Clear Bra - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

OldBlevins · 05-06-2007, 10:56 AM

Just bought my first Porsche (2000 Boxster S with 16K miles) and it's in immaculate shape. I'd like to protect the finish. I had a Clear Bra installed on my other car and have been pretty happy with how well it works. Anyone have experience with that for the Boxsters? Are there advantages to the standard bras?

Old Blevins

porschedude · 05-07-2007, 06:46 AM

I used it on my front hood....works and looks great. the car being somewhat low has a tendency to take rock chips around the front hood. I did a DIY project...it was pretty easy if you use lots of soapy water and squeegee.

r9i8c7k · 05-07-2007, 09:43 AM

I have the 3M clear bra on my '07 Boxster and it looks & works great. It saved me the other day on the way to L.A. I had a construction truck ahead of me with dirt flying off it. Before I could change lanes I heard the sound of ting, ting, ting as the debris was hitting the front of my car. Needless to say not one mark when I checked my car.

From 3+ feet away you cannot see it. I think the advantages of the clear bras over the standard bras with the Porsche are pretty much the same as other cars.(ex. appearance, mold, scuffing, etc.)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w274/r9i8c7k/DSCN0986.jpg

husker boxster · 05-07-2007, 07:50 PM

When I bought my Box almost 2 yrs ago, it too had perfect paint on the front. I knew it would get hammered by gravel as I use it as a year-round daily driver. A friend in the collision repair industry recommended a place that I eventually went to. They did a nice job on the hood (1/3 the way up) and fenders but had some trouble with the bumper. The section of the bumper just below the outer front corners of the headlites wouldn't smooth out. They tried 3 times, finally gave up, gave me a discount, and politely said don't come back. It's one of those things that 98% of the people don't see, but you know it's there.

You don't say what your other car is. Does it have a comlicated front end? I would suggest seeing some of their handy work on cars with curvey front ends. The Boxster has a complex bumper. May want to see how good they are before investing $350-$500.

Just my $.02.

OldBlevins · 05-08-2007, 06:50 AM

Thanks, all. It looks like the greatest coverage by the Lynnwood, WA outfit I found is around $850. My other car is a Honda Accord and the front valence has a lot of curves and holes, so they may be able to pull it off. If they can't, I'll take what I can get. They stood behind their product and fixed an odd problem (a stain that wouldn't come out of the 3M material) that came up with it, so I have some confidence that if they can't do the Boxster right, they'll either fix it or give me a discount.

That said, it sounds like $850 may be high. I'll look around and see if I can find other vendors. Thanks again.

Old Blevins
2000 Speed Yellow Boxster S

porschedude · 05-08-2007, 07:50 AM

The curvy bumper is extremely difficult to do. I think the installer would need to heat the clear bra with hair dryer and stretch it like crazy. For me, I seem to get all the rock chips on the front hood and not the bumper. So I did not cover my bumper, just the front hood areas, which is quite easy to do. However, $850 still seems pretty high for the entire clear bra kit and labor.

Uncle Bob · 05-08-2007, 12:09 PM

I used ArmorCoat, a paint product. I am very satisfied with it after over 18 months use.

eVoMotion · 08-27-2007, 02:16 PM

Anyone find full hood width clear bra? I thought I heard someone on the forum did their full hood.

OldBlevins · 08-28-2007, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

I used ArmorCoat, a paint product. I am very satisfied with it after over 18 months use.

I ended up doing the same thing. I have a Clear Bra on my gold Honda Accord and have been pretty pleased with it. But the Armor Coat is even less visible and has fewer seams and, after 3 months and 3000 miles, it's holding up well.