Thoughts on car bras ?

[privatepang]

Just after some feedback from any air cooled owners that have installed a full body car bra on their cars? 

My backdate is still on going but when it gets painted, i'm tempted to invest in a car bra if it's not crazy pricey. Guess i'm after feedback on how it looks on a classic 911 (saw a few posts about caymans and later model cars) and whether it's been a pain to maintain it? Hoping it will help in preventing rust as well as the obvious scratches/stone chips. 

[hugh]

This is worth a look;

 

[Raven]

Clear wrap only way to go  .........not a fan of bra,s on cars ..........Lingerie models well that,s a different story  

[clutch-monkey]

i've got an original leather one for an impact bumper 911 here. never used it in my life. clearbra sticker stuff makes way more sense.

if someone on here wants the car bra i'll dig it up

[Peter M]

This page has some prices that maybe useful to you: https://protectmycar.com.au/stoneguard-pricing/

 

Ozicozi have had good reports on this forum I recall.

[Niko]

Wrap best way to go....

[MFX]

i've got an original leather one for an impact bumper 911 here. never used it in my life. clearbra sticker stuff makes way more sense.

if someone on here wants the car bra i'll dig it up

I had a leather one on a Skyline years ago. I drove it from Adelaide to Sydney and it left rub marks on the paint where it clipped onto the wheel arch. They were buffed out, but it sort of defeated the purpose a bit. Didn't have stone chips though.

I have been looking into doing a clear wrap myself. Can they be polished? How is the gloss consistency, if for example I do the front of the car but not the doors?

[Mike-S]

Once I get the front bumper painted on mine again after the Tassie trip, I'll put the clear film wrap on to stop the stonechips. Considering how thin the impact zone is on the bumper, the millions of tiny chips it now has after the trip are quite a surprise 

[Niko]

 

I have been looking into doing a clear wrap myself. Can they be polished? How is the gloss consistency, if for example I do the front of the car but not the doors?

if the invisible bra (wrap) has been fitted properly, you won't even know it's on there.  

so it won't change the continuity of your paint colour at all.

I have only the bonnet, guards, mirrors, headlights and bar done.

you can't tell the doors are not done.

i also had about 10" taken back from the top of the windscreen over the roof.

again unless you look really close you would not know it is there.

I just wash and AquaWax my car the same method all over.

polishing the wrap...... Not too sure about that, polishes having a little cutting compound in them normally.

there are a couple of different brands of aerosol type cans that are used in plastic or Perspex that you buy from Autobahn and similar stores.    The names escape me at the moment, and I'm away from home, so can't check it out.  (   VIEWPLUS or something like that)

I have used them, one of which is supplied by the company. (Invisible Car Bras) when you pick your car up after the wrap is fitted.  so they are happy and recommend you use that on the wrap,.

Put the wrap on two years ago and no stone or chip marks.   Well worth the investment IMHO.

 

[privatepang]

Ok thanks guys. Sorry i should have said clear wrap instead of car bra. 

Yea saw the thread from Hugh but that was for a cayman and was more interested in feedback from guys that own older 911s

 

 

I had a leather one on a Skyline years ago. I drove it from Adelaide to Sydney and it left rub marks on the paint where it clipped onto the wheel arch. They were buffed out, but it sort of defeated the purpose a bit. Didn't have stone chips though.

I have been looking into doing a clear wrap myself. Can they be polished? How is the gloss consistency, if for example I do the front of the car but not the doors?

Jeff,

just called ozicosi a call and the guy mentioned that if you do a respray, depending on the quality of the paint/job, when they remove the wrap, there's a chance you may take some of the paint off. OEM paint or good resprays won't have this issue but unfortunately you won't know til you take off the wrap. Just food for thought i guess.

[symsy]

Have 1/2 wrap ..looks fine ..

No colour issues 

Just drove Melb to Byron and not even a ding in the wrap

-------------------------------

Also you can buy that rubberised paint if its needed temporary , a friend painted his panniers on a BMW bike and then peeled it off a month later when coming off the dirt , looks like brand new ..cheap if a temporary one trip concern.. I realise a car is bigger if course 

--------------------------------

I have no protection on my 20 year old car.. also ..2 chips in its lifetime and its been up and down to sydney.. a few times from QLD.

Gets driven on back roads most of the time.

 

[Apogee]

I decided to go the opposite way with my new Audi SQ5. While I plan to have PPF on my Spyder.

I was one of the first guys to have PPF on my whole car (Golf MkV GTI) back in 2009. People thought I was crazy back then - most were just doing the front. 

I decided this time to go with a Carbra instead for several reasons. 

1. While the PPF was great in protecting my whole car, it paid itself off in the first couple of months after a guy sideswiped my GTI, it didn't protect the car from deep scrapes and dents and hail. You still had to get a panel beater to paint the affected areas or PDR in the case of hail.

2. Unless you get Xpel PPF or Hexis PPF which have self healing properties, any scratches or rubs to the PPF is there until you replace it. No it won't buff out.

3. Getting a good and reasonably priced installer is hard esp in Sydney. If you go with a cheap installer and I won't name names, they will cut on the film on the car, and you won't know until you remove the film (years down the road) - leaving cuts on your duco. Installers who do not cut on the car now charge between $4K and $6.5K to do the job using a plotter. I paid only $2.5K for the GTI when I first did it. There are a lot of cowboys out there. And once they hear that you own a Porsche -they slug you with the Porsche tax.

4. You can get Xpel Tracwrap (http://www.xpel.com/xpel-tracwrap-temporary-ppf/) which is a temporary PPF that you can install yourself before going on a long journey. So why not just use Tracwrap instead of the Carbra? Well - I am going to use both. Tracwrap under the Carbra (to solve that rubbing issue that MFX mentioned). The one thing PPF cannot do is protect your radiator from bugs and pebbles/stones. The Carbra has an integrated bug screen. 

 

[Whytar]

Echoing Apogee's remarks, the word is that only pre-cut wrap should be used to avoid the cutting on the car risks. My buddy just had his 981 Spyder PPF'ed and the guy used pre-cut templates. He says it looks great with very little no notice other than some tiny bubbles that should disappear over time.

I have seen YT videos of PPF being polished, but can't validate the results.

[Apogee]

Echoing Apogee's remarks, the word is that only pre-cut wrap should be used to avoid the cutting on the car risks. My buddy just had his 981 Spyder PPF'ed and the guy used pre-cut templates. He says it looks great with very little no notice other than some tiny bubbles that should disappear over time.

I have seen YT videos of PPF being polished, but can't validate the results.

Who did he use to get his PPF installed?

Ok thanks guys. Sorry i should have said clear wrap instead of car bra. 

Yea saw the thread from Hugh but that was for a cayman and was more interested in feedback from guys that own older 911s

 

 

Jeff,

just called ozicosi a call and the guy mentioned that if you do a respray, depending on the quality of the paint/job, when they remove the wrap, there's a chance you may take some of the paint off. OEM paint or good resprays won't have this issue but unfortunately you won't know til you take off the wrap. Just food for thought i guess.

Yes, removing the clear is possible if you do not use a heat gun to heat up the wrap before trying to tear it off. 

if the invisible bra (wrap) has been fitted properly, you won't even know it's on there.  

so it won't change the continuity of your paint colour at all.

I have only the bonnet, guards, mirrors, headlights and bar done.

you can't tell the doors are not done.

i also had about 10" taken back from the top of the windscreen over the roof.

again unless you look really close you would not know it is there.

I just wash and AquaWax my car the same method all over.

polishing the wrap...... Not too sure about that, polishes having a little cutting compound in them normally.

there are a couple of different brands of aerosol type cans that are used in plastic or Perspex that you buy from Autobahn and similar stores.    The names escape me at the moment, and I'm away from home, so can't check it out.  (   VIEWPLUS or something like that)

I have used them, one of which is supplied by the company. (Invisible Car Bras) when you pick your car up after the wrap is fitted.  so they are happy and recommend you use that on the wrap,.

Put the wrap on two years ago and no stone or chip marks.   Well worth the investment IMHO.

 

The only issue I have with doing a partial wrap is the possible issue of the uncovered paint fading more than the covered parts.