timothymoffat

I,m debating putting some kind of protection on the front of my MB 95 that has roughly 75,000 miles on her. I bought the car two years ago at which time the dealer had the front turbo bumper(WITH ugly bumperettes intact!) resprayed. They also left the holes for the front plate but as it's a regularly checked/enforced law, the plate will stay. The paint on the rest of the car is quite good except for the dreaded bubbling under the front windshield. I will be getting this repaired this year. My question is should I respray the entire front of the car from the windshield forward then install a "clear bra", or just repair the bubbling and put a clear bra on as the car is now. Like I said, the paint is in quite good but not perfect shape. I don't want the car looking like a patch job. I would also like to know if there is any place that installs such a film in the Greater Vancouver area. Your input/advice/suggestions is, as usual, eagerly awaited and appreciated.
Thanks, Tim.

JasonF

The PO of my car had a windows-out respray of the entire car about 5,000 miles ago. The paint is still perfect and before the inevitable rock chips appear, I'm having a clear bra installed in a couple of days. I'm planning to cover the entire front bumper, entire hood, mirrors, around the headlamps, wheel arches, rockers, etc...The cost is probably going to be in excess of $900, but I want to protect the $7,500+ respray.

If I was in your shoes I would repair the bubbling, respray the front of the car and then install the clearbra - unless the front is absolutely pristine in which case spraying it again makes no sense. What I would avoid is putting clearbra over body panels that may need a freshening soon anyway.

Terry Adams

At about that same mileage, I had a front respray for $2200 including mirrors and everything from the WS forward. Waited 30 days then did the clear bra. These days, they can do clear bra over the whole hood in one piece. Last time they stopped level with the hood badge, and the first rock chip was a half inch above that.

jungleboy

Any DIY folks out there? Or is it better off left to a pro? Any suggestions on a particular brand or merchant to go with? Thanks...

Dudley

I used Invinca brand for my DIY - Bumper, hood, mirrors, rear fenders. Pretty easy to do yourself.

jungleboy

Other than the somewhat common sense application.... any lessons learned, any words of advice before I screw up this DIY?

Dudley

The most pieces are straight forward, just use plenty of the soapy slip solution. Spray the vinyl piece, your hands and the body panel very liberally. Do not use to much force with your squeegee, massage out the air pockets to avoid scratching the vinyl. I wrapped a soft cloth around my squeegee as well.
Buy extra pieces and practice. The toughest are complex curves. On the mirrors, I anchored one end with a 50% alcohol solution and then pulled/ stretched the vinyl to form to the shape.

I found a lot of information and "How To's" on the web.

jungleboy

Thanks, I'll look up some info...