never had a bra of any kind on it, and there is NOT ONE rock chip on it anywhere. Like I mentioned above, maybe I'm the luckiest guy in the world in that I've never gotten a rock chip. Or, if the new paint is crap, maybe I should indeed get the clear bra. I just don't know... If the paint is as good or better than on my GTS (an assumption I would tend to make because materials technology seems to get better as time goes on), I'm unsure as to whether I want that stuff on my car or not. Like I mentioned, I haven't heard from anyone who's had it on for 10 or 12 years and had it come off easily - and I certainly don't want to install/uninstall the stuff every couple of years. If I do it, I'm looking for at least a 10 year lifespan and no bad surprises when that 10 years is up. If the paint is crap on the new cars and the surface of my car is going to look like a lunar landscape in 1000 miles, then it's a no brainer.

That's about as succinctly as I can state my issue. Just looking for information to make an informed choice.

EDIT: Just for the record, my 150,000 mile Jeep doesn't have many rock chips on it, either (none on the hood, and just a few small ones on the front bumper) - and I drive that thing offroad (although I do try and stay in front of others, and I don't aim for gravel trucks ) On the other hand, I had an '85 Bronco that was literally cratered with rock chips within a month of owning it. So, is it the paint on Vipers today that is weak?

Paint these days is not anywhere close to as good as it was 5-10 years ago. Our new environmental regulations have made paint a lot softer so chips will happen. Also since the rocker panels are made of aluminum they will get sandblasted in no time. The absolute minimum would be to get the rocker panels wrapped. I have seen numerous Vipers with only 100-200 miles on them and the rockers are already chipped up very badly.

The film will come off. It may not be easy to remove... but would you want it to come off easily??? If you hit it with a pressure washer it would peel right up. Wouldnt do you much good then. But the film can be removed without much effort and the paint underneath will be as good as new. and if you have issues with the film, it will be covered under warranty which means the installer will remove the old film and install the new one. I doubt you would ever have to take it off.

I guess my thoughts are you own a $90,000+ car that is not going to be produced anymore. Why not spend a little more (about 1% of the cars value) and keep it looking new??? Keeping these cars in great condition will increase the resale value and you will never have to worry about matching a paint that 1) is difficult to match and 2) they may not have anymore. If I were in the positio to buy an 08 or an 09 there is no way I would drive that car until I got it protected. But thats me... and I like to keep my vehicles looking new.

 

[theviper]

Thom put Clearmask on mine...looks good! Thom, remember that idiot who hit my bumper when the Jeep was parked. It looks like all the damage was just the Clearmask. Glad I got the Clearmask. Any ideas how to buff out the scratches on the Clearmask. It looks white (and the car is black).
Thanks.

 

[texas_venom]

For those with an ACR:

For the front bumper, did you (or your installer) remove the side cannards? There are no ACR-specific patterns from the film manufacturers, so a regular SRT Viper bumper pattern must be used (which of course wouldn't have the cannards), which would mean either trimming around them, or removing them completely and reinstalling.

They do not make a kit for the ACR. So what I have done is installed the film on the car, get it down to the canards, mark the lines where it will need to be trimmed, and then lift the film back up to trim the excess off. One ACR I worked on I was lucky enough to have DC Performance remove the canards for me. But either way its an easy adjustment and will not be visible on the car. A good installer should not have any problem making the adjustment... and he wont have to remove the canards that are attached by rivets.

 

[texas_venom]

Thom put Clearmask on mine...looks good! Thom, remember that idiot who hit my bumper when the Jeep was parked. It looks like all the damage was just the Clearmask. Glad I got the Clearmask. Any ideas how to buff out the scratches on the Clearmask. It looks white (and the car is black).
Thanks.

Sorry to hear you got backed into. I have to say I am jealous of your stable... new black Viper and a new black Jeep SRT-8. Best of both worlds. For the scuff in the film it is tough for me to know without seeing it. Email me some pics and I will see what I can come up with. I am glad it protected your paint and minimized the damage...

 

[theviper]

Good news...I had a local detailer work on the car. The whole car looks great but the job he did on the scratches and scuff in the Clearmask clear bra were AMAZING! You cannot tell that there was ever any damage. Now that's awesome! Another reason I'm so happy I made the investment in a clear bra! Anyone who wants the name of an honest and good detailer that will pick up your car from your home, let me know. He is in Schaumburg, IL.