Well I'm proud to become a z owner. I pick up my brick yard 6pd manual touring with areo pack baby on monday. I"m really worried about paint chips on my nose. So i was thinking about throwing on a clear bra. Does anyone have?? If so how does it look? And where can i get one?

thanks

 

My question on this topic is how hard is the clear bra to install? Also, where to buy, etc? I would like info as well, as I am going to be installing my Veilside V3 body kit here in the next few weeks and would like to put a clear bra on these new pieces.

Zach

 

I have heard that paint chips on the Z are common. I have a clear bra that was dealer installed before I got my Z. It looks really good, and is hard to even see. About the only thing you can really see is the line that goes across the hood. As for where to buy, here is one: http://www.mishield.com/

 

The plastic material used in clear bras is pre-cut from a pattern. It should cover the bumper, up about 1/3 on the hood, and the mirrors. Look for two things: 1) the plastic material being installed -- 3M and Llumar are considered the best, and 2) the quality of the installation. Both are very important. When my '05 ZR comes in, I'm getting a Llumar clear bra put on by Invisiguard in the SF Bay Area. -- Jim

 

Here is one pattern cut for a clear bra:

 

Got the clear bra put on a week after I got my Z.
had the bumper, hood, head lamps, side mirrors, front fenders up to top of head lamp, and had the guy custom make the door sills, edge of the trunk and top of rear bumper (where edge trunk meet), tail lights, and fuel fill door. www.clearprotectionproducts.com for folks in the north bay California.... click on pre-cut kits - choose Nissan 350z etc....

After coming back from a Saturday drive on mostly the freeway today - I must say I was happy that I got it on - it was easy to clean the splattered bugs.

Becareful on what you get though.....
3M turns yellow after a couple of years. Although it is more durable than Llumar which does not turn yellow.

This guy came to my office to demostrate - he has it on his van and coincidentally a client of my company had it on his maxima.
The maxima had 3M - and it was a shade yellow. The client came out and said he had it done aboe 18 months ago....

I had Llumar put on everything above except the door sills and headlamp. door sills he recommended 3M (for the heel scuffs) and the headlamps are acrylic.

My neighbor has a 300ZX and the bumper and hood is just blasted with rock chips. To make it look worse - his car is black. So you can see the white primer.

Total cost including install $965. Install time about 5 hours.
Ask for Marianno - great guy. He and his brothervwill come over to your house and install it.

 

I bought and had my clear bra installed by X-Pel in San Antonio, TX soon after I took ownership of my Z. They use the 3M product, and I disagree with others' opinions regarding this product yellowing over time. I have a 5 year warranty guaranteed against yellowing. I am very happy with the results, and believe the most important thing about clear bras is having them professionally installed, and not trying to install them yourself.

Here is a link to their website: http://www.xpel.com/products/default.asp

 

I got a clear bra installed just after I picked up my Z. Definitely worth the money IMHO - good protection from rock dings and makes bug clean up easier.

Attached is a picture I received from a forum member to give an idea of what it looks like - look just above the headlight.


/Jerry

 

How much did you spend on the bra? How much was installation?? Can the dealer install this or should I get a body shop to put it on??

 

I got the Upper and Lower clear bra and headlight protection and paid $590 parts + $450 labor ($1040 total). I highly recommend you have your clear bra professionally installed.

 

To all those that installed a clear bra from the start, smart investment. I've got just over 24k miles since Jan '03 and the front bumber is terribly pitted, and the front portion of the hood has many chips (lots of freeway commuting--can't help it, it begs me to drive!). I just returned from an estimate to have it smoothed, primed, clearcoated @ $713, the lowest I could find so far (and that's removing and replacing the bumper myself). If you plan on keeping your stock bumper, I'd recommend doing it. If you saw my front end, you wouldn't hesitate.

 

I have the 3m bra, I had it installed at a local shop near me. The total price for the bumper, hood, fronts of the fenders, and mirrors was 450 installed. It a must on a 350z, the paint is weak.

As for the 3m yellowing, I have yet to see a 3m w/ yellowing problems, like stated above it comes w/ a great warrenty, so even if it does, your covered. Most of the bras that I have seen yellowing are not 3m.

This is what it looks like installed...




As you can see it really is clear.

Andrew