I'm supposed to get the bra installed this weekend. I found a detailer that might meet me at the installer. There are also scratches left over from the previous bra install, so I need him to take care of that too. My question is about some chips in my paint. The main reason I decided to get a different bra is because this one doesn't cover enough. Well, the result is a few paint chips. Two on the hood scoop, and one on the lower bumper. I tried to fix them with Lanka. That was hard. In fact, it wasn't helping at all. The thing I'm wondering is since the plastic under the paint is black, the chips are pretty hard to see anyway. If I leave them the way they are will the chips become more obvious after the bra is installed ? Will there be bubbles where the chips are?

 

I had the clear bra installed about six weeks ago. My MC was about 3 months old at the time. I had one small chip on the bonnet at the time of the install. That chip is no more or no less evident after the clearbra was put on. Remember, the film is like 99.9 percent clear. And no, no bubbles for me either.

 

Does anyone know a reputable ClearBra installer in the SF/SJ Bay Area ? Someone who's been doing it for a while and seen the results even after many years of having the ClearBra installed ? Looking to see if there are good stories about non-yellowing, non-clouding, non-orange-peel looking ClearBra installs out there. Also, if anyone has a full-hood install, versus many of the 18" ones that I've seen around.


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy

 

yes, it will. the area where the clearbra does not adhere will appear
white. you will want to touch that up and even sand it down (octaneguy,
close your eyes ) to make it an even plane before applying clear bra.

 

Hello Andy, take a look in the Northern California forum - there's been some good reviews from people who have taken their MINIs in for a clear bra.

One shop that I've had some experience with in the European and Japanese import community is Omega Tintwerks in Pleasanton. The owner, Vince, does custom clear bra installations - all the clear bras are cut by hand so you can specify how much coverage you want, and he uses 3M vinyl, which comes backed with a warranty against yellowing and clouding.

 

I had mine done just recently at Clear Armor. They were a bit more expensive than others, but the warranty they provide gave me a piece of mind that made it worth the extra money.

 

Thanks for the recommendation and for the pointer to the NorCal forum. Lots of onesie recommendations there, more choices is always good. Wish there were more 'votes' so I can see which might be one-off successes, versus which are repeat-successes.

But, at least it opens the door to a bunch more recommendations than I had before.

 

Which package did you go for ? The "Premium" package that includes the door edges, gas cap edges, door cups, rear bumper top lip, headlights, fenders/hoods, and bumper, and lights ?

Or the basic lights, hood/fender ? Or the one above that which includes the bumper ?

 

I got one eye open!!!!

But it goes without saying, if you're gonna sand down your touch up paint, make darn sure you know how to get the resulting sanding scratches out of your paint which will include the touch up and the area surrounding it cause you will be instilling them everywhere and will look far worse than what you started with.

 

I got the premium. It has everything you could want to cover, although I would have liked for the hood piece to go up a little higher. It seems to be fine though. I didn't care for the gas cap edge but now that I'm used to it, it's fine.

I do have one edge that I need to go back and have fixed. It's wayyyy down low on the bumper where no one sees it but me when I'm sitting in front of the car detailing it, but it's pulled away in about a 3-inch long section maybe 2 mm into the piece, but it's bugging me and it's warrantied so why the heck not get it fixed. Plus, the adhesive part is attracting dirt.

I talked them down about $300 from the original quote but it was still pricey.

 

Sounds like you are a good negotiator. I think their list price is $1100 for the Premium package. And the best I've heard people get in the last 6-8 months has been $100-200 off. So, if you got it recently, .

Reading through some old threads, it looks like their prices have gone up over the last few years, probably due to popularity, market demand, and just general reputation having been built up.

That being said, I still like a good deal!

 

Yeah, my deal was that I had the chrome package, so they didn't have to do any of the chrome. So they had originally come down $200 and when I pointed out they didn't have to do the chrome stuff (door cups, grille), they came down another $100. I felt cheap trying to haggle them (I suck at it) on such a good product but at $800 it was still expensive compared to the quotes of $400-600 I'd gotten elsewhere. The peace of mind the warranty gives me is really why I went for it. That, and I had a great 2-hour nap in their fancy customer lounge while I waited for it

 

Hahah.. Good one. Actually, I have the chrome package as well. But you mentioned door cups.... the door handle is chrome, but where the fingers 'scratch' is paint. Is yours chromed there ?

Also,... I just noticed that on some cars, the gas cap is exposed and chromed, and on some, it's the 'painted door cover' hiding the gas cap.

What year did this change ?

 

The door cups are not chrome, neither is the gas cap.

 

Thanks for clarification. However, I'm sure I've seen a bunch of gas caps that seem to be chromed. The style is just the gas cap, without a lid over the gas cap. I've seen tons on the street. Is this a difference between hardtop versus Cabrio ? or just at a certain year, they moved over to 'lid over gas cap', as opposed to gas cap exposed (with a nicer finish) to the elements ?

 

Only the MCSs have the chrome gas cap.

 

aahhh.. thanks for the enlightenment. Sorry for the newbie ignorance!

Didn't realize that was one of the MCS versus MCSconvt differences.

 

^^ those are interchangable, right? You can put the MCS gas caps
on the non chrome cap MINI's?

 

ALRIGHT..... .are you messing with me now ?

is it that the convertibles, all have gas cap lids, covering the actual gas caps. And that all MCS hard tops, have an 'uncovered' gas cap ?

And are all gas caps on these MCS hard tops, chromed ?

So, what do the MC's have ?

again, not important, just newbie ignorance on my part.

 

My MC has the regular gas cap with the painted flip lid over it.

 

Here is how it works.

All MC have painted gas cap doors.

All MCS have chrome gas cap covers. (that really are just doors)

Of if you are like me, you can get a retro fit chrome gas cap cover door installed for a MC.

 

Our MCSa has black bonnet stripes - does that present a problem for installing a clear bra?

 

Not a problem at all.

However, if you ever want to remove or replace those stripes, THEN you will have a little problem called "must remove clearbra first" and another little problem called "that turned a cheap job into a more expensive job".

Still, get the clearbra... especially if those stripes are in good shape and you plan to keep them a while.

 

Thanks - any recommendations on where to get this done in the DC area?

 

Try Proform in Ellicott City. Not cheap, but you'll not have to worry about a poor job either.

http://www.proformauto.com/content.php?id=contact