I've gotten a reasonable quote to cover my Redline, anywhere from $250 to $550, depending on the amount of coverage I want. The installer says there are a number of reasons I might not want to do this. Specifically he mentions, leaving a glue residue when removing the material, having the covered areas weather at a different rate than the rest of the car, and having a wax buildup at the fringes of the cover. He also says that the Avery product is easier to work with. I would appreciate any thoughts about these concerns and whether I should do this or just Zaino the car. Any thought about 3M or Avery?

 

Questions and Answers:

1. leaving a glue residue when removing the material. It probably will leave a residue to clean.

2. weather at a different rate than the rest of the car. The 3m product advertises that it doesn't affect paint fade. At least there is paint there to fade if it does.

3. wax buildup at the fringes. Just take a stiff tooth brush or a tooth pick and remove the excess.


You can just Zaino the car and it will look great, for a while. I suppose you could chase the rock chips with touch up paint.

I put a clear bra on my car because of the large front facia is just 5 inches off the ground and is bound to suck up the rocks. I also covered the headlights.

Drive a tight line !

 

1.the adhesive on the film is similar to that of a vinyl decal or bumper sticker, if your carefull the whole piece can be removed without leaving adhesive on the car, and spots left can be cleaned up with regular adhesive remover. The film is designed to be permanently installed, so if you feel there is going to be any reason why you would think of removing it at some point down the road, it should be considered before you commit to the install.

2.since its completely clear, color fade will be even, the finish of the paint beneath the film will remain the same as the day the film was applied, but as before, the finish of the protected/unprotected film will not be noticed as long as you keep the film permanently installed as intended.

3.Dried wax will be noticed on the edges just as on any other exposed edge of your car. I know nowadays with newer cars with less and less exposed edges, mouldings, or body gaps we've forgotten the old days where after waxing we ran a toothbrush or softened toothpick along all edges to get out dried wax, but that process still works just fine for the film. If your still concerned, the zaino you mentioned dries clear so wax buildup is virtually unnoticable when kept on top of.

3M and Avery Dennison both make excellent polyurethane film, perhaps the biggest difference is that 3M incorporates a clear coat top layer on its film that Avery does not, so far I havent noticed a difference in finish between the film but prefer to use 3M since light scuffs and scratches on the clear coat top layer can be polished out, the top layer does make the film a bit more rigid than the Avery so many installers prefer using Avery for ease of install. The Avery is also marginally cheaper than 3M. The only time I prefer Avery is on straight white cars since it resists yellowing over time better than 3M. my 3M distributor assures me that their film has greatly improved over this past year but until I see a white car with it thats been on the road for a few years I'll keep using Avery on white. On any other color 3M is perfect, but theres no hiding even the slightest tint change on straight white.

Hope that answers your questions, if you have any other questions, feel free to mail me at invisiguard@sbcglobal.net
Jeremy

 

Have anyone thought of taken the car to an autoshop and paint another one or two layers of clear coat on top of the stock paint...clear coat on paint are to prevent rock chip or slight scraches. Just that most factory paint jobs dont do that much layers of clear coats. Cost might be the same compare to the quote ~$500+ ......just a thought

 

unfortunatly, you cant clear coat over waterbased single stage paints, just as you cant clear coat over single stage polyurethane paints. If that were the case they would still do it at the factories like that, they didnt switch over to thin, brittle, water based paints because it was more economical, blame the EPA

 

How about the paint protection package provided by the dealer for extra charge ("clear coat and platinum shield"). Will this in anyway affect the the application of the clear bra. Will the clear bra be suitable for very cold climate?

 

the area to be installed is stripped of any wax, but the film can be waxed over again after installation, if that troubles you, you should know that "clear-coat" is actually just $10 worth of teflon wax. They claim that the teflon bonds to the paint to provide a protective layer, but if you know anything about the mechanical properties of teflon, it needs to be heated to at LEAST 650 degrees before it will bond to ANYTHING. In short, its a crock, buy yourself some Zaino instead and put the 500 you save toward real paint protection