Re: 3M clear protective foil

[Alexei M Voloshin <Alexei.M.Voloshin-1@tc.umn.edu>]

A friend of mine (a big Honda, Nissan freak) has it on his '90  Accord 
since '91 and on his Maxima since '94 when he bought it. He is very 
pleased with it and as far as I can see, it is still clear and invisible 
unless you actually find the ridge with your fingers. That is true for 
both of his cars. He washes them at least once every week and 
polishes/waxes them regurally. He has only the hood protected with it.

I'm planning to put it on my '91 100 since there is still not a single 
chip on the front of the hood. As far as I know you have to get it from 
the dealer... (may be wrong)

I would be careful though with wheel wells 
and places that are not very well visible. You, or who ever installs it, 
would have to be careful about not leaving any air bubles under the film 
etc... otherwise it could lead to rust. 

Alex


On Fri, 6 Sep 1996 tnas@dtpdirect.nl wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I seem to remember a thread about protecting the front of your car against
> stone chips some time ago. In this week's AutoBild magazine there was a
> feature about this treatment, where they put this foil over areas likely to
> be damaged (e.g. bonnet front lip, bumpers, under door handles) In the
> pictures they show how it's being done, using a hair dryer to shape the
> stuff and templates for cutting. Looks very nice to me. My car's prolly too
> far gone already for this to have any effect, but on my next car (or if I
> ever decide to have this one repainted) I might try this out. Anyone else
> on the list have experience with this? Bras are right out for me (what's
> the use of protecting your paintwork if the protection is uglier than
> damaged paint, like baggy seat covers over beautiful upholstery?) but I
> would like to know how this foil holds up WRT washing, polishing etc. Do
> the edges show up over time? Does it stay clear and invisible or does it
> yellow/scratch with age?
> 
> TIA, Tom
> 1988 80 1.8S FWD 120k miles
> in Holland (where the base model A4 1.6 FWD costs about $29k already)
> 
> PS Had an incident with a rather fast-moving rock yesterday. No damage
> except for a large hole in my 'screen. Lots of splinters in my car and on
> my person. Insurance covered screen replacement at no cost & no loss of
> NCB... firm called Carglass came by and replaced screen while I was at
> work. Great job- just a nasty smell in my car remains. Fitter cursed Audi
> for their glue (had a h*ll of a job getting the thing out). Interior mirror
> stem wouldn't come off like it should, the guy spent 45mins on the mirror
> alone. At last, I've got a screen I can actually *see through*: original
> one was peppered and scratched.
> 
>  _______________________________________________________________________
>    Tom W. Nas, graphic design                        tnas@dtpdirect.nl
>    DTP Direct bv                              Voice +31 (55) 5 790 799
>    Apeldoorn, the Netherlands                   Fax +31 (55) 5 790 125
> 
> Non-Reciprocal Laws of Expectations: Negative expectations yield negative
> results. Positive expectations yield negative results
> 
>