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      07-25-2011, 01:09 PM   #1
aced0ut
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Clear bra vs filling in chips yearly by a pro?

so i get delivery on my car this week and im not sure if i should do a clear bra or just get a pro to fill in the stone chips at the end of every summer as i wont be driving the car in the winter. I would only be getting the chips done not the whole pannels repainted. What i want to know is cost wise how much should i expect to pay every summer to have these chips filled in. I would rather get them filled in over the clear bra(as i prefer the paint look) if the price is reasonable and there is a place that does good work where u cant tell its been touched up? Any suggestions in the GTA? resell value is not that much of a concern to me thanks for the help in advance.
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      07-25-2011, 02:20 PM   #2
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Get a clear bra, you won't regret it. It'll be cheaper than repainting on a regular basis, and if you resell your car you won't have to explain why certain panels were repainted. In my case, the clear bra saved me easily $1500 because of a bolt that hit my hood driving on the QEW.

I highly recommend calling Marco from Advanced Mobile Group (*******************@yahoo.com). He's a good guy and his work is excellent. If you do a full hood and full bumper, you'll barely notice that its there, especially if you maintain it properly.
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      07-25-2011, 03:42 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shizzle View Post
Get a clear bra, you won't regret it. It'll be cheaper than repainting on a regular basis, and if you resell your car you won't have to explain why certain panels were repainted. In my case, the clear bra saved me easily $1500 because of a bolt that hit my hood driving on the QEW.

I highly recommend calling Marco from Advanced Mobile Group (*******************@yahoo.com). He's a good guy and his work is excellent. If you do a full hood and full bumper, you'll barely notice that its there, especially if you maintain it properly.
+1

Marco did my whole front bumper, full hood and full front fenders. His work is THE best. People don't even notice I have clear bra
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      07-25-2011, 06:07 PM   #4
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I'm interested in what is the best way to maintain the clear bra?
Can you explain?
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      07-25-2011, 06:14 PM   #5
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^It's pretty simple. After a wash, i'll use some Plexus plastic cleaner on the clear bra. It gets rid of any stains from bugs etc., and helps prevent yellowing.

When I do a more thorough detail on the car, after a wash and clay, I'll use Plexus on the clear bra, and finish off with a sealant application (I like to use Menzerna Powerlock).
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      07-25-2011, 10:21 PM   #6
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+1 for Plexus
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      07-25-2011, 10:33 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malapropism View Post
+1

Marco did my whole front bumper, full hood and full front fenders. His work is THE best. People don't even notice I have clear bra
x2

He did my car as well after Kevin (Picus) detailed it.

Great work, you cant even tell its there.
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      07-26-2011, 05:59 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shizzle View Post
^It's pretty simple. After a wash, i'll use some Plexus plastic cleaner on the clear bra. It gets rid of any stains from bugs etc., and helps prevent yellowing.

When I do a more thorough detail on the car, after a wash and clay, I'll use Plexus on the clear bra, and finish off with a sealant application (I like to use Menzerna Powerlock).
Do NOT use Plexus on clear bras. It is well known now that Plexus has Butane in it which dores out the film. It causes the film to yellow prematurely. It may give it a great shine initially but it will damage the film over the long run and I doubt your installer will back the warranty if you have used it. There are been numerous tests on Plexus and all show the same problems. Find a good sealant that is not petroleum based and you will be fine.
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      07-26-2011, 09:39 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by htp autoworks View Post
Do NOT use Plexus on clear bras. It is well known now that Plexus has Butane in it which dores out the film. It causes the film to yellow prematurely. It may give it a great shine initially but it will damage the film over the long run and I doubt your installer will back the warranty if you have used it. There are been numerous tests on Plexus and all show the same problems. Find a good sealant that is not petroleum based and you will be fine.
Then why is it that Ventureshield recommended it as the only cleaner that should be used up until 3M bought them and released their own cleaner. And a couple of the best installers and detailers here in the GTA recommend it. I don't doubt what you say, but can you please provide *objective* specific references? The only one who doesn't recommend Plexus is Premier, and while I think they do good work, they are highly biased. They've developed their own competing cleaner, and their criticisms of Plexus only came out when their product did.

Last edited by sawzall; 07-26-2011 at 09:58 AM..
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      07-26-2011, 09:50 AM   #10
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Sorry to double post, But just to prove my point, here is the Official Ventureshield Warranty Card that recommends using Plexus. Highly doubt they would void a warranty if you use the manufacturer recommended products. VShield_Warranty_Card.pdf
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      07-26-2011, 10:22 AM   #11
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Thanks for the responses. I will base the cleaner on what the installer suggests using.
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      07-26-2011, 12:38 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malapropism View Post
+1

Marco did my whole front bumper, full hood and full front fenders. His work is THE best. People don't even notice I have clear bra
howmuch did it cost for full front bumper full hood and full front fenders?
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      07-26-2011, 06:20 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shizzle View Post
Sorry to double post, But just to prove my point, here is the Official Ventureshield Warranty Card that recommends using Plexus. Highly doubt they would void a warranty if you use the manufacturer recommended products. Attachment 558009
Yeah I used to give out that warranty card... its not valid anymore. Xpel actually tested different cleaners on films to see which were good and which werent. The results showed Plexus actually burns out the pores which causes the film to yellow prematurely. Plexus contains Isobutane, Alipathic Petroleum Distillates, and Propane in it which will damage polyurethane. Plexus is for hard plastics only. It is common knowledge... among installers... that you should not use anything with petroleum distillates in it as it will cause film to yellow. Most of the people who had film yellow back in the day was partially because of this reason.

Of all the years I have been installing film I have yet to have one client come back for warranty issues. I have always recommended using Zaino or another polymer type sealant on films and they have worked well. I would be willing to bet that a lot of the people in this forum that complain about using PPF on white cars because of yellowing were using Plexus or other petroleum based waxes/cleaners.
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      07-26-2011, 07:21 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aced0ut View Post
howmuch did it cost for full front bumper full hood and full front fenders?
You should check with Marco. I've heard that the price/availability of Ventureshield has been fluctuating a bit lately.
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      07-26-2011, 07:24 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by htp autoworks View Post
Yeah I used to give out that warranty card... its not valid anymore. Xpel actually tested different cleaners on films to see which were good and which werent. The results showed Plexus actually burns out the pores which causes the film to yellow prematurely. Plexus contains Isobutane, Alipathic Petroleum Distillates, and Propane in it which will damage polyurethane. Plexus is for hard plastics only. It is common knowledge... among installers... that you should not use anything with petroleum distillates in it as it will cause film to yellow. Most of the people who had film yellow back in the day was partially because of this reason.

Of all the years I have been installing film I have yet to have one client come back for warranty issues. I have always recommended using Zaino or another polymer type sealant on films and they have worked well. I would be willing to bet that a lot of the people in this forum that complain about using PPF on white cars because of yellowing were using Plexus or other petroleum based waxes/cleaners.
I'm always a skeptic, so i'll point out that Xpel is also another competitor. That being said, i'm always open to looking at better performing products. Do you have any information on the active ingredients that make the Premier or Xpel cleaners more effective for PPF?
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      07-27-2011, 02:13 PM   #16
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Hey Shizzle. To expound on the info above, I think over time the ppf industry is slowly learning that pds (petroleum distillates) can cause issues with porous film when used for prolonged periods. I think the idea is you want the pores to breath, and pds can prevent this. I personally use regular automotive paint sealants (like hd poxy, wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant, zaino, duragloss, etc...) and have had no issues whatsoever with my or my clients ppfs. Paint sealants generally dont have pds and are breathable.

So for me I personally wouldn't buy a 'ppf cleaner', I'd just treat it like I treat the rest of my paint (wash normally, seal regularly).

I also just wanted to add that in my experience clear bras that 'yellow' are almost always a result of some sort of negligence (usually not willful), since they are porous they will trap most of what you put on them, so guys who use a lot of touchless wash wax (which is like 99% silicone), or who live/work in industrial areas or areas with a lot of construction seem to struggle with the films becoming saturated with silicone/dirt/concrete dust, etc. Luckily in most cases it can be fixed, but either way the best way to avoid it is to prevent it by keeping the film clean and protected (again just imo).
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      07-27-2011, 04:22 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by picus View Post
Hey Shizzle. To expound on the info above, I think over time the ppf industry is slowly learning that pds (petroleum distillates) can cause issues with porous film when used for prolonged periods. I think the idea is you want the pores to breath, and pds can prevent this. I personally use regular automotive paint sealants (like hd poxy, wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant, zaino, duragloss, etc...) and have had no issues whatsoever with my or my clients ppfs. Paint sealants generally dont have pds and are breathable.

So for me I personally wouldn't buy a 'ppf cleaner', I'd just treat it like I treat the rest of my paint (wash normally, seal regularly).
Thanks for chiming in Picus, I do value your opinion. I've been using Plexus to prevent 'yellowing' which is what it claims to help prevent. I've been really happy with my results to date, but my PPF is only about a year old.

I'll try switching to just a sealant and see if I get the same level of cleanliness and gloss (Anything to simplify the process is good in my book). I'm a bit leery with all these new PPF cleaners - it would be interesting to find out how/who they did their formulations, and how they actually work.
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      07-27-2011, 05:02 PM   #18
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Ya the thing with ppfs is they are still relatively new in the industry, and they change so often (definitely improving..) it's hard to know what works and doesn't long term. I have no idea if Plexus hurts or helps, I do know that a lot of installers are moving away from it, some just because paint sealants are easier to use (when using on the entire car).

I will say this about Plexus, if you check its msds it is very, very similar to pledge (the household stuff), so my guess (and this is only a guess) is that it is so shiny *because* of the pds. Not sure if they do indeed hurt the ppfs but I don't like the idea of a pledge like substance on my car. So I stick with the sealants.
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      07-28-2011, 08:48 AM   #19
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picus FTW
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      07-29-2011, 12:29 PM   #20
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Is that Grant!? Hey Grant. Dude, you have friends, tell them I'm selling my car. Good price haha.
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      07-31-2011, 10:43 PM   #21
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Is that Grant!? Hey Grant. Dude, you have friends, tell them I'm selling my car. Good price haha.
haha ya its me ill spread the word and ask around for you.
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      08-01-2011, 10:35 AM   #22
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Hi guys,

New to the forum. Is there someone that you can recommend for installing the clear bra in the gta area.
thanks
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