Does anyone make a bra for older Benzes?

[SwampYankee]

OK, technically I'm too young for this forum but 80, 79? Close enough.

Does anyone make a bra or front end protection for a 123? First off, I'm not a put the bra on and leave it on kind of guy. But I'm going through a lot of effort to fill in all of the paint chips on the front fenders and hood of my TD and would like to protect it when I take it to our camp in ME where there still are a lot of dirt/gravel roads.

Or is there some universal type of protection I could use instead? I'm not a fan of the black vinyl look but I'd rather not have the paint get all chipped again.

I'm ready for the off-topic comments as well.

[tivoklr]

What about 3M clear bra? It might be possible, esp if you find a body shop that specializes in clear bra. I have it on my Jetta, which gets sandblasted every LONG winter here in the mountains of Colorado, and it has held up quite well, vs the headlamps, the windshield, the rest of the hood, etc.

It could be a nice permanent solution to your situation. Or it could be a giant pain in the ass, i don't know...

[TheDon]

look into 3M's Invisible Bra.. my friend has one on his ML320 CDI and its great

[cth350]

that's two threads. The red bra isn't enough for you? -CTH

[Tomguy]

Shab linked to one in the other thread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rho_1HWIshQ

Oh, wait, is that not what you meant?

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Tomguy

Shab linked to one in the other thread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rho_1HWIshQ

Oh, wait, is that not what you meant?

That's far better looking protection than I was looking for! I'm guessing that's Euro rear-end protection too

So it looks like the clear 3M is about the best bet for my application.

Thanks for the help. And the pleasant diversion!

[TheDon]

let me know how it goes. I plan on getting my benz's body work done this spring-ish and of course I want the nose protected

[Jim B.]

When I went to the MB coupe -fest in Las Vegas in 2002, one fellow arrived with his SEC immaculate. No bug or rock chips on it at all. And he had come all the way from Portland too.

He had covered the front exposed areas with white masking tape of some kind that could be easily pulled off after the journey so that the car could be judged in the concours (where in fact it did very, very well.)
Itr looked stupid but did the job very, very well. The car looked mint when the tape was removed at journey's end..

A second thought would be to cover all the exposed areas likely to get hit by bugs or stones with heavy grease to catch the crud, and clean it off later.

If you are looking for an off topic reply, how about this: A very bright and sharp tongued African American female friend of mine always referred to those "car bras" as "jock straps". Whew. Ouch. (I don't use them...water condenses under them, the paint under them fades at a different rate, and they can scratch the paint if it is dirty, and they look awful)

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

If you are looking for an off topic reply, how about this: A very bright and sharp tongued African American female friend of mine always referred to those "car bras" as "jock straps". Whew. Ouch. (I don't use them...water condenses under them, the paint under them fades at a different rate, and they can scratch the paint if it is dirty, and they look awful)

I'm definitely not a fan of the look, but the amount of stuff that can fly up off those roads has me worried enough to want to do something. And it would only be used in those temporary instances. I've seen a lot of snowbirds towing campers that have those screen things that cover the entire front end of the car, mainly to keep the squished bugs off the lights and out of the radiators, but I'm not sure they'd give much protection from stones and gravel.

The tape thing is an interesting idea that might be a good temporary fix.

Is the 3M stuff really visible as another layer or does it blend in (besides the fact that it's clear )? Is it a removeable product or is it like a heavy clearcoat?

[TheDon]

the 3M is pretty clear... you can see the edges if you look up close.

The ML is black so its hard to see until you really look


its like a vinyl graphic. removable.. its just 3m special.. I was looking into it to use as a cover on my euros to protect from rock chipping