Front fascia-painting and covering

[Wild Bill]

One of the problems with driving every day is the rock chips on the front fascia. How much does it usually cost to re-paint this. I have done a search for the 3-M plastic covering and can't find it. Does someone remember the link? Has anyone put this on them self and was it difficult? Any observations or suggestions on this or similar products is appreciated.

Thanks

Bill

 

[Shelby3]

Just had mine repainted for $400 which included stripes. I would assume without stripes, somewhat less.

 

[99 R/T 10]

Lots of chips and the bottom scrapes repaired at the same time. Painted with Global PPG at a cost of $340. I pulled it off the car and reinstalled it(for my own piece of mind),

Mike

 

[kverges]

My experience is similar - $3-400 to repaint. I just don't think the film coverings have a nice enough finish and it only takes 30 minutes to pull the fascia for paint. I repaint mine whenever it gets too beat up to tolerate any more (my '01 fascia is off right now for touch-up, so I got 2 years and about 12,000 miles).

 

[Ulysses]

3M Clear Bra

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Keith, I assume you re-use the Viper badge? What glue do you use to re-attach it?

 

[99 R/T 10]

No glue Chuck, it's just double stick tape. Thicker than what you would normally buy, this stuff is made for emblems I think. Any paint shop should have it.

 

[Vanquish]

I just had the the following done on my Car
1)Whole Fascia
2)Front portion of my hood upto the Airduct
3) Headlights
4) Fog lights
5) Rear rear rockers.
The job is very time consuming but well worth the dollars. The areas that the 3m is applied looks alot shiner than the rest of the car. I do not recommend this job to a person that is doing it on their car for the first time.(You may end up wasting your money) Do the research and find a shop that performs this as a business. It took the shop 6 hours to do all the Pieces on my car and it looks perfect. They custom cut the 3m sheets to fit the sections of the car that it was applied.

I was at the Tator Dodge for the BBQ and my fellow viper owners were very please at how you could not see the 3m and how great it looked. The only drawback is if you want to call it that, is that I have to get the rest of the Car to shine as well as the front nose and hood. I have about 15 coats of Zaino on the Viper and it still does not give off the same glossy shine. Only way to discribe it is that the nose appears wet.

I note is that I would not put it on a nose that is already damaged because it will enhance the marks. Put it on after you have painted your nose and it will remain perfect.

 

[Magicboy2]

Vanquish,

Got any pics for us? I'd be curious to see the difference. Probably hard to capture in a photo though.

Now for the big question- how much did the protectant set you back?

 

[Vanquish]

Magic boy2,

The pictures show absolutely nothing, so there really isn't a difference to the camera. You have to be up close to even see the clear line. At the BBQ fellow viper owners had to take their shades off to examine. It will run you about 600 depending on how much you get done, I went all out. I will be doing the Side mirrors and hood behind the front wheels next. The best part is that you can have the pieces specially cut to accomodate what you want covered. Addam 96 will be getting his front splitter covered.

It's not cheap but I would rather protect the original paint then repaint. This is a very labor intensive process, when I saw the guy do it I was amazed at how difficult it was, it is not as easy as putting on tint.

 

[Magicboy2]

Interesting. Even in my car, which was just repainted a year or two ago, there are already a few small chips in the lower front fascia, probably from small stones, etc. And I refuse to put a traditional bra on it. Perhaps somewhere down the line, getting the fascia repainted, then coated, might be the way to go.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Vanquish]

Magicboy2,

I also have the Speed Lingerie bra which is blue with the white strip to match my 96 GTS. It does match but there is nothing like having practically nothing on the viper. I still put the Speed Lingerie bra on when I plan to go on long trips, just to be safe.