I bought a magnetbra for my GE Fit from Magnetic car bras, auto hood bra, nose mask. Thought I would post some pics and comments for those interested.

Overall, I’m happy with the look, and it protects a good part of the hood’s frontal area. It’s just a sheet of magnetic film with some separate plastic edging that you snap around the front edge of the hood. I’m wondering if water can get trapped under that edging, but the car hasn’t gotten wet yet to see. I’ll update once I know more.

Fitting it the first time was a little tedious. It takes some trial and error to get it in the right spot, and there are some puckers that you think won’t lay flat. But the magnetism and the plastic edging makes it lay down nice and flat eventually.

There was a small magnetbra logo along the top edge but I peeled that off. The logo wasn’t bad looking, but I don’t want to advertise to every parking lot gawker that this thing is magnetic. I also applied a light coat of 303 protectant (google it if you don’t know what it is) which made it darker, blacker and shinier and will provide UV protection.

The photos were taken after a 30 mile drive at 65 MPH. If you look closely you can see that some bugs have sacrificed themselves to test out the bra.

 

Nice! I wish I had put something like that on about 20K miles ago.

My whole hood is all chipped up right under the area that you have covered.
I would probably take that off and clean under there every couple of weeks. If you have ever seen underneath those yellow ribbon magnets that people have, you'll know why.

 

Nice!!! I also bought from them but I had them custom make me one that goes almost where the top of the headlight is. It basically cover 3/4 of the hood.

The reason for me requesting a custom made one was because I also found that I am getting rock chips even at the top sections of the hood.

And yes water gets trapped between those edging. It is recomended that as soon as the weather clears to remove the edging and wipe the leading edges of the magent and to also lift the magnet slightly as some water tend to go underneath the magnet. As with the edging itself, i just whip it around to force excess water out and wipe the inside of it.

Everytime I clean the edging and the underside of the magnetbra, I just use a spray wax such as Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax to provide some protection.

Jonatha is right! I do the same as what he said to be sure that they don't stick. Trust me, after a week or two, while peeling off the magnet, you'll hear the magnet film. It's like "ssshhhhhhhkkkk". LOL!!!

Just an advice to you, eveytime I peel the magnet, I just peel one side at a time. For example, peel either from the driver or pass. side, stop half way, lay down the magnet, wipe the hood and magnet, then re-apply the magnet. Go to the other side and do the same. By doing it this way you wont have to go through the pain of aligning the entire bra again.

It is also adviced to wax the hood every 6 months to prevent the magnebra from sticking onto the hood. But IMO, the best way is to just wipe underneath every week or two using either a quick spray wax, spray detailer etc.

 

Looks good! I'm not really sold on hood covers though. I know myself- I'm lazy. There's no way I'd keep up with a cleaning regimen and the cover would probably do more harm over time than the damn rocks would, for me. I keep the car cleaned and waxed, but having to noodle with and under a hood bra would be too much of a pain. Best of luck with yours though. Nice!

Dan

 

Thanks all for the useful info. I used a silicone-based polish on my car before installing the bra. I'm going to pull the bra off this weekend to see how things look underneath. That will be two weeks but the car hasn't been driven much, so not much of a test.

If water getting under this, or other maintenance, becomes a major hassle, then I'm going to leave it off for most daily driving but apply it for two long road trips (2000 miles each) that I usually take in the summer. I really bought it just for those long trips because they probably amount to 80% of my car's highway miles overall. But we'll see - I like the look and it sets my Fit apart from all the other SMM Fits out there.

 

Well, I bought a clear bra and had it installed when I purchased. My vehicle is black. So far, so good with the clear bra in my opinion. But I have some concerns about how it might age. It looks fine now.

I kind of wish I had known about this product before I purchased. I think it looks good. I think the slight difference in texture and appearance adds.

Keep us posted on how it seems to be working long term. I'd be curious. If I become disenchanted with my clear-bra this might become a future option for me.

 

I have had my Magnetbra for about a month now and am overall very happy with it. I waxed my hood before applying the bra and have taken it off to clean under it once so far.

Initially it was somewhat difficult getting it top line up properly but the second time was a piece of cake. Probably took 5 minutes to remove it, clean the hood, and reapply.

Like Ultrawolf I removed the logo sticker as soon as i got it. I also trimmed up the edging slightly to reduce the overhang. It has little metal clips molded into the rubber so be carefull when cutting it.

 

Here's a quick update after a couple of weeks. I put about 100 more miles of easy, country 60 MPH driving on the Fit, then checked under the bra and everything looks great. No sign of any movement, scratches or dirt under the bra. But this isn't a very severe test. Just me, 60 MPH, no traffic and trucks creating buffeting winds. The car also hasn't gotten wet yet (my Fit gets pampered while I still have my '93 Escort parked outside), so no report on water getting under the bra yet either. The bra has intercepted at least 90% of the bug splatters that would have hit my hood. Now the bumper - that's still splatter city, but somehow it doesn't bother me as much using bug remover on a plastic bumper.

jcuecker - your trimming of the edging looks really nice. I may have to do that too.

 

Another update. I washed my car with the magnetbra in place so it finally got wet. After drying the car and then letting it sit in the sun for 15 minutes, there was a little water under the edging, but none under the magnetic film. I put the edging back on without drying it, let the car bake another 3 hours in the sun and checked again. There was still some water trapped in the edging after that, but less than before. At that point I just left the edging off for an hour so everything dried completely. It looks like removing the edging any time the bra gets wet is the safe thing to do. Having any water trapped around the metal hood doesn't sound like a good idea. Fortunately, removing the edging to let it dry out is quick and easy.

So far, I'm still happy with this hood protector. It intercepts a lot of bugs.

 

I keep measuring what you're saying against my habits. Bugs would not be enough for me with this. They don't nick the paint. They stain and maybe left on there it could erode the paint, but I clean often enough not to worry about that. I mean, you're either cleaning the guts off the hood or you're cleaning the guts off the bra. Either way...
It's the rock dings that this would absolutely help. I already have a few very small dings. Bothers the crap out of me. But the water thing under the bra edging is a concern to me. It's the weather too, beyond washing. Dew, rain, and ice all contribute to water under there. That equals rust over time and I'm not so sure I'd be diligent enough with the edging. Still on the fence. I just don't know if bras don't cause problems of their own.

Thanks for reporting back. The only way to know is by someone saying.

Dan

 

why dont you guys go to a sign and sticker shop and buy or have the same color vinyl installed on the magnetic as your car is, that way it wont stick out like a sore thumb? i like it i just like the look of all black real nose mask (whole) and since magnetic wont stick to plastic i'd have to have it the same color
my .02

 

Bug impacts make a very good indicator of what might have been stone impacts. If it helps deciding if this is worth the bother, my wife also has an '09 Fit without any hood protector. I usually wash her car and I can tell that the hood protector covers ~90% of the area that gets the bug splats on the hood (not the windshield or bumper of course), and covers the area where she already has three small stone chips in her paint. I definitely plan to use this on my Fit for the couple of long highway trips I take each year. Beyond that, I'll probably keep it on most of the summer unless the maintenance gets too annoying, or I see signs that it's doing any harm.

 

One more update: I've had the magnetbra on all summer and haven't seen any issues. The paint looks fine underneath. I've also discovered that water does dry out from under the edging without removing the edging, at least if the car sits in the sun for a day after getting wet.

I like the look on my SSM Fit too.

 

I've been looking at this type of hood protector for a while now and I have decided to buy one sometime before I start commuting back and forth to college this fall. I see they come in white as a color option so maybe I'll get white to match my taffy white Fit

 

the only time I've ever used a bra the paint faded rather quickly, I had to remove it from time to time

 

I wrapped my hood with 3M Di-NOC. Actually, not for look but as hood protector. It came out nice.
Before long trip, I mask front-end with masking tape. It protects very well. Similar to picture below.

 

I know I'm bumping an old thread but I was searching for a hood shield and stumbled upon Magnetbra. It looks like the guy is no longer in business. I want this sooo bad. Anyone know how to get my hands on one?

 

What a shame that the guy is no longer in business. I still have my '09 Fit and have been using the magnetbra without issues the whole time. But I do remove it during winter figuring it might be a trap for salt and grit. Mine started to crack this summer, after ten summers of use. But fortunately, I bought a second one to have as a spare a few years back.

Let us know if you find a source.

 

Hello Ultrawolf. Magnet Bra has been purchased and is back up and running. I would appreciate it if you could let others know that we are back in business. The new website is up and running. We are actually looking for pictures of cars with their older magnet bra's to show how well they stand up over time. Would love to hear people's opinion about the logo. We were thinking about laser etching Thanks!

 

Hi Magnetbra - Unfortunately, I had a bit of a disappointment with my new spare, Magnetbra. I installed the spare at the start of the summer and left it installed for about six months as I've done for the past 10 years, But when I went to remove it, the outer black layer peeled off around the edges where it had been pinched in place by the plastic edging. The outer layer wanted to stick to the edging more than it wanted to stick to the magnetic sheet underneath. I figured I'd install the Magnetbra again next summer anyway, but with the expectation that the peeling might get worse.