i get some bad rock chips from highway driving, and they are all on my hood, not the bumper. maybe because the hood is harder, or the angle, who knows

anyways, i wanted to get a clear bra, but it's too expensive.

a regular bra will squirm around with the wind and effectively sand the surface. i've seen proof in a post here

i was looking into getting a magnetic bra. it's essentially a large magnetic strip that sits on the hood of your car. no shifting around etc.
anyone have one or experience with one?

 

i was just thinking...if i leave this on all the time, since my car sits out in the sun...it will be a different color underneath it in a couple of years

 

And there in lies the eternal problem.....

I wonder how much it would cost to get a paint and body shop to add another clear coat (or two) to our car.

 

nah, i'll scratch the idea of getting a magnetic bra. if my hood gets too many rock chips and looks like crap by the time i want to sell it (4 years from now), i'll buy a carbon fiber hood for $400

 

Where did you hear that a regular bra will squirm around and sand the surface? I would like to see the post that proves it as well.

 

i can't find it on here anymore, i think smash was the person who had the problem.
anyways, http://www.carbras.com/aboutus.asp

"Can it damage my paint?
In the last 10 years bra manufacturing and technology has came a long way. And so has the automobile manufacturer's paint. In years past most automobile manufacturers only put one coat of paint on cars. A characteristic of only one coat of paint was clouding of the finish, due to having a wet bra on a car and moisture settling in underneath the paint. In the mid 80’s all of the major car builders finally agreed to add another layer in using clear coat. With any car with a clear coat on it, it is almost impossible to get any haze or clouding. But it is still important to have a bra that won't retain water from rain or dew. If it does hold moisture, there is a chance the bra will mold. If a car bra is made correctly there is no need to worry about water being trapped under the hood. At PERFECT FIT we have developed in our hood sleeve a “unique water channeling” system that keeps excessive water from building up underneath your hood, and while you’re driving it actually speeds up the water evaporation time. Some bras can buff or chafe the paint due to a poor-fitting bra that flaps and flutters with movement. Perfect Fit car bra has a special “Blue Printing” process that actually produces an exact mirror image of your vehicle’s dimensions. All of our bras are road and wind tunnel tested for bra movement to the speeds of 250kpm/180mph. Our car bras will not flap or flutter even when combined vehicle speed and wind gust exceed those speeds."

so, what they are saying is that it will collect moisture under it, but it should be able to dry off quickly...also that poorer made bras will vibrate and chafe the paint.
personally, i would not want that risk

 

I do like the fact that you are informed (albeit an biased advertiser), but I have the Scion Front End Mask for 2 years now and I can find no ill effects from using it. The key to it is keeping it clean underneath and spraying wax before you reapply it. Even if the bra is wet underneath doesn't wax repel water? I can't believe more people dont use it! Everyone complains that their paint is chipping and yet they do nothing about it. After 2 years I have perfect paint! I can drive through swarms of bugs, behind trucks carrying gravel and not have to worry. If you are saying that the bra flaps in the wind, couldnt the magnetic one slide on application and cause more damage?

 

so, you have no swirl or spider marks under your bra? you don't have any haze either? yours must be a perfect fit. my mom's mazda 626 had a bra on it, made by lebra and it left all kinds of swirls and haze in the paint. her paint was like a light green/silver color, really didn't she swirls easily. she removed it about once a month when she washed her car. she also waxed her car once every 2 months. my parents were odd, they would spend all day detailing they're cars.
anyways, when she sold the car last year, she had to keep the bra on it, because the paint was messed up under the bra.
considering our paint is soft, you can see why i'd be aprehensive about a traditional bra.
i understand that waxing is important. i put several layers of carnuba on top of nxt on the front half of my car, because it takes the most damage. also, i had zero rock chips for the first year i had my car. it wasn't until january when i started commuting to class on the highway, that my car developed chips.
as for the magnetic bra, it's kinda like one of those magnets you get from your favorite pizza place, papa johns or whatever. the magnet is so large, that it will probably not shift at all, and you have some difficulty trying to drag it across the surface. i would probably wax a few times under it before i applied it.

but, like i said previously, if i was going to get this, since my car is always outside, the hood would be 2 different colors in a couple of years. i'd just rather get a carbon fiber hood if i need to

 

I say get the front end mask. I have been watching the paint on my hood carefully and I actually have noticed no fading, swirl or spider marks at all. I wash my car about once every two weeks. What I do is take off the mask, vacuum the underside with a shop vac, wash my car, spray wax all over the hood and bumper and then put the mask back on. The underside of the mask is really soft, I cant see how it would wreck the paint.

The only downside is that dirt tends to pile up a little bit by the top edge of the hood part. I just clean the dirt off with a microfiber cloth, its a lot better than paint chips, bug splatters and scratches.

I like being able to take off the mask and have it look like the day I bought it.
"An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure."

 

Sorry if this is a bit offtopic, but what is the difference between this magnetic bra, a rockblocker thing, and a front end mask? I'm looking into something that will protect my hood, invisible, won't damage my hood, and less than $700. Is there anything that would fit that? thanks

 

You are kidding right? I would say do a little research before you hijack this thread. There are good and bad to any of your choices. You are connected to the internet, remember?

 

I would think you would want to cover the part above the scion logo as well, but there is no way for a magnet to stick to metal there. That (I would think) would be hit with a lot of rocks.

BTW I love seeing how much stuff the mask can collect. I have seen my share of rock hits on the front of it and bug splatter galore. I even hit a tumble weed going about 75 on the highway once. It is a nice feeling knowing my paint underneath is protected.