bra or no bra?

[WestyBob]

On another forum I read some people put saran-wrap over the upper nose before installing the cover. Supposed to prevent buffing, especially on the corner edges.

[DAIZEE]

ok, I don't have a bra, my front end id painted black in the shape of a big V. When I go on a multi mth trip, I'm considering putting abug screen on it. I'd not doing it to protect the body but mostly the grills and what I hope to be a new radiator. Anyone know if those are any good.?
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[McVanagon]

If I had one, I would probably use it for road trips to protect the paint.
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'69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop

[PNWesty]

I'm thinking about adding the bed liner coating up to the bottom of the windshield when I do the lower panels this spring. The PO had a bra for 12 years and it definitely wore off some clear coat and paint. I like the benefit of some paint protection and think the the black liner material (ie Line-x) will look sharp enough for me.

[Homercules]

How about some 3m applied to the "wear" areas and then a bra for general protection?

I have 3m on my Subaru and it protects pretty well but I did sustain a couple of rock hits that chipped the paint but didn't penetrate the 3m!? At least I know it won't rust underneath!
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89 Syncro

[whynotvw]

no bra, i like it natural.

[Love My Westy]

Here a thought. You could just take it down and have your front end sprayed with Rhino Liner just like the rocker panels.

[MootPoint]

I picked up a bra at GW a couple years ago when they were on sale but then immediately came across an earlier thread here with the same question and many of the same concerns. Suitably paranoid, I didn't put it on the Westy, even considered selling it, at least until last summer.

Decided to put it on and try it out for a 2500 mile road trip which included some dirt roads and more than one newly-tarred-and-graveled road with other cars flinging stones. Glad I had it there and, while I picked up another windshield ding - damn it - the front of the Westy stayed protected (or at least it didn't get any worse from its pre-bra days).

Throughout the trip I was watching both the water temp and oil temp gauges and saw no difference from the bra-less numbers and remembered tencentlife's comment (repeated again here recently) that the V'gon's cooling system is so over-designed that the small percentage of reduced airflow caused by the screen over the radiator grill would have zero effect on the overall temperature; if it gets hotter, the thermo just opens another notch and everything returns to normal. I think he's right.

So my overall modus operandi now is to leave it off most of the time (parked or daily stuff) to avoid scuffs and fading and install it for the road trips where the possibility for damage is greater. I think that's the best of both worlds, IMHO. Bra use isn't either/or and doesn't take much more time to "install" the bra than it does to "install" the beer in the cooler.

As an aside, I saw a bra-less white V'gon parked in town yesterday whose nose looked as if it has been hit with buckshot. I rest my case.

BTW, if you didn't know, the German translation for "bra" is: "eine Stopsemfrümfloppen".
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1984 Westy with tencentlife power!

[syncroserge]

A lot of talk about looks and rock chips...

In some places, at certain times of the year it's about BUGS

The prairies on a bad grasshoper year Yuk

The interior of British Columbia has mosquitoes that...well...you have to see them to believe it.

For late model vans that have the rubber seal at the front edge of the front doors, the bra hooks will slowly damage the NLA seals.

[syncro2x]

My syncro is the camping / mountain biking / fishing rig, so it sees a lot of gravel roads. Put the bra on for this and take it off when I get home. My Westy sees the bra in the summer for highway travel when the bugs are out.

[HeftySmurf]

I LINE-X'd my front
Looks good is very funtional and durable. No chips or dents.... Alaska and back
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-Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig

[0to60in6min]

I talked to my wife again...

told her "why hide nice things...?, people do that all the time in Saint-Tropez ! ! !.."

she gave me a weird side look...

Oh well...

thanks all,