clear bra - over stripes?

[ACRucrazy]

I had clear bra put on my car yesterday. When I got home I noticed there is no clear bra over the stripes on the bumper hood and roof. The kit appears to be cut out around the stripes. I will be calling them today, but would like to know what others have done. Im assuming the plotter has the kit cut this way, can the bra be applied over the stripes with the ridge that is caused by them?

[01sapphirebob]

I dont see why not. I've seen striped cars with clear bra. Perhaps the installer wasn't sure it would look right?

[commandomatt]

I know nothing about clear bras......but damn !!! your car looks awesome

[venomous08]

Both of mine have had clear bra over the stripes. I haven't seen any like the way you are describing.

[96_GTS]

I also have clear bra over stripes. No problems with it at all. I would definitely call them and have it redone!

[venum4u]

Same here, over the stripes on both cars

[City]

My stripes are also covered. There is SOME small space that can form due to the height of the stripe vs. the rest of the hood. But they can heat, stretch and force the material down into the "tiny void" to where you'd barely notice it. Perhaps your installer didn't want to deal with that?

[Back In Black]

Midwest Clear Bra I presume by the sign in the background? If so, very odd. Fellow MN club member with the red/black/red driver stripe ACR had his done there and they covered everything.

[ACRucrazy]

Yep. I reached out today and the installer won't be back until tomorrow. I will update after I speak with them. the $3,300 stripes are the paint that is damaged the easiest by rocks. I expect them to be covered one way or another.

[Snakebit]

When I got mine done they gave me the option of having seams along the stripe edges which would eliminate the air gap that's left when you stay with one piece, but either way, my stripes we're going to be covered. I had them go the seamless route. There is a slight gap, but it is barely noticeable.

[HobokenViper]

Ditto on what everyone else said. Had mine done about 2 years ago and they covered over my stripes. No issues at all, and the little gap that was left eventually went away once the vinyl heated up and settled in a couple times. Definitely a screw up on the installer's end.

[Vprbite]

Ditto on what everyone else said. Had mine done about 2 years ago and they covered over my stripes. No issues at all, and the little gap that was left eventually went away once the vinyl heated up and settled in a couple times. Definitely a screw up on the installer's end.

Screw up? Seems like more work, more careful cutting. Perhaps they just assumed when they shouldn't have. Like maybe the last few stripe customers they had wanted no ridge or something like that. Either way, covering them should leave the kind of ridge that one would have to look for no notice.

The car does look damn sexy though.

[sssammm]

For this exact reason, I had my car flatted down, stripes painted, relaquered, then flatted and polished, there is no height difference
on my stripes, you can rub your hand over and there is no edge, just perfect

[Drummerviper]

Makes no sense . They should have done it

[ACRucrazy]

I will be going back out in little over a week to have bra applied to the stripes.
When I set up the appointment I requested Xpel. When I dropped it off I confirmed Xpel. 3M PRO was used. When I questioned this I was assured PRO was better. Anyone care to weigh in on that?

[GT Venum]

I prefer the Xpel. The more important thing to make sure is that they are not using a razor to trim the film on the car.

There is no issue with installing over stripes. I have done it several times on mine as well as customers.

In fact I am installing film on a 2015 Viper GT with stripes this weekend.

Just need to make sure if you have the film removed that the film is steamed off.

[Alex Mills]

I have 3-ish year old 3M wrap on the front of my car that was pre-cut from a kit. It has an orange peel look in reflections. I don't like it. Since it's a kit, it also has seams in horrible places.

I took out my bumper with a cone and replaced it earlier this year. This time I went the more expensive route and had a guy custom cut Xpel to match the bumper. Finding a talented guy to do it is huge. You have to look REALLY hard to find a seam on my bumper. Xpel is also awesome because the water just beads right up and runs off! At some point I'll take all of the 3M stuff off and redo it in Xpel and have it stop at body lines (i.e. do the whole hood, not just 1/3 of the way up it).

[GT Venum]

I have 3-ish year old 3M wrap on the front of my car that was pre-cut from a kit. It has an orange peel look in reflections. I don't like it. Since it's a kit, it also has seams in horrible places.

The orange peel is why I prefer Xpel as well. My guess is that the original 3M kit was from 3M. The 3M kits are no where near as good as the Xpel kits.

[Drummerviper]

I have 3m on older cars and xpel on newer so it may not be fair to compare. I like the self healing of the xpel and my installer who has done a lot of both much prefers expel.

The 3m on my Ford GTs needs replacing but not surprising after this long.

[ACRucrazy]

The installer said the 3M PRO is newer stuff like 8 months or so?

[GT Venum]

The new 3M is better but they have been having issues with the quality that I have seen. It may be a better film in the future but I don't think it is there yet.

They Xpel Ultimate has been out for a few years and I have had 0 issues and no warranty claims.