I tried for almost three hours today to apply the invinca-shield clear bra to my hood and was never able to get it to completely lay down on the front edge. That was one piece of the kits. I spent another hour trying to get the front fender pice to lay down and line up with the fender. The only pieces I did get on that look invisible where the wheel well and gas tank pieces. No way this is a do-it-yourself job. $137 bucks down the drain! With that said it is nearly invisible where it did lay down.

 

was just lookin on ebay last night, a guys selling similar(dunno brand) for like 10 bucks, and I think 15 shipping...mentions hairdrier to stretch/shrink or something...is that the problem, or is there a lot of problems...was thinking about trying it, but dunno now...Ive covered lots of model airplanes with shrink covering, maybe I should just get some of that in clear and try it first...at least I'd be familiar with it

 

This wasn't any type of skrink wrap, but a fairly thick vinyl. I didn't try adding heat to manipulate it becuase their video of technicians applying it didn't suggest it. I very seldom can't do the same job as someone else, but this one was tough. I'm sure there are tricks of the trade to applying this. I will be looking for a shop that specializes in this type of application.

 

Get a heat gun, they are amazing.

For a job like this, on a brand new car though... I think shelling out the $450 is more than worth preventing yourself the aggravation of trying to learn how to do this, and apply it to your baby.

 

Clear bras require skill, and patience. The good kits are 8-12 mil 3M or equivalent quality material. The $20 crap on ebay is 3 mil junk.

Many people try and fail; do not feel bad. I used to do body work so I had experience in doing big decals, so I was able to successfully do mine (on a caddy CTS-v). DO NOT USE A HEAT GUN to apply this stuff. Everything needs to be the SAME temperature so that you get even stretching, not the isolated stretching and distortion that a heat gun will give you. A heat gun will also dry the slip solution, and you want everything very wet and slippery.

Make sure the car is in a warm garage. Heat guns should only be used to remove film if you want to toss it. The key to applying this stuff properly is slip solution, patience, and temperature. Car and garage should be at least 70 degrees, and preferably more.

The more compound curves, the tougher it is. On the caddy, the hardest pieces were the headlights and the mirrors.

If you are not willing to risk the $$ for a kit, then go to a pro. But I can tell you that I will ALWAYS have one of these bras on my new cars. I love the protection and though you can see the edges in certain light (worse on black cars as wax tends to get caught on the edge), I will always to to have on on my new cars.

D

 

I agree that getting the real thing done is worth it. Don't be cheap and go with the crappy stuff.