Hey Gang,

I have a leather nose bra but the painter said no, do not put it on?   For my long trip to Pigeon Forge and back across to the west coast I want to protect the nose as much as possible. I'm now checking a Mercedes Dealer here in town who used a 3M Poduct to cover front ends? Does any one know what is good or not? Ideas..Terry

Hey Terry, here is what I found on the subject

http://www.automotivearticles.com/123/printer_Clear_Bra_3M.s html

A friend of mine drives a F250 Harley Ford and he swears by this stuff. He has taken the truck off road to do his Moto Cross and also on long trips with his dad and has said that he has been hit by some fairly large pieces of road debris and has no marks on the front of his truck. He used a heavy duty version of this stuff so it is a little thicker than what is here. Just a little rread for ya.

Later

I don't have any experience with them, but many people say that the bras cause more damage due to flapping in the breeze that they protect.
I would go with the clear film, applied by a professional.

Or....................you could just paint it when you get back????????????

Terry, do NOT put a bra on a freshly painted car!!!! As a matter of fact, I wouldn't recommend a bra on any nice paint!! A driver, yeah, OK. I put a bra on my '74 for the trip to the Museum in '99, and it rubbed a big spot in the clear-coat, across the front nose! Now, granted, I could have buffed it out, but that's not the point.
Go with the clear film type stuff, and have it professionally installed. A lot of the C5 folks are doing this, and it seems to be the cat's meow. Some of us old-timers have(and will) used Saran-Wrap, and get the same end results. It just looks a little goofy.

I have seen the bras cause a lot of damage.  It's worse than the damage caused by the road debris.

OK, Gents....Trevor, Dave W, Joel, Ken and Dave, A Chevrolet Dealer here in town has agreed to cover the nose with the 3M clear material enough to protect the paint and I'll be able to use the tight fitting Leather Bra that I have had for years. It's a tight fit and does not flap in the wind. The Dealer says that with the film under the bra I should not have to worry, they have also said that if any damage occurs they will repair it since they are the ones who has done the body and paint work, and installing the 3M Clear....Can't beat that for a Chevrolet Dealership? Yep..But, I've paid the overhead cost for the last two years..

A new SSR that I got to drive while at C3X in 2004 had that clear seal on it.  You could hardly detect that it was there.  Seems like a slick way to go.

I'm no paint expert so check with your painter but I thought putting something like that on a fresh paint job could also cause problems.  Doesn't paint need some time to setup/cure/whatever after it has been applied?  Or am I too far behind the times in painting technology?

I've heard a lot of "positive remarks" on the 3M product from folks that have it (don't know how fresh their paint job was though).  I wonder about using it on fresh paint too...........huuummm...

Hallo , i'm not fully with you on this one ...

Do you have so bad roads ??? Whe never use that stuff and/or car-bra's and generaly speaking a car after 10 years and 125.000 miles hasn't that important damage on the nose.

Or are you guys shooting at eachother with air guns ??? , perhaps looking toooo much gangster - films ?