Clear protective shield: Any users here?

[vagt6]

So, I saw in the recent Griot's Garage catalog an ad for "Paint saving, clear protective shield". It's described as 12 mil thick, peel-off clear tape that's applied with "positioning spray" (some kind of adhesive, I assume) and a squeegee. Costs $3.99/ft. for 4" wide shield strips. They also offer 2" wide and 3/8 wide for door edges.

Sounds good to me. Has anyone here tried it???

My MINI is a literal magnet for stone chips and bug dings. I've got to do something.

Opinions??

thanks!

 

[John Loftus]

There is a recent thread on the Healey forum about the 3M film
3m clear bra film

 

[Nunyas]

I have a friend that uses it on his Saaburu (Suburu WRX station wagon rebadged as a Saab). If you weren't ~looking~ for it, you'd never know it's there. He seems to be very happy with it. He even applied the film to the headlights on his car.

One very important thing about those films, you should make sure your paint has already ~cured~ before you apply it. The same friend above had his front bumper repainted (I forget why), and reapplied the film 3 days after. Fast forward 2 weeks, he got into an accident and scuffed up the film pretty bad. When he tried to peal it off it started lifting the paint! In hind sight, he realizes he should have waited 1 to 2 weeks before applying the film.

So, in a nutshell, I think this stuff is great for newer cars. For our older cars, my thoughts are sort of mixed bag: 1) the frontal profile of most of our older cars does not show nearly as many painted surfaces as a new car there by slimming the benefits, 2) the design of our cars normally leads to 80% or more of the front end being all radiator grill; chrome grills don't normally chip, but they do dent something the film doesn't protect against, 3) I personally would only apply it to a daily driver that has a beautiful paint job on it.

 

[bugimike]

So, I saw in the recent Griot's Garage catalog an ad for "Paint saving, clear protective shield". It's described as 12 mil thick, peel-off clear tape that's applied with "positioning spray" (some kind of adhesive, I assume) and a squeegee. Costs $3.99/ft. for 4" wide shield strips. They also offer 2" wide and 3/8 wide for door edges.

Sounds good to me. Has anyone here tried it???

My MINI is a literal magnet for stone chips and bug dings. I've got to do something.

Opinions??

thanks!

All "positioning spray" is is water with a few drops of dish soap added, this prevents the pressure-sensative adhesive on the vinyl from sticking until you have it just where you want it, then when you squeegee the film down it sticks!! The price you quoted seems rather high, but I buy vinyl products in large qtys. on a regular basis. I am sure it will work well. Are you sure it is 12 mils thick? That is quite substantial!! Most of the vinyls I deal with are 2 mils thick!

 

[Nunyas]

12mils is like cold water wetsuit thick!

 

[vagt6]

Thanks for the info, guys. Yes, the catalog indicates the film is 12 mils thick. That's approx the thickness of Clearbra and other film coatings.

My problemo with Clearbra, Invisishield, etc., is the COST. It costs roughly $400 - $600 to cover the front of my MINI. Prices vary significantly. This stuff has to be professionally applied, I'm told.

I'm gonna try it, will let everyone know. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif

 

[John Loftus]

1 mil = .001" Wet suit material is commonly measured in millimeters (mm)

12 mils = .012" or about the thickness of an average business card. It needs to be that thick to protect from rock chips.

3mm wetsuits (thin) are about .118" and 12mm (cold water torso area) is about .47" .. almost a half inch!

 

[Nunyas]

I new wet suits were measured in millimeters. I didn't think that the mils measurement for the 'clear bra' was in inches. I reckon that makes sense, since the clear bra I see on my friend's Saab has the thickness of a business card like John mentioned.

 

[John Loftus]

yup .. it's easy to get confused. As you probably know 'mil', 'mille'(latin), 'milli' all mean thousand. So milli-meter, one thousandth of a meter and 'mil' on this side of the pond is one thousandth of an inch .. well except for mil-spec which does not mean one thousandth of a speck. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

[Nunyas]

yeah, 1200 mils of elevation on a howitzer ~looks~ like you're trying to shoot yourself /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[vagt6]

Well, the clear protective shield tape arrived. Not sure how I'm gonna use it, however. The instructions indicate that you can't apply it over dings, cracks or anything but perfect, smooth paint. Also can't apply it to painted "plastic" bumpers or "repainted" surfaces.

That's a problemo. I intended to apply it across the front of my bonnet, just above the grille area and adjacent to the headlamps. That area has a few, very small paint dings from road debris. They're hardly noticable, but there all the same.

Also wanted to apply it to the front air dam (painted fiberglass or plastic), but sadly, this apparently is verboten also, according to directions.

So, I've got ten feet of the 4 inch wide tape, not sure what I'll do with it now. Might apply it to the door sills, or maybe the edges of the doors. ????? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

Words to the wise: don't buy this stuff unless your paint is near-perfect.

If anyone wants it, send me a PM.

Live and learn . . .

 

[IanF]

Thanks for the info, guys. Yes, the catalog indicates the film is 12 mils thick. That's approx the thickness of Clearbra and other film coatings.

My problemo with Clearbra, Invisishield, etc., is the COST. It costs roughly $400 - $600 to cover the front of my MINI. Prices vary significantly. This stuff has to be professionally applied, I'm told.

I'm gonna try it, will let everyone know. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif

We have Clearbras on both of our MINI's as well as my VW. It is definitely worth the cost to buy a pre-made kit. The "tape" that Griot's sells is only meant for low areas like rocker panels. We have the headlight covers and those are about 12mil thick. They are thick and don't go around compound curve well. The bra film is much thinner. It has to be in order to conform to complex curves - especially those on a MINI bonnet.

My g/f (Jerseygirl here on BCF) has installed a number of clearbras on MINIs, starting with my '03 Jetta [since it's a bit less curvy] and then doing her '03 MCS.She then did a few friends' cars as well as our recently purchased '07 MCC. I will warn that much swearing may be involved...

My Jetta is nearing 132K miles and the bra has done an incredible job of protecting the finish on the hood and bumper.