DrivnXcitment

Corvette family,
Well the time came to remove my old 3M clear bra from the car. After 10 years and 82,000 miles it was looking pretty tired. I know I looked a lot and did a lot of youtube searching to find out how to best do it, but I wanted to share my experience with you all and hopefully help someone out.

Supplies needed:
Heat gun or steamer
Plastic Bladed scraper
leather yard gloves
mechanix style gloves
1 entire bottle of goo gone
clay bar kit
fine swirl remover
polishing glaze
wax
Random orbital buffer
TIME TIME TIME


I tried both the regular clothes steamer method and the heat gun method. The steamer left less glue residue but takes about 5Xs longer than the heat gun. Also you will need a plastic bladed scraper to help. Don't worry, your paint is a lot tougher than you think it is. I ended up with two VERY shallow scratches and they easily came out with an ultra fine swirl remover and my porta cable buffer.

Before picture of bra past the end of its life:



Step 1: Have a LOT of free time. It took me about 8 hours of actual work time just to get the bra off. Be PATIENT. Take your time and heat small sections of the bra to help remove it. Wear the leather yard gloves so you can work close to the heat gun with the scraper and not burn yourself. For the edges, my fingernail worked good to get it pulling up, then the sraper to do the hard work. When using the scraper and not the heat gun, the other gloves come in handy to prevent you from beating up your knuckles as I did every time the scraper slipped.
If your bra is in the same shape as mine, be prepared for thousands of small pieces and not nice large strips to come off. The areas that are in pretty good shape (ie no scratches, gouges, dings, etc) will come off in strips/chunks. The damaged areas like my first pic will come off in much smaller segments.

Starting out using steamer:



You can see where I stopped using the steamer and started using the heat gun. The far right is all steamer, where the glue residue starts is where I started using the heat gun. Yes more mess, but it was sooooo much faster:



Step 2:
SOAK the area in goo gone. I let it set for about 45 minutes and then came back to it. Use the scraper again to help get almost all of the residue off. Again don't worry, your paint is tougher than you think. I was fairly aggressive with the scraper to get the residue off and it worked well. I did 2 separate applications of goo gone. Once and did the best I could, then wiped the area, quick rinse with soap and water, then dried it. I let my hands rest a bit as your fingertips will hurt big time after all the scraping, pulling, heating, etc.

After first application of goo gone:



The second application of goo gone, soak the area again. Use scraper again. This should get about 90% of the residue off. Once done, wipe the area, and give it a once over with a soapy sponge and wipe again.

Step 3:
Wash the front of the car like you normally would. I used a sponge that you would use for bug and tar removal to help get the rest of the residue that I could off. This will remove almost all of the remaining residue you have left over.



Step 4:
Clay the area to help remove those little annoying bits you just can't get off otherwise.

Step 5:
Use a glazing compound and your orbital buffer and that will get the very last of any glue spots off.

Step 6:
Wax and enjoy your hard work!



Good luck. It sucks, but after 10 years, my paint still looks like it came off the showroom floor. I plan on buying a new clear bra and having it put on to get another 10 years of rock chip free enjoyment.

LMBZ4ME

Great job! Thanks for sharing your tips.

2k Cobra

Great post!

You forgot the beer!

whit1

Great job...
Now reapply new clear film to keep it protected for another 80k ��

seamus2154

Most shops recommend 5 years to remove. I have pulled it at 5 years just because it was old and got sandblasted. It came off very easy. I had a few spots that needed 3m adhesive remover that works instantly. I start by leaving it in the sun the heat gun if needed. You just confirmed not to wait too long past that!! Good job!!

Nomomoney

Thanks for this 101 course on how to remove it. I just had the clear bra put on my car and was trying to think ahead on how to remove it when the time came.

Thanks