gnat

Not yet, but he is posting over there. Seems to fit in well. KC needs to stop baiting him so he'll stay out of here though.

Gulliver

You guys are making me remember the nights I spent removing the huge stone guard plastic films from my '86 944. And, I wasn't trying to remember that. Heat gun, a case of those "fake" plastic razor blades and a couple jugs of 3M adhesive remover. It did not come off in one piece, rather it was that goo that was talked about above. To make it worse, that part of a 944's fender (in front of the rear wheel) has a pebble grained texture to it. Anyways, me and my OCD finally got it all off there, and it ended up looking great. Fellow RL'er still owns it.

My point in all that was that I will NEVER install clear film on the front of any of my vehicles. Because I know you all needed to know that, lol.

996pp

Original paint will not pill. After a respary you need to wait about a month for the paint to fully cure before applying clear film.

Hey Capt. How you been? KK has been porscheless for quite some time now.

Spokayman

I don't know that I would install a clear bra on a used car unless it was replacing a clear bra that was just removed.
Once a car is stone chipped the bra is pointless, and if the bumper or hood has been resprayed, there is more likelihood of the paint peeling when the bra is removed as noted above.

A new Porsche I would definitely protect with a clear bra.
Simply repainting the bumper, hood, and fenders every 5 years or so is not an appealing solution to me. Paint matching technology and techniques are getting better all the time, but matching certain types of paint is still tricky.
And repainting only part of a 5-10 year or car means matching the paint fade on the rest of the car, and when both the original and repaint continue to fade the color differences can start to occur. Notably red and blue paints are the worst at exhibiting this kind of fade.
IMO there is a reason why these high performance clear bras exist and why people put down money for them almost without question; they do work as intended and keep a car protected well for quite a few years.

Capt. Obvious

I'm good, I've been Porscheless for about a year now myself, but like to lurk around here to see what's going on in the 996 world. Still plan to come back, but not sure when...

gnat

Hmmm... Sounds like you and Gator should hook up and help each other out

Grapeape

My first attempt at stone guard removal resulted in bits and pieces and a gooey mess using the heat gun and 3M adhesive remover, 2hrs later it looked like crap and I only removed half of the driver side. For the second side I used a cheap HF portable steamer as recommended by other RL members and this worked great removing in one complete sheet including the glue, 5 mins max. When pulling the film, after steamed for a bit, pull it straight along the body away from the film that is still attached and do not peel back at an extreme angle.This may help with the paint removal issue.

996pp

Gnat did you forget about Rubik

gnat

He's too wrapped up in crushing his son's dreams by choosing a Prius over a 911. There is no helping him.

AWDGuy

when I have paint chip repairs and swirl removal jobs to do and the paint is covered with clear bra, I use a steamer to remove it. the kind of personal steamer you use to clean/iron your clothes. very little sticky gunk is left over going at it this way.

Southern Man

I've been having this same dilemma. Got my hood and front bumper painted last year (black). Hood has held up well, but bumper looked like crap after about 10,000 miles. My body man offered to repaint the bumper for free (he's a friend too), but really tried to dissuade me from the clear bra route. He's had too much trouble removing them, and frankly, if I have to get it painted every couple of years, it's not that expensive (at least for me), so Ive opted to forego the film. If I had a new car I might think differently, but not a fan of having only the lower half of the hood protected.

Ben Z

I had this problem with the stone guards on mine. No doubt I waited too long to change them, as they were dull and cracked. The Porsche dealer and 2 high-end body shops all said they would try, but most likely there would be some paint damage. Talked to my detailer who recommended a place that specializes in wraps and filming. They told me the same thing. I figured I had nothing to lose, and let them go ahead. They did a nice job but there were some small places of paint loss which would have showed through clear film. They made up gloss black guards and then clear 3M over those. Looks undetecable (of course the car is black). Oh and my paint is original, the car has not been repainted.

Detailed Designs

I have removed some absolute NIGHTMARE-clear bra and have not had paint lift. There are two factors that can explain lifting paint on a Porsche. A poor respray or someone that removed the film wrong(too aggressively/hurried).

I would say if your car is rocking the older films, remove it within 5 years. The modern films are world's better than the stuff around just back in 2011.

If anyone has a question about removing old film, feel free to reach out to me and I am happy to give you some tips via a phone call.

gnat

Ben Z

Wish I had found someone who could have done that! My stone guards were on 9 years, sitting out daily in the tropical sun. The film wrap guys that removed them took a full day doing it, carefully and gently. The damage was minimal but it would have showed through new clear ones. They also said they thought whatever Porsche used was probably different from clear bra film, as it deteriorated much more than they were used to seeing, and the adhesive seemed as if it had bonded to the clearcoat. It wouldn't surprise me if the OEM guards were not made to hold up to constant exposure to as much UV and heat as we have here.