Clearbra Coverage

[DPViper]

I had my silver 03 completely covered in Clearbra (behind wheels, wheel well edges, side sills, nose, hood, fenders, mirrors, door handles, etc) and it really protected the paint but it also turned slightly yellow. I want to put Clearbra my new SSG 08 but I'm hoping to limit its use to the areas that get the most abuse. Where do gen 3 owners without Clearbra material see the most wear and rock chips? Many owners have complained the paint is soft and chips easily. I would appreciate owners giving me specific areas that need Clearbra coverage. Thanks

 

[Darbgnik]

Directly behind the tires, including the 3/4" inside the wheel well. Absolutley terrible on mine. Looks like they've been sandblasted.
My hood and front bumper are okay because I don't tailgate. I'm either ahead or way behind

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

I've always thought spraying a few extra coats of clear would be a better route. Thought was as miles added up the clear could be restored with fine sanding and buff.

 

[DPViper]

Directly behind the tires, including the 3/4" inside the wheel well. Absolutley terrible on mine. Looks like they've been sandblasted.
My hood and front bumper are okay because I don't tailgate.

How far behind the wheels and up the side sill would you suggest putting the Clearbra? Would you just skip covering the bumper? Thanks

 

[bluesrt]

ventureshield has a lifetime warranty against yellowing

 

[Darbgnik]

Inside the wheel well lip, halfway btween the screw next to the viper side badge and the screw below it.(If you look at the inside of the fender you'll understand)
And the sidesill, about the height of that lower screw I mentioned, slowly going lower as you go away from the opening for the next 6" or so.

Hope this makes sense, I wish I'd done mine before it was wrecked already. This city is full of construction, so there's always dirt on the roads. No getting away from it.

Like I said, my front bumper only gets bugs usually, but then again I stay miles away from trucks and the like in front of me. If I'm not passing them, I'm waaay behind. Staying close is not worth the rock chips.

 

[wallbanger]

bumper , hood, mirrors , and the whole sidesill, and small area behind each rear wheel....the bumper kit is way more important than the hoodkit

i don't have inside the wheel well lip like darbgnik but the poor guy has a white car

i don't tailgate either but just passing up an 18 wheeler is risky for the front end.. ALSO in the winter the bridges get covered in rock salt which tends to fly up even at low speed months after the snow has gone

 

[texas_venom]

bumper , hood, mirrors , and the whole sidesill, and small area behind each rear wheel....the bumper kit is way more important than the hoodkit

i don't have inside the wheel well lip like darbgnik but the poor guy has a white car

i don't tailgate either but just passing up an 18 wheeler is risky for the front end.. ALSO in the winter the bridges get covered in rock salt which tends to fly up even at low speed months after the snow has gone

That looks like the pattern from ClearMask.com. Their film also has a lifetime warranty from yellowing, fading, cracking, or peeling. I have installed a few kits on the SSG color and it comes out looking very nice. The slight flake in that color really does a nice job of hiding the clear bra. I would go with the above coverage and behind the rear wheels.

 

[3SXVPR]

From what I found on researching is that 3M changed their film characteristics a couple of years ago and the yellowing and orange peel issue is supposed to have been dealt with.
I just had it put on my '08 so time will tell. At least it has a 5 year parts and labor warranty.

 

[Newport Viper]

ventureshield has a lifetime warranty against yellowing

Mine has turn slightly yellow after 2 years....

 

[crazyspeed]

I bought a clear bra for my s .o. but she refuses to wear it ( true story...she said I'm a perv)

 

[bluesrt]

Mine has turn slightly yellow after 2 years....

if u talk to ur supplier,it will be under warranty,it pulls off very easy//.i only know of ventureshield warranty

 

[CCBrian]

Three years ago I had my Comp Coupe Cleared Bra with 3M material...hell the paint job cost almost $8700 at the time so we thought it was a good idea. It cost over $1000 to get it installed as a custom install on the car. 3 years of racing and the clear bra was getting beat up-we have had 5 windshields in that time. We just pealed it off, and on the side pods the paint was PERFECT. On the nose and hood, the glue stuck to the paint-it took 12 man hours to get it off. On top of that, on the front fascia where the glue did lift off with the clear bar as it should, the clear paint peeled off leaving the color coat in a few sections!?!?! We are in contact with 3M about this. This is going to cost over $2000 to remove/strip/repaint. The paint was 4 months old and done at the same shop that paints the street cars so it was fully cured when it was installed-they say it should be 30 days old at install.I will know next week how good their warranty is. With the material off, we noticed it was turning a slight shade of yellow too. We were going to install on our new 08, but if they don't back it up, we won't.

 

[bluesrt]

it will for sure peel up paint on aftermarket repaint.factory paint these days highly unlikely.

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

Three years ago I had my Comp Coupe Cleared Bra with 3M material...hell the paint job cost almost $8700 at the time so we thought it was a good idea. It cost over $1000 to get it installed as a custom install on the car. 3 years of racing and the clear bra was getting beat up-we have had 5 windshields in that time. We just pealed it off, and on the side pods the paint was PERFECT. On the nose and hood, the glue stuck to the paint-it took 12 man hours to get it off. On top of that, on the front fascia where the glue did lift off with the clear bar as it should, the clear paint peeled off leaving the color coat in a few sections!?!?! We are in contact with 3M about this. This is going to cost over $2000 to remove/strip/repaint. The paint was 4 months old and done at the same shop that paints the street cars so it was fully cured when it was installed-they say it should be 30 days old at install.I will know next week how good their warranty is. With the material off, we noticed it was turning a slight shade of yellow too. We were going to install on our new 08, but if they don't back it up, we won't.

Brian, I don't understand, glue?

They don't use any "glue" on the 3M clearbra, and I had three cars done, even though my entire Viper is yellow, the 3M stayed clear.

 

[CCBrian]

Glue is the adhesive that holds on the clear bra-which is basiclly a piece of plastic for better terms with an adhesive to hold it on-much like vinyl graphics. The adhesive is supposed to stay with the plastic-like on a piece of scotch tape. In this case, the glue-all of it, remained on the paint. On the sections that it stayed with the plastic, as its supposed to do, it removed the paint clear coat.This occured on the nose section of my Comp Coupe. We are having to remove the nose piece and have it media blasted (soda) to start fresh.The nose on the CC is carbon fiber and is much different than that on a street car so replacement was not a option. But it is a mess. I have clear bra on my F430, Infinity, Mercedes, street Viper, etc. but we have never actually removed it. The paint shop owner tells me this is not the first car they have seen this on in the past few years.The sections that turned "yellow" are where the heat was-side pods and hood area over the radiator.When held up to the light, they have a yellow hue. Those on the door/rocker area were still clear.

 

[texas_venom]

Glue is the adhesive that holds on the clear bra-which is basiclly a piece of plastic for better terms with an adhesive to hold it on-much like vinyl graphics. The adhesive is supposed to stay with the plastic-like on a piece of scotch tape. In this case, the glue-all of it, remained on the paint. On the sections that it stayed with the plastic, as its supposed to do, it removed the paint clear coat.This occured on the nose section of my Comp Coupe. We are having to remove the nose piece and have it media blasted (soda) to start fresh.The nose on the CC is carbon fiber and is much different than that on a street car so replacement was not a option. But it is a mess. I have clear bra on my F430, Infinity, Mercedes, street Viper, etc. but we have never actually removed it. The paint shop owner tells me this is not the first car they have seen this on in the past few years.The sections that turned "yellow" are where the heat was-side pods and hood area over the radiator.When held up to the light, they have a yellow hue. Those on the door/rocker area were still clear.

Please keep us posted on the warranty issue. The only time I have seen the clear coat lift with film was due to really poor prep work on the paint job. A good paint job 99% of the time... if it is fully cured... will not be harmed when the film is removed. This car happened to be a brand new jaguar Vandan Plas *spelling and the film was on for less than 48 hours. It lifted right off and I was shocked. The paint underneath had not been prepped though before the clear coat was applied. The dealer admitted it was a poor paint job and fixed it. Paint these days is just not what it used to be with all the environmental regulations we have. Not to mention companies trying to take shortcuts to improve their profit margin.

Now I do not use 3M so I can not vouch for the quality of their adhesive. I have heard it is a pretty agressive adhesive and will yellow over time for various reasons. Heat I am not so sure about. For one the hood does get hot... but the rocker panels are where the real heat is generated. I removed my film on my 2004 after it was on for a year and it was as clear as when I put it on. It did take a little work to get it off though. I have since learned that the best way to remove this film is use a steamer. It heats the film up well and softens it. You may have a little adhesive left on the paint but 3M paint remover takes it off very well. It definately does not take 12 hours of work. Thats crazy if you ask me. Maybe they just wanted to over charge you since you were paying by the hour.

 

[CCBrian]

No, we removed it. My employee and I took it off. We heated the garage up to 72 degrees. We tried every thing from 3M adhesive remover to goof-off (which worked the best) to get the glue film off. This film was a very thick rubber type glue. We ended up with a baseball size glue ball when finished. The paint was "factory". It appears where the rocks penetrated the clear bra and was peeled up, it took the clear with it. I hope to hear this week back from the dealer and 3M.

 

[wallbanger]

i would give my vote of confidence for the clear mask.. i have it on two vehicles .. one is the viper.. my viper was hit by a tire causing 9k in damage including what you see below to the sidesill. The bodyshop removed the clear bra and said the clearmask protected the sidesill 100% with no touch up paint needed

 

[Brian GTS]

Where is the best place to buy the 3M material. I see the website for "ClearMask Automotive Paint Protection And Light Protection Film" ...is "Clear Mask" the same product as "ClearBra"? Thanks.

 

[CCBrian]

So far they have agreed to replace the clear bra...we are waiting on what they will do in regards to the cost of the repaint to the panel.

 

[texas_venom]

Where is the best place to buy the 3M material. I see the website for "ClearMask Automotive Paint Protection And Light Protection Film" ...is "Clear Mask" the same product as "ClearBra"? Thanks.

ClearMask is a particular brand of film for clear bras. I have been installing that film and have had great results. The only films I will recommend are ClearMask, VentureShield, and Xpel. There have been to many problems with 3M film so I avoid it... and it has way to much orange peel to it to get a nice finish.

Give Jim a call at ClearMask. He is a great guy and will take care of you. He might even have an installer up in your area. If he doesnt let me know and I will ask around the paint protection film commnity and see who they recommend up there.

 

[Brian GTS]

Thanks for the explanation tx venom, that helps a great deal. I'll let you know if he has trouble locating an installer.