Clear bra

Gordon Nichols has one and swears by it.  I'm looking into it.

I love it, but after ten years it is starting to get darker (some people call it "yellowing" but mine is just getting darker).  Not super-dark, just a little darker than the paint under it so you notice it more.   Mine has warded off multiple stones (one as big as a walnut) and a Kamakazi bird and suffered a couple of miniscule dings in the film but has always protected the paint and finish underneath.

 

Be prepared to pay around $600 for the job, and find someone who does 6-8 mil film, preferably from 3M or BASF (although, Desi, on here but out in SoCal, uses a different brand but I can't remember what it is).  Talk to the service guys in a local Mercedes or Lexus dealership (It helps to drive your car over when you talk with them) and find out who they use to do their cars (all the dealers outsource this stuff) and use that guy.

Did youdo full car Gordon or just front if hood and sides up to and around the lights??

You could bring your car up here and have the guys at Pleasant Details (http://www.pleasantdetails.com/) do it.  They're a local group of really good car guys who are active in our local car culture and hold several charity events each year.  They did a great job on my BMW.

I generally like the visual of a clear bra.  If Vince is leaving, someone has to take up the slack ;-)

Lane, it's a 4-hour drive, one way, for him to get to you, and I would bet he could get it done as cheap or cheaper in the Jacksonville area in a few hours.  People installing this film are all over the place.

 

I did mine from the lower valence up to about 8"-10" above the lights and around the fenders to about 10" back from the headlights.  If I were to do it again I would try to go higher up on the top of the fender, but that depends on the width of the film material and how high it would go.  I would also ask for small teardrops to protect the leading edge of the rear wheel wells, but only if you have flared fenders - the classic side cars don't need this.  Another place is a strip along the top of the door where your arm and the bottom rubber for the side windows goes.  

 

Some companies say that they have "templates" and can precut film pieces for various cars.  My experience is that they still have to do a lot of fitting even with the template-cut pieces.  My guy just used a couple of really big pieces of bulk film (Nose and hood are separate) and then deftly fitted and cut til it was right, eliminating puckers and creases along the way.  That is far from easy, since the entire car is a flowing set of compound curves, everywhere, especially in the nose.

Marty's IM has one and it looks great, you can do a Member search and bring up pics of his car. 

Im in Jacksonville and there are a ton of shops that do this around here. I found one that does the 3m and other brands. There is a big porsche following here being so close to the beach and all and a ton of people have had it done to their P cars. Im going to look into it for sure. Thanks everyone!

At the risk of having this site blow away my browser again, here's my newly married son and his wife in their get-away car, complete with clear film nose.  The film had been on there for about 6 or 7 years at that time. (no, I can't see the darn thing, either!)

 

Looks a lot like Marty's car, doesn't it?:

 

The clear bra works best if installed by a qualified installer, and especially if the material has been pre-cut for the particular automobile. You can try to install it yourself, but be prepared for a learning curve that includes reapplication when you screw up the job. The biggest problems occur at the edges of the clear bra, where wrinkles and puckering are common. Make sure that the installer is qualified and has a track record of placing the material on your car, whether it be a Speedster or not. Most of all, have him write out a warranty so that if wrinkle problems occur some time later that you are assured that such a problem will be fixed.

 

The material is fairly easy to place on flat or sweeping curved surfaces, but it get's dicey at sharp corners and sharp curves of body surfaces. I have had the stuff on my car for about three years. No gravel dings, no discoloration, but the installer could have done a better job at the edges.

Barry:  my guy had a helper (his girlfriend, as it turned out) who was about as good at installing the stuff as he was.  At the corners under the headlights he had this nifty tool with a cutting blade set as deep as the thickness of the material and cut the puckers out with just a deft movement of the wrist.  It was obvious that he had done a lot of these - not speedsters (mine was his first) but a lot of other cars and, as you mention, that is key - get someone with lots of experience and, IMHO, this is NOT a DIY project.  Not if you want it to look perfect!

 

After he finished, I gave them both a good tip and then he asked if I had any other friends who had Speedsters and might like it done to them.  I said, "possibly".  Then he asked that I not give them his name as it was so difficult that he didn't want to do another one!!!

HAD IT ON MY COUPE AND NEVER HAD A CHIP IN ALL THOSE MILES

 

 

Also im with Tom