Protecting the hood

[White95Cam]

Hello All,
I had the hood and top of my front fenders repainted because of a small dent and many rock chips. I have no other dents and now that it has been painted and my car buffed & detailed it looks showroom sweet!
I would like to have something to protect the front from rocks and road trash when I take long trips.
My options are:
1. Invisiable Mask, uses 3M clear flim $89
2. Magnabra, uses the same material as rubber signs and sticks to the hood $50 (removable )
3. GTS Bug Shield , clear so I can paint it from the rear to match my car $69 (harder to remove)

Has anyone used any of these and what kind of results did you have.
Thanks,
W95C

[eddie926]

I don't have any personal experience but have been looking into it myself.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the 3M system. I've seen posts on other forums where guys said the Magnabra had messed their paint up after leaving it on for a long time and they suggested if you were going to use one to only use it for long trips, then take it off. I've heard similar things about the old style black vinyl bras, i.e. if you leave them on too long they can mess your paint up.

If I were ready to buy today, I'd be leaning toward the 3M system.

[White95Cam]

Originally Posted by eddie926

I don't have any personal experience but have been looking into it myself.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the 3M system. I've seen posts on other forums where guys said the Magnabra had messed their paint up after leaving it on for a long time and they suggested if you were going to use one to only use it for long trips, then take it off. I've heard similar things about the old style black vinyl bras, i.e. if you leave them on too long they can mess your paint up.

If I were ready to buy today, I'd be leaning toward the 3M system.

I was leaning that way also, but I googled the 3M system and some people said that after awhile the film starts to look ratty and will not protect against BIG rocks that could dent. I also searched concerning the GTS shield and appear to be made of a stronger/thicker plastic than most. I emailed tech service @ GTS and they said that theirs did not flex and would do a better job protecting the hood and windshield ( bugs& rocks).
W95C

[eddie926]

Originally Posted by White95Cam

I was leaning that way also, but I googled the 3M system and some people said that after awhile the film starts to look ratty and will not protect against BIG rocks that could dent. I also searched concerning the GTS shield and appear to be made of a stronger/thicker plastic than most. I emailed tech service @ GTS and they said that theirs did not flex and would do a better job protecting the hood and windshield ( bugs& rocks).
W95C

I hadn't heard about the 3M film getting ratty, but I guess that makes sense. It's taking the abuse that your paint would take if it weren't there. That film is supposed to be easy to remove and isn't supposed to damage the paint. If that's the case it could be replaced if it got to looking too bad. More research necessary I guess. Thanks for that info.

About the only thing that might protect your hood against a rock that's big enough to dent it would be one of the old school heavy padded black vinyl bras (and there again, those can be bad for your paint if you leave them installed long term).

Plastic bug shields will protect the leading edge of the hood great, but I doubt they'll create enough up draft to carry anything substantial up and over the hood, so the majority of the hood would still be exposed to the smaller gravel that "peppers" the paint.

That's just my thinking, maybe somebody else has some personal experience with those shields that can comment otherwise.

[Zviator]

I saw some left over of these http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN at the local pepboy. They will cover the entired hood and got tided up underneed it, so hopefully it wont cause any paint damage like the oldschool-bra.

The only problem is the lack of option and color, i only saw one with "show car" flame and the other one with nascar flag ... I also search for ebay but no luck.

[uuuuu]

Originally Posted by White95Cam

Hello All,
I had the hood and top of my front fenders repainted because of a small dent and many rock chips. I have no other dents and now that it has been painted and my car buffed & detailed it looks showroom sweet!
I would like to have something to protect the front from rocks and road trash when I take long trips.
My options are:
1. Invisiable Mask, uses 3M clear flim $89
2. Magnabra, uses the same material as rubber signs and sticks to the hood $50 (removable )
3. GTS Bug Shield , clear so I can paint it from the rear to match my car $69 (harder to remove)

Has anyone used any of these and what kind of results did you have.
Thanks,
W95C

Sorry for the off-topic question, but would you mind telling me how much you paid for the paint job? I'm thinking about getting the hood redone.

[White95Cam]

Originally Posted by uuuuu

Sorry for the off-topic question, but would you mind telling me how much you paid for the paint job? I'm thinking about getting the hood redone.

I had it painted @ Tru2form and it was $600.00. They repaired all the defects and painted the hood and fenders down to the pin strips. The clear coat was sprayed down to the molding to blend it in . The cleaned and buffed the whole car and it will blind you in the full sun. They are the most expensive place around where I live, but also are the best. I was kind of embarrassed to take my old car to where the Benzs & Lexus go to be repaired, but the funny thing is that the owner told me that he had a 95 & 96 Camry and loved them both because they give him no trouble.
W95C