ozman212 Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Hey guys, In another thread I mentioned that I got some rock chips on my hood, so I'm really considering getting a 3M clear bra to at least save my hood for the next 3 years. Has anyone done this? I'd like to know if you can notice that it is on the car from up close, like can you see the division in the paint from the bra? How much did you pay? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IraF Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) If You look REAL CLOSE you will NOTICE a FINE LINE, but REALLY CLOSE, invisible bra goes on hood, bumper, side panels and outside rear view mirrors I have uploaded 2 views, but did not include bumper, but it was installed and really not visible at all I might add it seems they are getting away from leather bra's, collecting dirt, etc and can mar the paint eventually when the leather bra comes off $ 235.00 Hope this helps and btw if the invisible bra needs to be removed for some reason, one has to install another invisible bra, can't use 1st one and you can wax over the bra, no problems Edited May 12, 2016 by IraF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozman212 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) Not bad at all. Thank you for the pics and the heads up on the price. You pretty much cant notice anything. Thats what I am really going for, since my car is black and you can notice any little thing on it. Edited May 12, 2016 by ozman212 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 I love my clear bra ( 3m,Avery, I have VentureShield) had it on since the car was new now 3 years and it looks brand new. Ok here are the facts,have a pro installer put it on (very important), get a vinyl protection spray,for example aerospace 303 or a synthetic made by 3m for clear bra. If you have a car port or garage it will last for life of the car,sun is the one thing that could fade the vinyl,that is why if you do not have the carport it will be very important to keep the spray on it,I put it on after every washing. I really like the fact that I have no stone damage to the front ,and I travel major highways,my last car without the bra was a mess up front. Other car enthusiast notice this and are always showing me theirs. Hey good luck lets us know how you made out. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I just found my receipt for the VentureShield clear bra,it was $545.00. That was the front hood,bumper and lights,mirrors and behind the wheel wells. I was thinking of getting a 2017 MKZh but was turned off after seeing the new front grill,so instead I got my roof wrapped with a gloss black vinyl (looks like new paint job) and tinted the windows so my car looks really great,and I saved $40,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Boltz Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I've seen one black car with a clear bra...it was VERY noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozman212 Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 I've seen one black car with a clear bra...it was VERY noticeable. Hmmm, something to think about. But honestly, I think even if its a little noticeable, its better than dealing with rock chips on your hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IraF Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 (edited) My Lincoln 2014 with the pictures that I posted above is a smokey quartz color and from a distance you would not know it had an invisible bra (in the pics you see above I wanted to emphasize the bra so I increased the contrast) and as far as I know nobody looks up extremely close and for all practical purposes it does what it is intended for and as an example when I go shopping say for groceries I just look at other cars as cars other then the ones which have obvious damage that you can't miss. A few yrs ago before the Lincoln, I did have a leather bra on a Honda civic and when I removed it before winter set in, the effects of the leather definitely showed up on the hood and I wanted protection for the front end and the ford dealer said they were getting away from leather bra's and going in the direction of the invisible bra, and as of now I am satisfied. Btw if you look at the first pic again below the hood would you know that part also had part of the invisible bra and as for price if you probably go to ford you will pay more for the bra, mine was done at a collision center. Edited May 18, 2016 by IraF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron D. Brown Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 I went to a dealer yesterday and saw a 2016 MKX Black Label in Diamond Black. It had the invisible bra on the hood and side mirrors. It looked bad (to me). Especially since I was just causally looking at it and not looking for a bra. It just popped out and then I remembered running across this post on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IraF Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 (edited) These 2 pics were taken with a Nikon 7000 taken w/out flash, a telephoto lens 200mm was used and on the first pic that you see , I guess I was about 6-7 feet away just as you would pass this car without looking specifically for anything on the car. The pic that showed up was definitely blue so I added yellow and magenta make it more realistic and the second pic definitely was up close and i'm sure you can see the line, again I added yellow and magenta to make it more realistic and then adjusted I hope the concrete so that they somewhat matched. I hadn't washed and waxed the car for at least a month and let the rain take care of the car. Point of all of this is that most people don't go looking for detail say like an invisible bra, but this sure beats a leather bra because things get trapped in the leather bra and then starts to mar the finish and there is definitely a border that shows up where the leather bra began and ended when you remove it. View both pics from a reasonable distance from laptop/desktop and which one is more obvious and remember car color is smokey quartz not black. Edited May 19, 2016 by IraF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozman212 Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 These 2 pics were taken with a Nikon 7000 taken w/out flash, a telephoto lens 200mm was used and on the first pic that you see , I guess I was about 6-7 feet away just as you would pass this car without looking specifically for anything on the car. The pic that showed up was definitely blue so I added yellow and magenta make it more realistic and the second pic definitely was up close and i'm sure you can see the line, again I added yellow and magenta to make it more realistic and then adjusted I hope the concrete so that they somewhat matched. I hadn't washed and waxed the car for at least a month and let the rain take care of the car. Point of all of this is that most people don't go looking for detail say like an invisible bra, but this sure beats a leather bra because things get trapped in the leather bra and then starts to mar the finish and there is definitely a border that shows up where the leather bra began and ended when you remove it. View both pics from a reasonable distance from laptop/desktop and which one is more obvious and remember car color is smokey quartz not black. In the second pic is where you can tell somewhat that there is a clear bra on it. But honestly, thats not bad at all for some paint protection. I guess if you don't mind touching up your paint every 6 months its ok not to put any kind of protection on your car, but I just got a little chip and I'm flipping out since my car is black and you can notice any little imperfection. So a small line like this is definitely better than paint chips any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IraF Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) As I indicated I have had both and any day of the week I will go for an invisible bra, and the gunk, or whatever you want to call it when you remove the leather bra shows marring of the finish and not to mention the border between leather bra and car, common sense says remove leather bra in the winter to avoid salt damage and then you spend some time cleaning up where the leather bra was situated on the car. I have had an invisible bra for the past 2yrs (MKZ 2014) and just go to a car wash in the winter/summer or do it myself and never had a problem, wash/wax no effect. The close up was done intentionally so you could see a clear bra, but I don't think most people go looking for stuff like that and as Myron pointed out it was obvious to him he could see the clear bra, was it the showroom lighting, was it the installer? I thought I would update this since last night, today was a SUNNY DAY and after leaving Kroger's I noticed as I approached my car, I could definitely see the line where the invisible bra ended on the hood. So if you go bareback on the front of the car and say you live near NEW ORLEANS, have you encountered LUV BUGS, better get that garbage off your car quickly or the finish could be ruined, so if you live further north you will still have bug crap but I have noticed with a invisible bra, that gunk comes off easily and if pebbles/rocks mar the finish, yes touch up paint will do the job with a toothpick, but then the front of the car might look like it has acne. Edited May 19, 2016 by IraF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 The clear bra is one of them love or hate things,I had the best leather bra on my last car and now the clear on this Z,the clear is 100% better and less of a PIA taking it on and off. I had this put on when the car was new (2013) and never regretted it,still looks new 3 years later. I think even if you can see any lines I like the fact that you are doing something special to protect your car. I usually see these on high end autos because I do look to see if I can see them. The people that installed mine had very expensive cars in their shop getting the wraps. One person had the entire hood wrapped so there were no lines at all. It comes down to the fact that it is your car and you can do whatever you like to it irregardless of any other opinions. Hey if you get it done and hate it just have it removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IraF Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 I totally agree with you since I had nothing, leather bra and now the invisible bra, yes in bright sunny days you can see the lines so big deal, but the clear bra seems to be the one where the gunk comes off easily and I have even seen on one car where dip your car in plastic was on the car totally and I always thought that was just for the wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozman212 Posted May 26, 2016 Author Share Posted May 26, 2016 After going over to my installer and getting the info on the clear bra, he does not do 3M anymore because supposedly there is a new company with a much thicker clear bra and withstands much more. The thing is, that it is much more expensive. Just the hood alone is $270, and to do the entire front end it would be about $750. That is just way to expensive for me, especially for something that I am only going to use for 3 years. So I was thinking about just ordering the 3M clear bra kit from ebay and installing it myself. I saw a video on youtube of a few people doing it and it does not look that difficult, it looks pretty much like installing window tint, just on a larger scale. Does anyone have any experience installing a clear bra themselves? You can actually purchase the entire front end clear bra from 3M for $110. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 It is not as easy as it may look.Everything I read on line said that if you never did this before you will probably make a mess,then your out the cost of the materials and still no bra. If you are going to try I would just get the hood piece because the bumper is very tricky and then go to a Mr Tint or another installer if you have one near you and get them to do the bumper. My cost was 550.00 for the works,I watched them doing it and the bumper looked very hard for an amateur. Keep us updated please,Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimflutes Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I see that the 750.00 clear bra price is for Xpel,this is the best high end bra,I think if you check any Mr Tint or Tint World you will get a much lower price,and they often have coupon specials. I read that the Tint World is using Sun Tek clear bra,this is a new vinyl company that has very good reviews and should be much less expensive. Good luck,Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozman212 Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 I see that the 750.00 clear bra price is for Xpel,this is the best high end bra,I think if you check any Mr Tint or Tint World you will get a much lower price,and they often have coupon specials. I read that the Tint World is using Sun Tek clear bra,this is a new vinyl company that has very good reviews and should be much less expensive. Good luck,Jim I actually use SunTek for my window tinting on my vehicles, it's pretty cheap and good quality. I found that the entire clear bra for SunTek is $150, I just haven't gotten a quote on installation yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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