More info on paint protection film: some shrink/some don't

[FASTRNU]

Hi everyone,

Here is some more information on paint protection film.

I talked to some manufacturers of SRT 10 paint film kits who use 3M type film for the pieces, and was told that this film cannot be exposed to high heat like what we get on the rocker panels from the exhaust without shrinking and leaving a bunch of baked on adhesive on the panels. This 3M type film is 8 mils thick, and I believe it is made of polyurethane.

Another VCA member emailed me with the URL of this supplier of another type of film, www.clearbra.net/home2.html. Clearbra does work on the West Coast and our fellow member had gotten some bulk material from Clearbra and installed it on his rockers without a problem. I called and talked to the operations manager of Clearbra. This info is what I was told over the phone. This film is made of a different material than polyurethane and is 12 mils thick instead of 8 mils thick (50% thicker). It is composed of three layers: adhesive on the bottom, a soft layer in the middle and a hard outer layer. The inner layer absorbs impact taken by the hard outer layer. This is supposedly used on the blades of helicopters. Also, the 3M product cannot be cut while on the car. The Clearbra product can. When installing the Clearbra product, installers don't use pre-cut kits. It is all put on using bulk material for a true custom job. The manager also told me that you can get paint chips under the 3M product, whereas it doesn't happen with Clearbra.

Most importantly, the Clearbra is not affected by heat and is removable without stripping original factory paint. He said cheapo Maaco type resprays will come off, but original paint is fine. They sell whatever dimensions and however much of bulk material you want.

I'm going to order enough to do the rockers and install it myself and go from there.

Insert usual disclaimers about me not having any affiliation with Clearbra.

Dave

[1TONY1]

Dave, Congrats on your car. You won the race If it would make financial sense to order twice the amount I would like to have some to do the incoming SRT.

[Phoenix SRT]

After you apply the film to your car, please let us know how easy/difficult the process turned out to be. And after you have some miles on the car with the film applied, let us know how it is holding up. Thanks.

[ARMORGOD]

Once you put it on, please let us know how difficult/easy it was to do. Thanks!

[1TONY1]

Dave, Have you done the clearbra yet ?

[FASTRNU]

Sorry guys, I've been busy lately. Haven't even ordered it yet. I have been corresponding with a guy from this board who was having his Dodge dealer install Clearbra on the rockers and asked him to get back to me. The Dealer was going to remove the rockers to do it as well, I think.

I'll be as interested as everyone else about how his install went.

Dave