Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Pfreen on Friday,January 10, 2020, 11:14:57 AM
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There are a lot of dump trucks on South Florida ruining paint jobs with stone chips. Does anyone know of a bra made for a Lotus Europa?
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I would suggest finding your local car wrapping place and see what they can do for putting a clear 3M protective vinyl on the car. Usually they offer options on how much of the car you want covered. The clear vinyl is quite good. I have it on my wife's Escalade and it keeps things projected from chips.
R
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I thought about that. I was kind of thinking that with the bra, I could take it off at shows.
Can the 3m vinyl be removed?
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I've never seen or heard of a bra for a Europa. From what I am told, they can trap water underneath potentially causing future paint problems.
I believe Rosco is talking about what is sometimes called a "clear bra." I saw one on an S2000 and it was nearly invisible. The only thing you could see - and you had to look for it - wais the line of the end of the "bra." I believe they can be taken off without damage to your paint (I don't know why you would want to), but you should check first. A good wrapping or tint place should be able to handle it but it will be probably be more expensive than for newer cars because there won't be any patterns for a 40+ year old car.
Tint World does Clear Bras (https://www.tintworld.com/services/automotive-services/car-protection-film/paint-protection-film-kits/). I have used Tint World up here in NC and they've been pretty good (admittedly, I don't have much to compare them too). They tinted my Mercedes C230 and my Europa. The Europa was more challenging since, as I said, there are no patterns for it, but they did a great job. I plan on getting a shade tint on the windshield since I sit too high for visors to be useful. They have several locations in your area (https://www.tintworld.com/search-location).
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I found a place on the west coast that would do a custom group order (20) if someone in the L.A. area would bring their car in for the exact fit dimensions. It is the only thing they manufacture. carbras.com I would definitely in on tht one.
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The old fashioned black "bras" for the front of the car also had issues. Movement of the bra due to air flow/wind could scratch the paint. Long term bra use could lead to "tan lines" where the faded paint met the covered paint.
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I used a bra on my BMW 2002 for years. The key is to wash it and the car regularly and not leave it on the car for extended periods of time. I liked the look on the 2002, somehow can't see one on the Europa.
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Well, my stone chips went from the spoiler to 6” up on the front of the hood. I don’t think film would be attractive there. I would not cover the spoiler with a bra. I would use the 3m film there.
The comments about the bra are interesting. I keep my car in a garage so I don’t think paint fading would be a problem. Abrasive wear of the paint could be a problem if you just left the bra on all the time.
How many of you all would be interested in a group buy? I would be willing to try one.
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Paul, you have to stop "tail gating" those trucks! :) Seriously though, following too closely is most of the problem. Stay way back or go around them. I had a bra for my M100 Elan that I fit, then immediately took off and stored away, never to use. Changes the whole look, risks JBC pointed out, and fiddlely process to install kept me away. I tried selling it on the LEC forum and no one expressed interest.
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Yesterday your car looked great, Bert
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Here you go.....I’m sure it can be adapted to a Europa.
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Here you go.....I’m sure it can be adapted to a Europa.
I always liked Gurney bumps.
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I got some stone chips because I drove it over 4000 miles this year. I just touched up the chips, and I was trying to find a good solution to avoid having to that. It is not too hard to fix the chips since I have single stage paint.