Bra ruining paint!

[4to8m8]

Not sure if this qualifies for tech, but my slip on one piece Colgan bra is freakin RUINING the paint on my hood. I put it on for long drives to the track and while at the track to reduce the amount of rock chips taken, but the bra itself is doing more damage! Anybody else experiencing this?

Ray B

[rfuerst911sc]

That seems to be the MO for bras. That's why I went with the 3M stoneshield, nearly invisible and fairly easy to apply.

[4to8m8]

I'll check that product out. Maybe apply it after a respray.

[kqw]

Couple of things to remember...

1. Never leave a wet bra on you car.

2. Before putting the bra on your car, the surface must be clean and free of any dirt, dust etc.

3. Make sure when installing the bra, it fit's tight and snug with no air pockets for it to flop around while driving.

[RickM]

Originally posted by 4to8m8
I'll check that product out. Maybe apply it after a respray.

Wait a while before applying to new paint. You really want it to cure thouroughly before installation.

[4to8m8]

KQW- Why not a wet bra? Because this is exactly what happened. Rained while car sitting outside at hotel. what was the reaction between wet bra and paint?

[kqw]

Originally posted by 4to8m8
KQW- Why not a wet bra? Because this is exactly what happened. Rained while car sitting outside at hotel. what was the reaction between wet bra and paint?

Trapping moisture under the bra next to your paint will many times result in clouding/dulling your finish. Depending on the condition of your paint, you can successfully bring the shine back with a good polish and wax.

I am assuming that you have clouding vs. scratches.

I've run a bra for many years when I hit the road for a stretch but, I adhere to a few rules as stated earlier.

Here's my 19 year old paint.....

[Moses]

Originally posted by 4to8m8
KQW- Why not a wet bra? Because this is exactly what happened. Rained while car sitting outside at hotel. what was the reaction between wet bra and paint?

You probably don't need a respray. Take off the bra and park the car in the direct sun for a few days. It will be fine.

[Hoffman912]

here is an old post on another message board of my experience with a bra nearly ruining my paint by leaving it on while it rained, and how I repaired the damage.

i have your solution. you are not screwed. dont worry all is good. i found this out the hard way.. with a colgan bra.

you see what happens when moisture gets under a magnet or bra in the hot sun is called whitening. it either turns white or becomes milky and faded.

here we see pics of how bad it was.




now that you see what had happened. let me tell you how i fixed it.

we went to an automotive paint supplier, (where you can get all the equipment and paints etc for when you paint the car yourself), told them what happened this is what they told us would be the best thing to do.

what you need are

1)porter cable buffer or any other power orbital buffer
2) 3M rubbing compund
3) 3M glaze
4) wax (pic your favorite carnuba)
*5) polish (we did this just for good measure, but was not mentioned to us, so this is optional, but the rest is madatory to bring the paint back.)

A) now what you do is wash it etc..

B)use the buffer on the car with 3M rubbing compund. this will get it out for the most part.

C) buffer with glaze. this will continue to bring the paint back, and will take away any and all the swirl marks that occour with step B.

D) polish and or wax (we did this part by hand).

it is good to just do the whole car rather than the one spot, so that the whole car has the same continuous condition of paint, and further more if you are going to go this far, might as well get the rest of the car to look as good. (AND YES IT WILL LOOK DAMN GOOD!)

not this is not 100%. but on one small spot on the right fender, in the right light if you look very very very carefuly you can barely tell, and i mean barely. but it is only on that one spot. (and look at how much of the front was affected!!!)

here again is a before picture.... (just as a reminder)


now here is what she looked like afterwords. (yes we had a show a few days after we finished..)



how did it come out? you be the judge :cheers:

good luck, take pictures before and after, let me know how it comes out. also.. inform others about the damage magnets and bras can do... you might just be preventing some one from the same agony we are going through. its not that they are bad.. but if used when any moisture gets under.. they will kill paint.

[kqw]

What Harry said But; I wouldn't use any rubbing compound.

Great job Harry....

[Hoffman912]

yeah, this actually happened a second time, not by bra though, but by rain -drove through nevada a few years back, and it sprinkled for about 10 seconds.. there were harldy any clouds in the sky so this was really odd.. needless to say the sun was out as well, and it was over 110 degrees out. the sun fried the rain drops into the paint causing the same effect, but on a smaller scale. i got that out with out the rubbing compound, so looking back on it, rubbing compound will help but may be over kill. if you use it go light on it.

[aoncurly]

I have read of similar clouding of finishes to furniture. Furniture guys use a chemical - I can't remember what chemical it is, to drive the moisture out of the lacquer. The clouding is moisture trapped in/under the paint is my understanding. I wonder if this can be done with car paint? I had the same thing happen to my 911 with a bra. I was always careful to remove the bra after rain, but did not do this one time and parked the car in a garage (out of heat and sunlight). Took the bra off the next day and the paint was clouded. Still is after about 10 years. Tried rubbing compound/polish/etc. and it got most of the clouding out, but it is still there.

[RonDent]

Harry,
The hood of your car looks just like my '84. The PO left the bra on the car in the rain. Good thing I took it off before I bought the car. I was able to get the price down by $5K.

[JBO]

I knew a guy that had a bra with the "Porsche" letters cut out, and he left it on all the time. When he finally took it off the Porsche letters were seared into the paint...kind cool as it was very subtle

[zotman72]

My magnet numbers did this to my 72 T this past October while at a DE. Rain came out and then the sun. I will use your tips to try to rid the water spots. Thanks.

[safe]

Wow, 15 replys to a "bra" thread and it hasnt gone south yet..... Impressive .
What is 3M stoneshield?

[jester911]

I had the same happen with the bra last year. I used a buffing wheel on a cordless drill with some rubbing compound.

Then went to the wax. Brought my finish back as well.
Mine looked about like Harry's.

[rfuerst911sc]

3M stoneshield is a clear vinyl film similiar to window tint but thicker. When applied it protects the paint as bugs,grit,stones basically bounce off the material and it is nearly invisible to the eye. You can buy the material in bulk or laser cut kits that fit nearly perfect. Do a search and you'll find a bunch of distributors/ vendors but I believe they all use the 3M product.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by rfuerst911sc
.... That's why I went with the 3M stoneshield, nearly invisible and fairly easy to apply.

Did you apply it yourself? My car is coming out of the paint shop soon and I'd love to have it, but not for the $700 I was quoted at the Ventura show.

If you HAVE done it, please elaborate, tricks? techniques? Cost and source for material?

[Nickatnyt]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Bras ain't worth it.

DITTO. I about freaked when I looked under the bra on the SC that I bought...dirty and the paint was trashed. Oh well I love the car anyways.