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clear bra kit availability?


kechair
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I've been searching for clear bra kits ever since I got the CMax back home. Anyone on the lookout - if you find one available online please post.

 

Hoping that I don't get chips in the front end in the meantime. I have a clear bra on my Mini - it's 4 years old and nary a chip in the front. I know that some people love it and others hate clear bras - there are definitely pros and cons, I acknowledge.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

Thanks, I was just looking for one of these last night. This is a good sign, hopefully they will get a kit which does the whole front soon too.

 

EDIT: wow that was fast!  ;)

Edited by CNCGeek
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It looks like the c-max upper/lower kit is the most expensive (upper/lower) kit from the ebay seller - even more than their truck and SUV kits. Maybe worth waiting for other sellers to begin getting these out to save some bucks.

 

EDIT - never mind that, I was not searching all their kits, they have some over $400 even. The price is probably reasonable compared to other sellers.

Edited by CNCGeek
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Hmmm. Not sure whether upper/lower kit is worth it. It may be. I'm more concerned about the level of difficulty of installing it. If done wrong -poof, $300 down the drain. There are some thin parts around the grill which will require careful alignment. Seems like you need a second set of hands to get the job done properly.

 

I think I'll wait a bit more to see if other vendors offer kits.

Edited by kechair
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Hmmm. Not sure whether upper/lower kit is worth it. It may be. I'm more concerned about the level of difficulty of installing it. If done wrong -poof, $300 down the drain. There are some thin parts around the grill which will require careful alignment. Seems like you need a second set of hands to get the job done properly.

 

I think I'll wait a bit more to see if other vendors offer kits.

I plan to wait as well, the seller says they take offers, but don't expect much.  There are tons of videos on installing these kits and they make it look easy, which it is not.  The main point seems to be, keep it wet until you are sure on placement. 

 

I am going to buy and install a kit when they come down about $50 at least.  In the mean time I will be getting some small pieces of the 3m film to protect the pad areas on a roof rack I am buying, hopefully that will give me some practice with this stuff.

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I have some experience installing the same material on cell phones and you are right, it is not easy to install, esp. if you are *nal retentive like me and want things precisely aligned to edges, etc.  The suckiest part is trying to get all the damn bubbles out!  I had a pro install the clear bra on my Mini and he took about 4 hours to do the whole thing.  The job cost me ~$550, but it was money well spent.  

 

If you want bigger pieces of the 3m stuff, they sell rolls of it on eBay.  You may already know that but I thought I'd mention in.  Pretty affordable.  

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JayCo - sorry to hear about your chip ... perhaps you should monitor when Dr. ColorChip will have a touch up paint kit available for the CMax.

 

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

 

Thx for the site. Pretty sure a 2013 Ford Focus Sterling Gray Metalic (Paint Code "UJ") is the same as a C-Max "UJ" Paint color.

I ordered the 2013Ford Focus "UC" paint kit and I'll give it a go!

I imagine many of the Focus items will turn out to be exact matches for our C-Max's.

Jay

Edited by JayCo59
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  • 4 weeks later...

I had my windows tinted by a professional and I asked him for a recommendation on a clear bra for the hood. He recommended a guy that does this for a living and works on exotic cars for millionaires here in Southern California. I thought great, if it's good enough for a Ferrari, it's good enough for my C Max! The guy came to my home and custom cut the plastic to cover the entire hood so there is no seam in the middle as there is with all pre-cut kits which only cover the front one third of the hood. He charged me $240 for the whole job and I tipped him $20 for the extra care he took to do it right. He was here about 2 1/2 hours and had to make numerous cuts and solution injections to make it fit right to the rather complex contour at the side of the hood. I would not attempt to do this installation on my own having seen what this professional went through! Trust me, pay the money and have a professional do it right the first time. You'll be money ahead in the long run and be happy with the outcome!

Edited by Generalbeluga
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I had my windows tinted by a professional and I asked him for a recommendation on a clear bra for the hood.  He recommended a guy that does this for a living and works on exotic cars for millionaires here in Southern California.  I thought great, if it's good enough for a Ferrari, it's good enough for my C Max!  The guy came to my home and custom cut the plastic to cover the entire hood so there are no seam in the middle as there is with all pre-cut kits which only cover the front one third of the hood.  He charged me $240 for the whole job and I tipped him $20 for the extra care he took to do it right.  He was here about 2 1/2 hours and had to make numerous cuts and solution injections to make it fit right to the rather complex contour at the side of the hood.  I would not attempt to do this installation on my own having seen what this professional went through!  Trust me, pay the money and have a professional do it right the first time.  You'll be money ahead in the long run and be happy with the outcome! 

Some have claimed excellent results doing the clear bra themselves.  But, I watched my previous installation on my '09 Jetta and feel it's worth the $240 or so to have it professionally done and they will generally fix any issues free down the road (edges lifting, bubbles and so forth).  In fact, they pieced a portion in on the underside of a corner of my bumper when I scraped it on a high parking curb a year or so ago for free.  It took them about 15 minutes to cut  the 3x10" ripped section out, clean the area, apply film over the section overlapping on the existing film, and then trimming the overlap and resealing - all for free.

 

I'm scheduled to have a clear bra installed Monday. :)

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Some have claimed excellent results doing the clear bra themselves.  But, I watched my previous installation on my '09 Jetta and feel it's worth the $240 or so to have it professionally done and they will generally fix any issues free down the road (edges lifting, bubbles and so forth).  In fact, they pieced a portion in on the underside of a corner of my bumper when I scraped it on a high parking curb a year or so ago for free.  It took them about 15 minutes to cut  the 3x10" ripped section out, clean the area, apply film over the section overlapping on the existing film, and then trimming the overlap and resealing - all for free.

 

I'm scheduled to have a clear bra installed Monday. :)

 

Good point, I'd rather pay a local pro to install it, especially if they can do it cheaper than the kit on E-bay.  Good luck with the install, and that's a good deal too - are you going for the full front with the hood or something more, will they install the 3M film or something else?

 

I'm checking with vendors on CL now to get some quotes together for my C-max.

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Good point, I'd rather pay a local pro to install it, especially if they can do it cheaper than the kit on E-bay.  Good luck with the install, and that's a good deal too - are you going for the full front with the hood or something more, will they install the 3M film or something else?

 

I'm checking with vendors on CL now to get some quotes together for my C-max.

3M film but not full hood. Price is $240 for the film + 8.8% tax and $275 for installation includes bumper, part hood, fenders, mirrors, and door pockets. Most were $599 with some charging tax on the film, some all inclusive, and some $40 more for door pockets. Door edges and rear bumper ledge added more $. I didn't get full hood or door edge guards on my Jetta and had no chips at about 70k miles. So, I opted not to do it on the C-MAX. I have the Ford exterior protection package so didn't need the rear bumper ledge.

 

I called a guy on craigslist who comes to your home and advertised $250 installation but he never responded.

 

 

 

 

 

tax

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3M film but not full hood. Price is $240 for the film + 8.8% tax and $275 for installation includes bumper, part hood, fenders, mirrors, and door pockets. Most were $599 with some charging tax on the film, some all inclusive, and some $40 more for door pockets. Door edges and rear bumper ledge added more $. I didn't get full hood or door edge guards on my Jetta and had no chips at about 70k miles. So, I opted not to do it on the C-MAX. I have the Ford exterior protection package so didn't need the rear bumper ledge. I called a guy on craigslist who comes to your home and advertised $250 installation but he never responded. tax

Cool great info, thanks!  The whole package seems pretty reasonable relative to the cost of the kit.

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