Beware that aging clear bra!

I suspect some of you are like me, second or third owner of a great car with a clear bra installed by a previous owner. Mine began to show signs of age and cracking. I tried using a heat gun to remove it and quickly discovered I was in over my head. It came off not in sheets or sections, but in little gooey bits. I took it to a good detailer and spent $200 for removal. And the results were not pretty. In some places it peeled off paint! In one spot where there was apparently touch up paint under the bra it took off a chunk of clear coat several inches across. And it was nearly impossible to do the job without some scratch marks. As there were already chips above the bra I was planning a front respray anyway, so the damage is temporary. But if you have an older clear bra and see any signs of decay, don't wait.

I've removed several old clear bras with no issues whatsoever. My understanding is that if the removal of the clear bra removes paint, that indicates that the paint was not original. Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell until you get into it.

Peeling paint can certainly be a problem when removing clear film from a re-painted area. It doesn't always happen with repainted parts, but it is often the case. I've got 3M clear film on the front bumper cover of my 360 and after about 8 years, it still hasn't discolored or cracked. I'm wondering if the key to clear film long-life is keeping the car stored inside and not exposed to sunlight.

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Yes, much like the head light housings UV light is the devil.

I think a bunch of people already said that red color paint is no good, it peels off. Thats probibly your problem

^ Well, he's got Orient Red, so that may be true. Guards Red obviously is manufactured to a higher standard - it needs to stick better due to the extra horsepower that the factory installs into all Guards Red cars. As for the clear bra, I've never had one on any car I've owned. I know a lot of people love them. I've never really understood the logic of the clear bra in that normally, you can tell that there is a clear bra on the car, even if it is brand new, and certainly easy to see if after it's aged a couple of years. I think I'd rather live with some rock chips than a clear bra. This thread reaffirms that. I understand that the new Xpel stuff is pretty good. It might make me change my mind after I see a few of the friends' cars (who recently installed it) after a couple of years of use. But, based on the cost and the caveats given, I'm wondering what the advantage is over just having your bumper cover resprayed every 4 or 5 years and/or having a few minor rock chips in other spots (hood, mirrors and A-pillars) touched up from time to time.

I removed mine as well. I'm second owner and the bra began to yellow. Removing it left adhesive and was a bitch to take off resorted to gasoline on a microfiber towel. Took a lot of time, but take your time and it will eventually come off.

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I think your buddies in the TT forum would have some things to say about a resprayed bumper

^ True that. They get their panties in a wad over stuff a lot more trivial than that. Of course, those are the same guys that believe you shouldn't subject a car to destructive use of any type, such as, you know, actually driving the car at all. The most vociferous of that bunch, based on various posts he's made, has driven his car a grand total of 1,000 miles in 3 years. But, I'll give you 5 to 1 odds that he's got a clear bra on that poor car. I'd bet his tires are the ones that came on the car when it was new, also.

^^ I now tend to think KC is right. A front bumper cover re-spray (once it's no longer original paint, doesn't matter how many times it's re-sprayed) is about the same cost as Xpel. Additionally, I've found that while clear film protects the front end from minor chips and road rash, it will not prevent a big chip if you get hit with a large rock. A larger rock will "tear" the clear film. I got a such a chip on my 360 and it tore through the film and still chipped the paint. Then it becomes almost impossible to touch up or fix. No matter what you do, it's noticeable. If it's just a paint chip I can touch it up pretty well, but not when there's film. I think that's why I've not bothered to put clear film on my 993 or 996.

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Of course his tires are OEM...brakes, belts and hoses also. Every time you replace those stock items, your car will quickly lose value. As for the clear bra..I think it all depends on the color of the car. Black won't show the fading as bad as lighter colors and on white cars, the film will eventually look yellow. As for Guards Red, well, who in their right mind would own a Porsche in that "look at me" color. Might as well grow a pony tail and start dating strippers...

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Mmmm, strippers. . . Seriously, though, I think Cuda has a job like that.

Reality check on film v. paint: Cost to apply new generation film over entire front end + mirrors - $1500 Cost of high quality respray of front end and mirrors - $3-4K And I know, your cousin got his painted for $300 and a case of Old Milwaukee. These are actual quotes I've gotten recently. And as to David993S's comments on the failure of clear film to protect from larger rocks... Exactly right. So in the end, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. I'm going to respray the front and not install a new clear bra. And KC, why you hating on Orient Red, or have you heard something I have not?

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Just ignore him. He's trying to make himself feel better after his poor choice of Guards Red on his ragged out piece of track garbage.

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Krazy K has a TT now?

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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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...

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

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.

Gnat did you forget about Rubik

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.