Clear bra - What panels to cover?

[vmx128]

I am getting clear bra (Ventureshield) installed on my car soon. I'm definitely getting the bumper covered since that is where I seem to get the most rock chips. What other panels would you get the film installed on?
Rocker panels? The hood?

For those who have had their cars for a while: Where do you get the most damage? I have only noticed rockchips on the bumber and on the rocker panels in front of the real wheels over the first month of ownership.

Is $485 installed (on the bumper and rocker panels) a good price?

[agirls]

Get your front access panels covered too. There is no clear film anywhere on your car? Don't forget the mirrors!

[agirls]

Oh and $500 installed sounds cheap. Make sure it is pre cut from a pattern and not cut on your car.

[vmx128]

Originally Posted by agirls

Oh and $500 installed sounds cheap. Make sure it is pre cut from a pattern and not cut on your car.

Thanks! I was thinking about just getting the bumper and rocker panels covered. Would you recommend I get the hood covered as well?

[agirls]

Well, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by bumper and hood. A normal pattern for the Elise would cover about half of the front clam which I think is sufficient. Since my car came with starshield from Lotus, the only other place that really needed it were the front access panels.

Edit: go to Chufforia Grafix or maybe Lotus Garage and look at the patterns of the kit for the whole car (including behind the rear tires). I would definitely go for a whole kit plus the access panels.

[SouL]

On my Elise I have rock chips all over the entire front end. I would suggest you seriously consider covering the entire front clam (expensive and would require a custom cut) and the access panels if you want thorough coverage.
I believe most, if not all, pre-cut patterns only go half way up the front clam. The bits that go on the wing mirrors also only cover a portion of the painted surface.

Front clam, access panels, front clam "spine", wing mirrors and rocker panels are the most common ares that get hit. Oddly enough I also have stone chips on the top deck of the rear clam. Hah

Who is installing your kit?
There is a company in Orange that has a really good reputation of installing custom cut film on high end exotic. They might be worth checking out. Premier Protective Films International (aka Premier Mobile) clear bra, paint protection film, tint, auto tint, safety film, chip paint, kits, custom, car

[agirls]

Chufforia Grafix sells a 1 piece extended coverage that covers the entire front clam. I covered my whole front clam (2 piece for the exige) and did not like it. I, myself, never got chips past the normal bra before getting the extended one so I replaced it with a normal one. But you have that option.

I also have a few chips here and there. You can't avoid them all but cover the high impact areas.

[MrSimba]

Get them to also take off the OE sill film and replace with the full sills inner & outer in one piece, sill always chip and protecting the inner sill against shoes ect is good as well

[jds62f]

No elise or exige has a "bumper" and as pointed out above the 'bumper' and the 'hood' are really one piece. I would say at LEAST get the stock coverage. If it were me I'd do the access panels as well, and probably get the entire front clam done.

Originally Posted by vmx128

I am getting clear bra (Ventureshield) installed on my car soon. I'm definitely getting the bumper covered since that is where I seem to get the most rock chips. What other panels would you get the film installed on?
Rocker panels? The hood?

For those who have had their cars for a while: Where do you get the most damage? I have only noticed rockchips on the bumber and on the rocker panels in front of the real wheels over the first month of ownership.

Is $485 installed (on the bumper and rocker panels) a good price?

[vmx128]

Thanks for all the tips! I am going with TJ Wallace from theclearbra.com for the VentureShield protection. I met his yesterday and was very impressed. He is a really nice guy and gave me some great advice.

I'll post a review in this thread after the job is done.

[vmx128]

Originally Posted by jds62f

No elise or exige has a "bumper" and as pointed out above the 'bumper' and the 'hood' are really one piece. I would say at LEAST get the stock coverage. If it were me I'd do the access panels as well, and probably get the entire front clam done.

I agree, our cars don't have a "bumper". That's just how the film manufacturers refer to different parts of the front clam: https://www.xpel.com/products/paint_...e=46&model=812

[carphoria]

Originally Posted by agirls

Oh and $500 installed sounds cheap. Make sure it is pre cut from a pattern and not cut on your car.

Just curious why this would matter.

[rcollum]

The StarShield on mine has saved me a lot of repainting, but I agree that I'd also do the access panels if I were to start over. I've already had to touch up 8 or 10 places on the access panels.

I would also, if I kept the top off much, look at the thickest clear vinyl available to make the rear window more shatterproof. Several owners have reported getting rocks over the windshield.

I have Tony Vaccaro's plexiglas rear-window protector, and I like it, but sometimes I forget to put it in.

[agirls]

Originally Posted by carphoria

Just curious why this would matter.

Clean cuts.

[Big Top Gt]

Will you guys stop being so literal.

If I hear one more person correct "bumper" or "hood", I'm going to Google search your addresses and come crap in each of your mailboxes.

When someone says "hood", they obviously mean the area of the car traditionally known to keep the engine in 99% of vehicles ever made.

When someone says front or rear "bumper", I think we all realize it's A) not really a bumper, and B) the front or back of the car that USUALLY has a bumper of some sort.

It's a little pompous and ridiculous to go out of your way to point out that the car doesn't have a "hood" or "bumper" as if the OP, or anyone else for that matter, doesn't know that.

Can we all not pretend that someone is stupid when it comes to this? *sheesh*

[jds62f]

Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed- chill dude! Even the people that mention it made a meaningful reply to the OP.

Back on topic b/c I thought of something else - I've heard that sometimes they can do the install so that you don't see any seems, meaning the clear bra actually wraps around the back side of the panel. Certainly a more expensive install, but maybe worth the time and effort. I'm not sure how that would go over on our body panels though.

Also, if it was possible to "double coat" right in front of the rear wheels, I think I would.

[agirls]

I said I wasn't sure what he meant by hood and bumper, because I wasn't sure what would be covered by "bumper" vs "hood". I wasn't being snotty, but thanks for your concern.

[livethedream]

+1 for adding access panel coverage to the standard starshield. Check out britishracinggroup as they have various options for coverage on their site.

[Big Top Gt]

[Notorious]

The star shield is $795 from the dealer. The front clam coverage goes about 5" above the headlights.

The most definite part that needs it is the rocker panel. I have the heaviest hits and the most hits on my two bottom rocker panels. One tore through the star shield and peeled a sliver back. Thankfully, star shield did its job and saved the paint.

The one thing I would recommend that the stock setup doesn't cover is do a film over the headlights and turn signals. Those parts get hit too and the scratches degrade light transmission and can cause cracks.

I'm pretty certain you need a different high temperature film but we have those available for motorcycle headlights and they should be able to cut some for the headlights. The turn signals are easy by comparison, you can get the stock square sheets and cut them to fit.