Had the 3M clear bra installed by Maryland Performance Works in Ellicott City (a 93 mile ride for me). $995 included the hood, bumper, fenders, mirrors and lights. The owner Rob Freeman will work your car until it is right, and you get a lifetime warranty.

http://proformauto.com/

I went there Friday at Noon to have it done. Rob put the hood section film on 3 times due to a material blemish noticed or a foreign spec caught between the plastic and the paint. The bumper area film also went on twice for the same reasons. ZR was completed after 4.5 hours of his careful patient work. While his work was being done I liked that I was welcome to watch the whole process.

After I went home, I later noticed a few things I would prefer not to live with and gave Rob a call on Monday to bring the Z back (a stretch mark on the bumper, and some hair & minor things caught between the plastic & the paint). Went back early this morning and the bra doctor got me straight. Today he did all the sections again, and Again he wound up doing the hood and bumper twice each to make it right. I mention these details to point out the fact that he is truely concerned with getting the instalation right (each new material cut costs him $$, and the stuff is not cheap). After another 4.5 hours today, we are looking good!

Notes you may want to know about a clear bra install:

1) Although car was well cleaned prior to work, seems some road stuff had washed from under hood/bumper lip into bumper film on first install accounting for foreign stuff trapped there (watch out for this by cleaning there prior!). When the bra film is installed it is wet down constantly as it is being applied, and when you check it later on... it will then be somewhat (but not fully) dry. Therefore you (and the installer) may not see everything between film and paint until later on...

2) Small air bubbles may take up to two weeks to dry out.

3) Do not rub the film material with your finger (except on outer most edges to press down film) or you will leave marks on the film. Always use a microfiber cloth.

4) Polish can be applied to material as it contains clearcoat. Besides looking good, this will also make it last longer as well.

5) Stretch marks may occur in installation, Rob put the bumper film on slightly differently the second visit to alleviate the one occuring near the Nissan logo.

5) Hope that you can find a great guy like Rob that is a perfectionist at heart and is sincere about really satisfying his clear bra customers. Besides being a friendly likable guy, the time and material he spent on my car says a lot about him.

6) It will never be perfect, but it can be close!

7) The Clear Bra Works!

 

Thats almost 1 grand worth of clearbra... glad u took advantage of that warranty.

 

I have an appointment with him the middle of March. I know he charges alot; however, if he does it right and with the warranty. It would be worth it.

 

If you are happy, that's great. As I mentioned in another thread, I had the exact same thing done, with the same material, with the same excellent results, for $500.

 

FYI: I never questioned the price. While there the first time I did ask about the cost of the 3M film material out of curiosity. He told me that each cars film cuts were about half the cost of what he charges for a car (doing a Porsche I believe is $1195). Knowing this material cost information I would not say he charges a lot myself. He needs to make a living and besides his meticulous labor, there is also the expense of all the equipment and custom software that produces the film cuts, as well as his shop costs and all the other costs associated with running a business.

He has other distributor locations and people come to him for training sessions at his shop to learn how to put the film on properly. This of course is added cash flow, but also says he is the Man to go to for your own car. He told me he has done about 15,000 cars so far, and about 250 of them were Z cars. When you note how many film cuts he did for my Z and the time involved over two days, I would say he is very concerned with his good reputation and very proud of his work. It's hard to find folks like that now days...

One thing I left out of my 1st post was my worst case of bad luck on Friday. My ZR is brand new (had owned it for two weeks as of Friday morning), and had absolutely NO marks or rock hits to it at all when I left the house that Friday morning to go up there. When I arrived 2 hours later I now had SEVEN separate rock chips right through the paint on the bumper and the lower part of hood. This was four more then I got over 11 months of driving my prior 04 SB ZR. Had little choice that day but to cover them with touch-up paint prior to the bra install, or to leave, get hood and bumper worked on, and come back. Thankfully the film now hides some of my hits. As careful as I was driving up there, and considering how I take care of my Z, this was a sick thing to happen on the way to get a clear bra installed!

 

If you find it in the DC area with a lifetime warranty that someone actually backs up for $500, please share that information. Rob's price includes the bumper, mirrors, fenders, hood and door edges. I also had the rear bumper done and the trunk edge.

Rob Freeman is THE person in the DC area if you want the job done right and you want someone who will stand behind the product. He also won't be gone next Tuesday.

I had the install done Monday, and I was extremely impressed by his attention to detail. Before that I only knew him and his company by reputation. He encouraged me to be in the service bay and to see how they do the install (they are persnickety!). I wouldn't hesitate to let him do another car of mine. There's a lot of peace of mind that comes from knowing that if I notice something I don't like, he'll gladly redo it, or if the film gets damaged, he'll replace it.

Something else to keep in mind is that the color of the car matters, too. Some are harder to do than others. Rob told me that black is actually one of the more difficult installs because it will show any imperfections. The bra just disappears on the Pike's Peak White.


Netman, sorry to hear about your bad luck. Rob told me about your chips. I lucked out and didn't get any on the way up there. I was cringing every time I passed a semi.

 

Yeah, when I spoke with Rob over the past weekend he did mention about your Z being the ones with rock chips coming up for installation. I have a few small ones myself, but I have kept my bra on for awhile until I get the 3M install from Rob.

 

FWIW: Got tired of some of the many film marks/scratches on the bra section of my hood (marks in the clear bra material and also air bubbles Still trapped underneath it). I really think my black car looks so much better without the bra material on the hood section, So I recently and carefully pulled it off! - It was slow going, took quite awhile, tough to do at some areas, and the removal process left some stubborn film pieces on one side... however using my perfect detail spray polish and prestige polish on the stubborn pieces I Finally got it all off. On a black car like mine, really prefer not having it on the hood. One problem though, the bra left a visible faint line mark on the left panel up to the left indenture on the hood. And No doubt I will get some hood hits now... but it makes the car look so much better without it... Also took the material off the tops of my mirrors a long time ago as there were just way too many bubbles under them which never went away (as I was told they would...). When I get time may get the front bumper done again as air bubbles are also still trapped there (these are less obvious but slightly annoying, at least to me). Will have to discuss this of course with my installer. The air bubbles issue, and the fact the film will mark (scratches) so easy is the drawback to this product it seems... Those with other color cars will probally not ever notice what is clearly visible on a black ZR.

http://www.somdwebs.com/350z/

 

llumar film is much better on a black car then 3m, you should have him install that on your car. it does scratch a little easier if you have to scrub bugs off, but it is much less prone to show imperfections than 3m. (I've had llumar, 3m and the one that starts with a v, but I can't remember it.) currently we have the llumar on the magnum. I jsut got my front end repainted (mismatch after someone else smashed my car up), and in the cure time, its chpped to hell, so I'm still debating when to get my 3rd clearbra for it.

 

2003z,

Which film is better for the PPW ?