clydem

Ok, the wife creamed the front bumper on a snow bank so a local MB certified shop replaced it with a freshly painted one. What to do to protect it?


Well, after a month, it already had a few dings in it from stones, so let's try 3M Paint defender. Found it & the hand sprayer on-line for $30. Put the car on ramps. Cleaned the bumper with paint cleaner, used some NSX wax on it. Removed the front grill, side marker lights. Bought some cheapo Home Depot 9x20 plastic sheet & taped it to the front. Cut out the front bumper, taped it all down, stuff paper in front of the radiator and side marker holes. Taped exposed spots like the headlights. I wanted to spray the whole front but didn't want to clog the radiator.


Followed the directions & sprayed-sprayed-sprayed. It was silly easy with that little prep. I went with the natural bumper lines so I didn't have to really worry about the tape lines.


waited 15 min & then took the tape & plastic off.
She's now curing in the sun.


So far it looks good. It's not equal to a professional job, but then it's not $300-$700 either. I should have had the body shop spray that stuff on before they mounted the bumper (after the paint was cured and wax applied)


I'll report back on how good it holds up against stone chips which is my main concern.

Airmousam

Thanks for posting, let us know

Rudeney

How about some photos? I have a bunch of chips on my bumper that have cracked and flaked the clearcoat. Would this cover that up, or just prevent future chips?

clydem

It wouldn't be good if I could take pics & you saw it, now would it?


It's been curing about 3 hours. I did spray over the chrome bumper molding and you can see it if you look close. Also, it seems to be a smidge rough. Not completely invisible. I'm going to email 3M & see what they say. Maybe it just needs a coat of wax over it.


Cover it up? yes it would. I have a 3M wrap on my other car and with either the film or spray, if you don't have a pristine surface, the defects will show. Maybe next time I'll use one of those acrylic waxes first.
Prevent future chips? I hope so.

clydem

Ok, a couple of close-ups.
Paint-to-3M you can't really tell. But I did snap a pic showing the chrome. For that, I can simply peel it off though it's only visible close-up.
3rd pic: top is untreated, bottom near lens is treated. You really can't tell. If it looks like there's a difference, it's more the lighting & my poor photo skills.
But in pic 2, you can see the effect spraying over chrome.


I've emailed 3M. I'll see what they say.

Rudeney

Thanks, Clyde. That looks pretty good. From the looks of the over-spray on the chrome, it just appears as heavy "orange peel".

My problem is not with chips (no gouges), but where rocks and debris hit the bumper, it cracked the clearcoat and it peel of in dine-side pieces, leaving matte-finish paint underneath. I've actually though about re-spraying the clearcoat myself (I have a decent sprayer) but I spoke to a pro who told me that i really need to sand it down and repaint it, because otherwise, the clearcoat will be too thick and become brittle. For $50, I may try this and see if it makes it look less like the car has leprosy.

Pewterslk320

I can provide some feedback after one year with the front of my car protected with 3M Paint Defender. It is holding pretty good.

It is recommended to be removed and re-applied every year based on the manufacturer instructions.

It does not look smooth as the original clear coat for the first few days but improves over time as it dries.

I applied a layer of Jetseal 109 to provide water resistance and it worked excellent giving the product a more original clear coat appearance, I highly recommend this step after one week of application.

My only regret is no applying a heavier coat at the edges of the surfaces which now are starting to peel off (I believe that with the Jetseal109 and heavier coats on the edges it could had lasted another year).

clydem

You can "Froogle.com" for cheaper prices, but I found AdvantagePBE.COM to be inexpensive with free shipping for a total of $28.95. (636)925-1600
BTW: they are offering 5% off phone-in orders.




I have no affiliation with Advantage named above....yada yada yada.

clydem

So, blow my socks off!
a 3M paint defender tester called me. We had a great 30min conversation.
What they think I did wrong: was not spray enough on. They are sending me a whole new kit to try again.
And they are saying this is a whole new business for them. A 2nd generation formula is already in the works.
And they are looking at selling to Body shops too.
They say you MUST buy the whole kit(s) and the 3M wax is special for this application. I bought the can
separately. Apparently that's a no-no. Anyway, since I didn't wax over the film yet, I should just be able to spray more product on. If I need to pull it off, it might be too thin to come off in one sheet, so I can assist that with denatured alcohol. Good to know.

So, they're standard clear bra film is 8mils. This is 2 mils. Yet it retains 80% of the strength of the std film. Neat!

BTW: it turns out they own Meguiars too...but different formulations.

mis3

I myself have the 3M Clear Bra on my car and they work great.

One thing I learned from the other detailing forums are new paint has to be cured. After a new paint job, we cannot wax the car for 60-90 days. The wax will seal the paint, not allowing the solvents to evaporate.