The Detail - Well, it's in the details
03-18-2011, 06:18 PM
#31
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Fabulous looking P-car, and excellent work on the detail job. I've never seen clear bra wrapped around the sides and rear - do you live in a wind-blasted area? Why do they suggest wrapping anything but the frontal impact area?
03-18-2011, 09:14 PM
#32
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Skiracer:
There are a couple of things going on here. First of all, the standard front clear bra is the front bumper, the lower 1/3 of the hood, the front 1/4 of the front fenders and the exterior mirrors. I have had a number of stone chips on the middle to upper part of my hood on other cars, so I wanted them to do the full hood. Also, I don't like the line of the edge of the plastic.
Considering that I'm doing the entire hood, they suggested that I might want to do more than the front 1/4 of the fender. This way, there won't be a line of plastic running across the middle of the fender. Made sense to me, so they completely covered both front fenders - both right and left.
I wanted the rear bumper covered. I have had too many instances where another driver in the parking lot, or on the street, parallel parked, will try to squeeze past me while either parking or pulling into traffic. They end up scraping the paint off the corners of my rear bumper. Normally, they just cover the top of the bumper in the center, so that you don't scrape the bumper while putting stuff in the trunk or taking stuff out. (Oh, but there is no trunk in the back - it's the engine!!) Yes, I know. So, that protects the paint from scrapes and bumps in parking lots where some idiot thinks that bumpers are called that because that is their purpose - Idiots!!!
Now, take that to the extreme. They tell me that they do at least one complete wrap a week. That's a $3,000 - $4,000 + clear coating that covers the ENTIRE CAR. Front and rear fenders, both doors, etc, etc. They say that it isn't unusual for someone with a Lambo, Ferarri or Bentley that wants to protect their car all the way around.
I decided to not do the doors or rear fender. I tend to park in remote sections of parking lots away from traffic, and hopefully away from dings. Sometimes it's impossible to protect yourself totally, but I try.
That's the long answer.
larry
There are a couple of things going on here. First of all, the standard front clear bra is the front bumper, the lower 1/3 of the hood, the front 1/4 of the front fenders and the exterior mirrors. I have had a number of stone chips on the middle to upper part of my hood on other cars, so I wanted them to do the full hood. Also, I don't like the line of the edge of the plastic.
Considering that I'm doing the entire hood, they suggested that I might want to do more than the front 1/4 of the fender. This way, there won't be a line of plastic running across the middle of the fender. Made sense to me, so they completely covered both front fenders - both right and left.
I wanted the rear bumper covered. I have had too many instances where another driver in the parking lot, or on the street, parallel parked, will try to squeeze past me while either parking or pulling into traffic. They end up scraping the paint off the corners of my rear bumper. Normally, they just cover the top of the bumper in the center, so that you don't scrape the bumper while putting stuff in the trunk or taking stuff out. (Oh, but there is no trunk in the back - it's the engine!!) Yes, I know. So, that protects the paint from scrapes and bumps in parking lots where some idiot thinks that bumpers are called that because that is their purpose - Idiots!!!
Now, take that to the extreme. They tell me that they do at least one complete wrap a week. That's a $3,000 - $4,000 + clear coating that covers the ENTIRE CAR. Front and rear fenders, both doors, etc, etc. They say that it isn't unusual for someone with a Lambo, Ferarri or Bentley that wants to protect their car all the way around.
I decided to not do the doors or rear fender. I tend to park in remote sections of parking lots away from traffic, and hopefully away from dings. Sometimes it's impossible to protect yourself totally, but I try.
That's the long answer.
larry
03-23-2011, 10:00 PM
#33
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For those in the Chicago area, or those who are interested, I finally got some business cards in the mail from the Paintless Dent Remover. I thought I would pass on his info. I thought that the guy did a really fantastic job on my car, and one good job deserves a referral.
Quality Dent Magic - Erich Pawelko - 847-361-1406 service at qualitydentmagic dot com.
He comes HIGHLY recommended.
larry
Quality Dent Magic - Erich Pawelko - 847-361-1406 service at qualitydentmagic dot com.
He comes HIGHLY recommended.
larry
03-24-2011, 10:22 AM
#34
There are a couple of things going on here. First of all, the standard front clear bra is the front bumper, the lower 1/3 of the hood, the front 1/4 of the front fenders and the exterior mirrors. I have had a number of stone chips on the middle to upper part of my hood on other cars, so I wanted them to do the full hood. Also, I don't like the line of the edge of the plastic.
Considering that I'm doing the entire hood, they suggested that I might want to do more than the front 1/4 of the fender. This way, there won't be a line of plastic running across the middle of the fender. Made sense to me, so they completely covered both front fenders - both right and left.
I wanted the rear bumper covered. I have had too many instances where another driver in the parking lot, or on the street, parallel parked, will try to squeeze past me while either parking or pulling into traffic. They end up scraping the paint off the corners of my rear bumper.
Considering that I'm doing the entire hood, they suggested that I might want to do more than the front 1/4 of the fender. This way, there won't be a line of plastic running across the middle of the fender. Made sense to me, so they completely covered both front fenders - both right and left.
I wanted the rear bumper covered. I have had too many instances where another driver in the parking lot, or on the street, parallel parked, will try to squeeze past me while either parking or pulling into traffic. They end up scraping the paint off the corners of my rear bumper.
When I lived in Chicago, my bumpers also had scratches. Thankfully, Indy doesn't have a parking problem like that.
03-24-2011, 10:52 AM
#35
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I still don't understand the high cost of clear bra. The material is not THAT expensive and the skill involved in applying it is less than a good window tint job..... maybe I'm missing something. By the way the car looks fantastic
03-24-2011, 01:38 PM
#37
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The film that is on my car is a high end 3M film. Beyond that, there is a considerable amount of skill in putting the film on the car. It needs to be stretched, smoothed, bubbles removed and trimmed just right. I watched him put it on my car. The entire job took 5 hours. Cost me $1,000. When I had them just do the front bumper, 1/3 hood, and front 4" of the front fenders, it was $500, and took 2 hours.
In relation to what I've seen cost-wise and material quality, I am VERY satisfied with the job.
larry
03-24-2011, 01:44 PM
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Thanks for the compliment. I honestly don't know how expensive the material is, but I do know that there are a number of manufacturers of film on the market, and some is a lot more expensive than others. I know of one guy that had a clear bra put on his car, and there was so much texture in the plastic that it "ruined" the look of the car - like a heavy orange peel. So, he took it off.
The film that is on my car is a high end 3M film. Beyond that, there is a considerable amount of skill in putting the film on the car. It needs to be stretched, smoothed, bubbles removed and trimmed just right. I watched him put it on my car. The entire job took 5 hours. Cost me $1,000. When I had them just do the front bumper, 1/3 hood, and front 4" of the front fenders, it was $500, and took 2 hours.
In relation to what I've seen cost-wise and material quality, I am VERY satisfied with the job.
larry
The film that is on my car is a high end 3M film. Beyond that, there is a considerable amount of skill in putting the film on the car. It needs to be stretched, smoothed, bubbles removed and trimmed just right. I watched him put it on my car. The entire job took 5 hours. Cost me $1,000. When I had them just do the front bumper, 1/3 hood, and front 4" of the front fenders, it was $500, and took 2 hours.
In relation to what I've seen cost-wise and material quality, I am VERY satisfied with the job.
larry
03-24-2011, 07:19 PM
#40
He used to be a Nissan guy so the more you talk to him about Nissan's, the bigger the discount.
j/k
03-24-2011, 07:41 PM
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Like I had said, he removed a total of 10 or 11 dents from my hood, ranging between very noticeable to just a minor bump. The total price was $150, and he came to us!!! Hard to argue with that kind of a deal.
larry
larry
03-26-2011, 10:55 PM
#42
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I can't believe that. I paid some jerk $80 last summer to remove just one little ding and he didn't even do a good job. I improved on it with a chunk of dry ice, but I'm still not happy with it. I'm going to try again this spring with someone else.
03-27-2011, 01:02 AM
#43
Guys that have a mobile business or work out of their trucks don't have as much overhead and can sometimes give you discounts.
