I have a blakc Z and in the sun not onlly can you see the swirls but alot of tiny rock chips, Do any of you guys use touch up paint to cover them up? also once I get the car buffed what do I do so I do not have any more swirls?

 

Some people use a clear bra up front. Personally, I think the clear bras look tard. You could always get a CF front bumper, or if you keep your oem bumper get some touch up paint.

 

how can you see the clear bra? its clear..what makes it look "tard" please expand your thoughts on this..

 

i have a carbon fiber front bumber and the rock chips look worse on it

 

You can see the demarkation (where it stops) and the clear bra itself (to me) makes the paint underneath look sort of hazy & less glossy/ iridescent. Makes it look kind of "plasticy". The first time I saw one, I was like ,"OMG they ruined their paint!" Until I realized it was a clear bra. I've also heard of the 3M Clear Bras pulling patches of paint up with it when you take it off.

Bummer, I have the CF lip, so far so good not much surface area for chips. What brand is your CF Front?

 

ive never heard anyone say you can see it before that is why i asked

 

Yes touch-up paint.

 

With a quality brand film and experienced installer, a clear bra is not very noticeable. I have seen some that looked like what gothchick described, but they were either crappy film, bad installation, or the installer didn't even bother to clean the paint underneath before hand

I personally have a ton of rock chips on my car...most from the previous owner, some from my 100 miles of daily highway driving. Touch-up paint is probably you're cheapest solution, although if you have a lot of chips, you'll be spending a long time filling them all in.


When my commute lessens, I'll be repainting my front end and getting a clear bra.

 

I've heard that before. But mine only looks that way when the car needs washing... lol

 

So...is clearbra only for OEM bumpers? I'm guessing that it has bumper shape that can be applied directly. If so, aftermarket kit Z's only solution would be the repaint..

 

My understanding is that its just like window tint. Its put over the bumper and then cut according to the shape of the bumper. So it can work on any bumper, doesn't matter if its aftermarket.

I've seen clear bras on cars where people claimed it was installed by the most experienced guy on earth, and I still didn't like how it looked up close. From a distance you couldn't tell, but when you walk up to the car you can tell. That is why I never put a clear bra on.

If you have a lot of rock chips, then I wouldn't bother with touch up paint. Touch up paint can make it look a lot worse if you put it in too many places. I'd personally just repaint the bumper everytime there are a lot of rock chips, rather than putting a clear bra or a lot of touch up paint.

 

I have the 3M clear bra on my V2. Most people love it. They usually don't notice it on the car.

 

I was talking with an insurance appraiser thats been in the paint business for 30+ years. He said to use a dab of clear nail polish for rock chips to keep it from rusting (unless its the bumper, etc.) instead of touch up paint which is usually darker then the regular paint causing it to stand out more.

Not a bad idea for light colored Z's but I think I'd use touch up pain for dark colors if the chip went to the metal.

 

Unfortunately I have quite a number of stone chips, but with the amount of wax my Z always has on it, it's held the weather back and not even one stone chip has any sign of rust. You have to be very careful with touch paint as it can be very obvious, clear is an okay option. My Z is due for a respray, and I'd personally rather do that than have a clear bra on my Z.

I've yet to see a clear that is passible IMO. But it's down to the owner of the car really.