As I get closer to getting my freshly painted car back I was wondering about applying some 3M clear stoneshield in the key areas of wear. But I'm new to teeners and I don't know what those areas are I'm guessing the lower portion of the front hood, the part in front of the rear wheels and maybe the front valance? Any of you guys using this stuff? I have it on my 911 and like it alot. And how long after a fresh paint job ( basecoat / clearcoat ) should I wait before applying this 3M shield? Car has metal GT flares if that matters.

First wait at least 30 days before applying to new paint. In this weather I would wait longer. 3M was probably the most orange peel looking product I found. The local shop put a sample on my car and I said no way. My car is black so it showed really bad with just about anything but finally found one that was "livable". Check out different brands and have a professional install it.

I did:
front hood
front bumper
front valance
rockers
fronts of all flares
bottom of rear valance behind wheels

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Man that looks good in the picture. I bet it's pretty expensive but most really nice things are. Except for my wife.

I purchase the venture shield which according to the installer who carries both said is better.

Look aty some of the newer Benz's out there. I see a lot of them with it on and quite honestly it looks like sh*t. It has a definite orange peel look, it kills the gloss and the edge line is quite obvious. Not to mention it will probably turn yellow in 4-5 years

I would rather redo the rock guard than the paint. Most urethanes hold up for a really long time. It's the abuse of the street that screws the paint up. Fat tires are really tough on the rear fenders, rockers and any leading edge behind them.