jime

These are pictures of my car with an acrylic clear bra provided by Invisiguard (invisiguard@sbglobal.net) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Invisiguard is a local _representative of X-Pel. The thickness is 6-mil and comes with a 5-year guarantee. The cost was for my TL was $670 including $595 for the full set (front, hood, rear view mirrors and door edges) and $75 for a 40 mil (I think) headlight cover.The front covers everything in front of the front wheel wells. You can barely see a line where the bra ends in http://home.comcast.net/~jherick/tlcr.jpg

Other pictures of the car do not show the clear bra at

http://home.comcast.net/~jherick/tlall.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jherick/tlleft.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jherick/tlfront.jpg

jjstokes

looks really nice... probably gona get it for my car as well..

congrats..

Black_Pride

stop messing around....there's no bra on that car...

KJSmitty

How is this type of bra applied? Can one take it off and on?

I have seen something like this on an Accord but it still messed the paint up underneath (mold/mildew). Not to mention was a pain to remove. Probably a cheap/poor application?

Is it designed to stay on the life of the vehicle?

Thanks guys

Smitty

kinggeorge

Where is a good clear-bra place in Los Angeles...and how much does it cost?

jime

The bra is designed as a permanent application. It does come off, but cannot be re-used. It took 4 hours to install by a VERY experienced installer. This has been his full time occupation for at least 3 or 4 years.

You get what you pay for - avoid vinyl products. I was told that the product used on my vehicle has only been out a few months. And yes, it is almost invisible if you aren't looking for it.

The clear-bra concept was designed for racecars and is transitioning to "high end" consumer vehicles. It is not cheap, but I drive 50 miles every day on the freeway and decided that it would be a part of the purchase of the car.

There are two coats of Zaino on my 7-day-old TL and none on the clear bra. I have to wait two months before I can put wax on the clear bra.

dstackle

So you just wax/polish over the clearbra?

Rocketsfan

I just have to make sure, but... when you say acrylic, do you mean as in the hard substance acrylic? This isn't the urethane stuff like 3M and ExPel make?

One thing that scares the hell out of me about anything that's acrylic is that acrylic scratches pretty damn easily when hit or rubbed against. So wouldn't the impact of minor objects like sand or small rocks show up much easier on an acrylic bra than on a the "regular" urethane stuff?

I honestly don't know... just asking.

SFzip

Does any know whether insurance would cover this kind of thing? This is no different than adding on a body kit, right? How about cars that have Perma-Plate treatment? Would insurance cover the re-application on the new body work?

Shoofin

I've had it on all my cars for the last few years...LOVE IT! Take a look at this... www.secondaryexposure.com ..These guys do the installations for me in my shop.
Ed

Rocketsfan

Shoofin'... yours is acrylic?

rets

They're great. Really invisible if you don't see the first pic. I wonder if this will be easy to maintain, wash, wax, and clean... How big gravel can it resist?

Will this cover your front bumper, too? Or it just covers from the edge of the hoold to the 1/3... I wonder if the bumper gets damage and destroy the whole bra at the same time...

Thanks in advance...

jime

I will try to answer all the questions but please read the information carefully because I already stated that: The front covers everything in front of the front wheel wells. EVERYTHING includes all painted material in front of the front wheel well – bumper, below the bumper, whatever.

The material is designed to withstand whatever hits your car. Since it has a 5-year warranty I expect it to be very durable.

The material is very flexible with an adhesive backing and is specifically for use on cars. My installer’s company had a “plotter” that automatically cut the material to the correct pattern for my 2004 TL.

Yes, you just wax over the clear bra, and use something like a toothbrush to remove the wax from the edge of the bra so it won’t show. My installer recommended Zaino as it has a minimum amount of wax buildup.

I have the receipt and would expect that insurance would cover it in case of body damage, but that is a good question.

RavenHwk

Anyone have recommendations for an installer in the Atlanta, GA area?

Formula 350

Jime,

Looks great. I have decided to go with Zaino (should be here for the weekend). Did they install the clearbra OVER the Zaino or did you remove the Zaino.

And, you mentioned you need to wax the clearbra. Why could you not Zaino over it?

jime

I put the Zaino on the morning that the bra was installed in the afternoon. Per Zaino instructions, I stripped all previous wax off the car with a Dawn wash. I left the Zaino off the areas that were to be covered by the bra as I knew that he would have to strip the wax prior to installation.

I was referring to Zanio when talking about waxing the clear bra. Sorry for the confusion.

RockBlocker

Jeremy in the Bay area does excellent work and has a great rep for his quality.

If we can be of any help in WA. let us know. We have a great kit for $500.00 installed with lights included.

AS for installer is Los Angeles try Envisage. In Georgia you can try Bridgette 770-988-8831

These people have installed kits for our customers in the past and they are very happy with the work.

Invisiguard

Hey thanks for the good word Jim!

A bit more info, we use all urethane films, such as 3M, Venture, and Llumar. Llumar film was the new film Jim mentioned that we used on his TL, it has a special manufacturing process that gives it a surface finish superior to any of the the other popular urethane films on the market, we have been very pleased with it and have been using it quite a bit lately. You can get just hood/fender/mirror coverage but full bumper and headlight coverage is available as well.

Check this other post for some decent pics of the kit on the Antracite color.
http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...0&pagenumber=1

Heres another vote for Daniel and Edre at Envisage in So Cal, they do great work and are very reasonably priced. 866-335-3456

In anyone has any other questions feel free to drop us a line!
Jeremy
Invisiguard@sbcglobal.net

Euliscool

wouldnt the paint be of diff shades if you take the bra off? cuz paint goes dull after a few years... i would imagine that the paint would diff for the area that was covered.... maybe i'm mistaken

Invisiguard

The paint will not discolor or fade uneven with the film, this is one of the advantages of using this over a regular vinyl bra. The film allows light to pass through and your paint to age evenly, the only issue is the paint under the film will be in the same condition as the day it was installed, so if you dont keep the rest of your paint waxed and you later have the film removed you may need to have your hood buffed to make the finish even again, but no uneven discoloration will happen. Honestly though, you will likely find no reason to want to remove the film later on, if kept waxed it will look great and protect your paint for as long as you keep your car

Rocketsfan

Are there any invisiguard dealers anyone knows of in the Dallas area?

gbriank

I think Artech in Irving is. They install 3M, XPel and Lluminar. I called for a quote on the XPEL standard product (Hood, Fender, Mirrors and Bumper) was $818 and change. Cheapest I have found. I wonder how much of a difference there is in clarity between the products?

Rocketsfan

gbriank,

Thanks. I live not too far from them. I know a shop called Modern Armor is advertising it for $850. XPel seems to have a "regular" coverage bumper kit and an extended coverage one. Not sure which ones these guys use.

Invisiguard

Xpel is a kit designer, they do not produce their own brand of film. Any film can be used for Xpel designs and any Xpel dealer can use standard or extended, just specify which you would prefer.

Also remember when shopping for skilled labor theres more things to consider than whos the lowest bidder, there will always be someone out there willing to do it for less than the next guy

Invisiguard

Heres the extended coverage, the standard coverage is similar but the sides of the bumper do not extend out to the wheels and the hood is cut on 12" wide film instead of 24".

Rocketsfan

Just found this forum where film installers are talking about the work. Interesting reading :

http://www.tintdude.com/forum/index.php?showforum=101

Several seem to like the new Llumar PPF more than the 3M PPF. One of the threads shows a microscopic image of both films and how much smoother the Llumar film is.

Man, I'm so clueless about what to get - and the prices are all over the board, but they all seem expensive as hell here in the Dallas, Texas area. I mean, I can afford the near-$900 prices, but hell, if I can get it done for $500, I'd kinda like to know. :banghead:

Rocketsfan

Oh believe me, I understand. But I see people getting similar stuff done for $300 or $500 and others charging $almost $900. That's a heck of a range. But I'd never just go out and look for the cheapest - you're right.

Oh well, the search is on... Thanks for your help Invisiguard.

Invisiguard

Uh oh, one of my haunts has been found out yeah I post there a bit too.

As for the wide differences in prices you may find, keep in mind that this is a relatively new industry and alot of installers are finding out what the market will bear in their area. We've been doing this for a little less than 3 years now, which may not seem very long but it makes us one of the oldest full-time clear bra installation shops in our part of the state.

A good rule of thumb would be to look at what tint prices are in your area, a clear bra install is typically 2-3 times the material cost and hours of a full tint job, so expect to pay around that for a clear bra install. Also, some cars have much larger and more challenging kits than others, our kit for the new TL for instance is easily twice the material as our kit for the last TL, so this may also affect the prices you see out there too.

Invisiguard

heh, you know I should have added that I have also seen awful installs that were way too expensive. In my area I have noticed that some of the least experienced installers are also the most expensive, so indeed price is not everything. There are also alot of tint shops out there that are trying to do this on the side, and although they would seem to be simialr skills, there is just about as many things different between them as similar, thats why I dont spend my time learning to tint windows as well

Best thing to do is not be affraid to ask alot of questions, ask for references, ask to see an install they have done if they have one on their own car, ask about their warranty, and ask to see a picture of the kit that will go on your car.
Jeremy
Invisiguard@sbcglobal.net