z461

Yup... talked to Jeremy (Krinkov) yesterday and he sent it out to me overnight. Wonderful service...Went over to "The Tint Factory" as recommended by him and they installed it along with some light chrome tint. The film was pretty hard to work with but in the end they did a great job, ended up with 1 or 2 water bubbles which should evaporate. The 3M film seems to cover all impact areas including the front bumper, part of the front fender, lots of the hood, and the two side mirrors. Total price was 275 for the film plus 180 for installation for a grand total of 455 dollars. You can see the edge of the film under low light but in bright conditions its almost impossible to see. I would highly recommend all you guys get some of this stuff, it's a lot cheaper than a custom install and seems just as good (that other guy paid almost 700 dollars I believe). No more rock chips for me!
Oh yea, and The Tint Factory is the place to go for window tinting, they did a great job and have a wide selection of tints to go with. The light chrome really matches up with the chrome silver

Krinkov: Should I just come by next Saturday to meet up and get the headlight covers?
Pics:


Notice the edge on the upper left

The edge of the bra is apparent under lower lighting... it covers a lot of hood

Notice the edge, the cut is about 2-3mm off from the edge. (Not sure if you're supposed to stretch out the film with a heat gun during the install...the shop hadn't worked with this type of film yet).


These are some random pics I also took after washing the car...


That's my favorite part, where the fender is so wide and flared that it's horizontal




And this one's for TXSTYLE :


I believe the Z's HID's are actually a bit yellower than those on the GS.. I wonder what type of bulb it uses, a D2S or D2R... Does anyone know? I'd like to change out my bulbs...

rouxeny

How does a clear bra work with something like Zaino? Obviously, you don't remove the bra, so I guess you just apply a polish on top of it? Somehow, that doesn't seem right.

Any input from the professionals?

Bishop_Tx

Z461,

Can you share contact info, order info and pricing etc?
Can you recommend an installer in Austin?

Chris
CS Track

z461

Bishop:
Refer to this thread, Jeremy will help you out. It's 275 dollars as mentioned for the entire kit (I forgot if that includes the headlights). The install should be around 180 dollars.

Rouxeny:
You polish and wax over the film... Apparently the film has its own coat of clearcoat so it's allright to do this.

gfunk808

Okay, so you can wax over the 3M... but what if you are using this Zanio product on the entire car, isn't it supposed to bring out the deep gloss after multiple applications...?

What I'm getting at is, won't half of the car have a deep/mirror-like gloss after a year, and the other half (protected by 3M) still have the factory shine (more dull)??

krinkov

hey! Looks like it turned out gereat! I was a bit worried the kit wouldnt get to you in time and yes, Im hoping to have the kits with me when I head down there on Sat, I'll put them on for you if you come out. The only problem is NOBODY that originally said they were interested in getting a kit installed in LA has gotten back to me! I'll post again but Im getting a bit worried.

BTW, the kit for $275 comes with the headlights, Im only going to be offering the uninstalled kit through next week so if anybody wants one sent out let me know soon. And yes, once installed the kit can be washed, waxed, and treated as any other painted curface of the car, though buffing machines are not recomended.
If anybody wants to get a full kit(hood, fenders, bumper, mirors, and headlight kit $495) installed in LA next Sat, reply to this post and mail me. Jeremy invisiguard@sbcglobal.net

ZON

iTrader: (2)

Why not just 3M the whole hood so you don't see that line. The line bugs me. This is a great idea and I would like to do it. I think I would do the hole hood.

Just my .02 cents

z461

Throbbing Zon.. that would probably be a waste of money. The material isn't very cheap. Also, the line really isn't very visible, especially during the daytime. Only at night under low lighting can you see it, and only if you look for it.

ZON

iTrader: (2)

OH, must have been the camera flash that brought it out so much.

z461

That's probably it actually... I noticed that too--when I was looking at the film I couldn't find it, and then when I took the picture it was clearly visible. It looks more like the close up pic where it's hard to see where the film ends.

mike952

Thats unfortunate I was interested in purchasing one, but only after seeing one installed locally (Miami) and of course once getting my car (another 6- 8 weeks or so).

articfury

I have to say I agree with Zon. I think I would rather pay the extra for the whole hood coverage. Then you get the benefit of protecting the whole hood and the only lines on the hood are on the edges. (I remember seeing a post saying the chip on their hood was higher than the 3M goes) Of course then there's still the line on the fenders. Hmm.

Is there any additional protection on the cars for rock chips coming up from the tires?

JD

TXSTYLE

iTrader: (1)

Well , well, well. I guess great minds do think alike! Nice lineup you have there bro'. Pearl GS400 & Silver 350Z just like me! Plus CLK and X5! Very nice indeed. I also like both of those cars. I'm hoping to make a SAV addition to my garage next year in the form of the 2003 Infiniti FX45.................

hoopjones

How do you guys afford so many cars??? I'm only a poor college student so seeing someone own that many cars in one place is insane. I'm driving a 96 mazda 626 which is pretty new considering the cars I've had before, a Z is like an impossible dream right now.....

mike952

Concentrate on school..and graduate; make sure you study something you are really passionate about. Then go out and work to be the best at your passion; you'll be rewarded generously for your efforts. Then the Z will be a dream come true or what ever you desire at that juncture in your life.

DrDrilZ

z461........what mods have you done to get the gs400 to 13.7 in the 1/4 mile??
TX....I thought wheels were gonna be waiting for you? When are u puttin those 19's on... i wanna see pics!!!

krinkov

3M only makes this film in 12" 18" and 24" width rolls, so we couldnt even design a one piece hood even if it were practicle and affordable to do so. But as i had said earlier, these kits are made to protect the frontal impact area of the car where the vast majority of the chips and scratches occur, theres always going to be instances of chips and scratches hapening elsewhere on the car, but we want to offer a kit that will stop the majority of paint damage that is caused by frontal impact from road debris while making the kits as practical and affordable as possible.

z461

SRT intake and ECU (Biggest preformance gain)
Borla catback exhaust
SRT Torque Converter upgrade
Torquemaster spark plugs

The rest of the mods are all suspension... Also, 13.7 is not the lowest time... I believe other members at Clublexus.com have low to mid 13's with the same mods. The stock GS400 is very very detuned (mainly to keep the car quiet as a Lexus "should be"). With all those mods I think you're running around 350HP and 355-360 lbs of torque to the crank. I think TXSTYLE may have the same mods on his car, but he has heavier wheels too so I dunno what his time is....