Looking at 360: Cracks in the clear bra on the hood

I had the quarter bra removed from an 08 430 and all was fine. I have seen them pull paint though. How old is the bra on the car your looking at? Does the bra cover the whole hood or just the nose? I had mine redone and covered the whole front end so if the paint did fade it would be really hard to notice. Chances are the car has been garaged so I doubt there will be a noticeable difference after the bra is off.

 

I would expect it to come off fairly easily but I am an optimist. Any of the shops that specialize in that type of service should be able to get it off smoothly. Let's face it, if you don't use a bra you would probably have to respray the nose periodically anyway.

 

Unless your car has been painted and had paint issues before, removing and re-installing wont be an issue

 

Don't expect cracked paint protection film to come off easily. 911 Turbo flares had it on them (quality 3m product) and it had to be changed every 3 to 4 years. Once it yellows and cracks it's well past it's usable life and will be very stubborn to get off. If it covers the entire nose of the car, it's most likely going to be a whole afternoon job involving a steamer and maybe even some solvent like a wax and grease remover used as a pre-paint prep wipe down to soften the glue. Can you get photos of the car? May be helpful to visit a quality shop and show them what you are looking at. Professional opinions are always good to have. Both for you and for purpose of "bargaining".

If the car has been repainted, and done correctly, there should not be an issue with the paint coming up with the film removal. As far as the fading of the paint; probably contingent on the color. Some colors are more susceptible to fading than others. And since the film is cracked and old, that tells you it has been in the sun -- a lot. Probably wise to negotiate a hood repaint into the price of the car. A top notch shop should be able to blend the base coat color just fine back into the hood. The only issue will be a match to the front left and right fenders as it will be an edge to edge deal. It's pretty hard to get a perfect spray out match panel to panel especially with the metallic colors that have pearls, flop adjusters, added to them.

If you are really picky about your standards then you may have a want to blend into both front fenders. And now that gets really expensive. Good luck and I would negotiate heavily on the paint issue.

Of course, you could always get lucky and the film comes off with little trouble and the paint is fine. I'm not usually that lucky.

 

It has not been in the sun a lot, always garaged. The film is just really old.

 

I bought my 2003 Spider a few months ago and it had cracked/yellowed clear bra on most of the forward facing surfaces. I was able to get it off with a heat gun, a plastic razor blade set and 3M adhesive removal spray. It takes a while but mine came off fine and without any damage to the paint. Your mileage may vary.

 

Enjoy. It is a good car. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

 

Then probably only thing to do is get it off. Shouldn't have any paint fade or paint issues. I'm sure you took really good care of the car judging from your previous posts in past years.