Hi folks,

Just wanted to share what I had Mark at Ultrashield of St. Louis do for my MINI.

As some of you may know, it is possible to apply the clear auto bra to your car to protect it from rock chips on the road. Most people have this bra applied primarily to the front of the car as this is where most rocks will strike. The edge of the bra is pretty much invisible to most people, but I tend to notice it, hence I have not opted to have the bra applied. (That's just me.)

However, without the protection, rock chips have marred/torn the bonnet stripes on my hood. Photo show two obvious tears on the stripe:



Unlike chips in the paint, which can be fixed with touch up paint, there is no neat fix (that I know of) for the torn vinyl of the stripes.

So, Mark suggested that when I replace my stripes with new ones, he could apply the clearbra material over just the stripes, which is what he did.

These are the "after" shots:





The clearbra material ends just at the edge of the white stripes so there is no discernable "boundary," which is the look I was after.

Anyway, I am quite happy with Mark's work and recommend this for those with bonnet stripes and do not want the full bra application.

(By the way, Mark applied my bonnet and boot stripes a few years ago as well. )

 

looks great after clear bra.... is it expensive..

 

Thanks.

 

Looking at the first pic, I though you had dozens of pit marks on the bonnet and scoop. Then I realized... water drops.

Looks good !! Of course, pics hide the lines from clearbra pretty good. In person, can you tell there's a clear bra over the stripes, or do they blend very well at the edges ?

Either way, it's nice to know they're protected, huh ?

 

Clearbra'd stripes ROCK. They look "thicker" than some aftermarket thin solid vinyl stripes, which, if done right, can look like they were painted on (e.g. kenchan's MCS). But don't really look any thicker/different than the OEM stripes or some of the heavier vinyl aftermarket ones. Just look a little shinier... But they are DEFINITELY more durable than "plain" stripes... especially if you have custom-printed stripes - the print gets banged off easily by road debris...

 

Yes, it was raining when I drove over to the shop yesterday.

They blend very well with the edge of the stripes. You have to look closely to tell that there is a clear bra on them.

I did think that they were going to look thicker, but instead the impression is that they are shinier---like they are lacquered.

 

hmmmmmmmmmmm... lacquer.....

 

I'm about ready to do the same thing with my bonnet stripes. They have faded badly. Glad to see it looks good

Lois

 

Great! Are going with gold again?

Yes, I remember how badly weathered the parts of the stripes were that were not underneath the clear bra.

 

He he. Sorry. Not a good image, eh?

 

He was hoping for liquor instead.