A bit of information to share to those of you looking for a way to protect that front main body right behind the front tires. I ran a simple experiment with three products.
1. SEM (now PPG) rock guard (rattle can)
2. RAPTOR tintable bed liner
3. EXPEL clear bra
One of them was going to win. I have access to a body shop, so I cut up a white discarded bumper and placed all three product on this bumper in 4 sections. The RAPTOR is a milky white prior to tinting, so I did it with no tint to see if it dried clear, and then tinted it to the exact color of my paint. So I had four sections on this bumper, bra, color guard and two RAPTOR sections.
I noted that the contours of the body area would make it very complicated to install clear bra directly behind the tire. After application I will say the color guard has the best finish next to the clear bra, the clear RAPTOR did have as slight "milky" finish but acceptable, and the tinted RAPTOR matched the red of my car perfectly, but it is bed liner and it is slightly rough. Once they were all dry, I took it out on the shop yard and started throwing hands full of gravel. Now the shop boys watched me with interest wondering what they heck I was doing, so naturally I shared the test set up. Once completed and as I had predicted, the RAPTOR did protect the paint the best, The SEM color guard works well on areas which take more of a glancing blow but not direct shots. Clear bra did protect the paint but it did start looking like a tee box with divets. Any second or third hit would get access to the paint.
My bottom line. I will use two products. In the areas subject to direct shots of road debris, I will use the tinted RAPTOR (fine foam roller works well). As the body transitions to the outside approaching the front door, I will layup some clear bra. I think this will give me the best com promise to the protection I want. I took a picture, but you really cant see the results via the camera.
BTW. As soon as I get the four way heater valve back in, I can glue the front windshield in, get the license plate on and the car should be road worthy......only took three years. I'm certain like many of you, I'm going to experience something yet unknown that has yet to manifest itself even after several shakedowns. These cars are never finished. LOL