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Adding Window Tint

by NILLINOIS, April 13, 2007



I'll be installing window tinting on my rear doors and rear window soon.

I discovered ExpertVillage.com, and found a series on how to do it:

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/vehicle-tint.htm

There are also other video series by pros on other car maintenance topics..check them out.

The tint series is just ok at general info, yet lacks a bit on the details, but enough info to give it a whirl.

For example, no info is given on how far down you should cut the bottom for rear windows, to get it under

the seal. My guess is 1/4-1/2". Also no formula given for the "soapy water" solution. Maybe some auto wash

detergent ..just enough to get it a bit sudzy??

Needed tools:

Razor knife

smaller squeegy

Shop towels

Teflon cards

Chisler tool

Heat Gun

Spray Bottle

Window tint wide enough to cover height of rear window

If you've never done window tint before, you might just want to pay someone else to do it. Not saying you can't do it, but I don't think it's something that most people can learn in one try.

How many times do you see lousy bubble tint on cars?

Good luck with your tint.

Of course I expect to make mistakes. That's why I'll buy about 50% more than what I'll need for the job...actually jobs..for 3 different cars. When i mess up, I'll rip it off and try again. They also sell pre-cut tint pieces for specific models on ebay..at a premium of course.

Those are great tips on those links - thanks for sharing.

I have had experience tinting a few different cars on my own.

I used www.tintdude.com for all of my information.

If you can find it I always recomend Llumar tint to people because of its durability and color.

Walmart tint is purple and fades quickly

Gila tint is typically more of a blueish color which isnt as bad but still dosent look the best and lasts longer than walmart

Llumar is true tint, it will look factory, will not fade easily and has a dark brownish/black color to it.

3m sells window tint and I have no experience with their brands, although ive read good things about it.

The one thing you need to remember for successful tint other than patience, is to never use amonia based cleaners on your windows before or after tinting. I believe it takes a few weeks for the amonia to finish oxidizing, thats why you see so many terrible jobs, people used windex before tinting which creates bubles.

Keep a relatively hair and dust free work environment, and you should do a good job.

Well I got the tint this week. I decided to try tinting some south facing windows in my house to get some experience before I tried the car. I tried tinting 3 pieces of single pane glass about 36"x18". The first piece went badly, but was salvagable. The 2nd piece was better, but still not as good as I liked. The 3rd piece went great and was flawless, except for a small hair that got stuck in the tint. I'll post pics when I put them up. Looks sharp. I think I'll be ready to tint the rear door windows next weekend.

  • 1,424 posts

I really want to tint my Mazda's windows. For one the car is black with a black interior and it gets really hot, almost too hot to touch the steering wheel and shifter. Also, I think tint would look good on a black car.

Unfortunately, my state does not allow dark tint on the front windows. Having two drastically different tints on the car looks stupid and to really have any effect I would need to have the rear window dark type tint on all the windows, excluding the windshield.

No tint for me unless the rules change. I'm not about to illegally tint my windows, the police started checking cars with tinted windows for compliance last month. They also started checking for front license plates, which we still require. As much as I hate the front plate for numerous reasons, I'm not about to take mine off. The $100 ticket for not having it isn't worth it.

I really want to tint my Mazda's windows. For one the car is black with a black interior and it gets really hot, almost too hot to touch the steering wheel and shifter. Also, I think tint would look good on a black car.

Unfortunately, my state does not allow dark tint on the front windows. Having two drastically different tints on the car looks stupid and to really have any effect I would need to have the rear window dark type tint on all the windows, excluding the windshield.

No tint for me unless the rules change. I'm not about to illegally tint my windows, the police started checking cars with tinted windows for compliance last month. They also started checking for front license plates, which we still require. As much as I hate the front plate for numerous reasons, I'm not about to take mine off. The $100 ticket for not having it isn't worth it.

 

it does look good on a black car...when i get my cable back for my camera..ill post pics of it on my car...ive also got black rims...black on black on black looks really sharp...i also live in a state where u need to have the tint that way i just luickilly live in a big enough town where the cops just dont care ne more....i did the lighter tint first on the front and like u said it looked absolutely horrid...so i changed it all dark even the winshield..sorry u cant do urs. hopefully they calm down on the law for u..

  • 1,424 posts

My neighbor across the street has illegal tint on his white Cougar and it looks really good on his car, I know that it would be sweet on mine. Furthermore, no one ever gives him a hard time about it, and his is limo black tint.

The problem is that I don't live at home 8 months a year. The town where I go to college is a pretty small place and late last year the local police needed some extra cash, so they started writing tickets for no front license plate and window tint to the locals. They were just enforcing the laws already on the books, but the locals complained that they shouldn't be getting fined if the college students who were driving around with no front plate and windows too darkly tinted weren't.

So the police announced that they would be randomly checking window tint for compliance and also checking for front plate compliance on our cars. Either infraction is a $100 ticket, and in the case of tint, they issue a fix-it ticket that requires you to have it removed and then prove to the court that it has been done. If you don't remove it and appear in court to prove you did so, they issue you a non-compliance violation that is another $100. If you don't have a front plate mounted on the outside of the front of the vehicle, you have to obtain one and mount it. If the plates on your car are an older style that they no longer mint, you have to purchase new plates, which is not cheap.

I hate the front plate because it ruins the looks of certain cars, it gets bumped into and dented easily, it sticks out and is easy to rip off and thereby put holes in your bumper, etc. It is our law though, and although the law states you must have a front plate mounted on the outside front of the vehicle, preferably on the bumper, many people get away with placing it inside the car on the passenger side dash area. This is a stupid practice. If you get into an accident, especially one that deploys the airbags, that plate is now a 60 mph 10 inch wide razor blade flying at the neck and or head of whoever is unlucky enough to be sitting in the passenger's seat. If you're lucky no one is sitting there and it only slices up your seat, if you're unlucky it kills your passenger.

That fact alone is enough to get me to place the plate outside my vehicle.

Wow, the first time I tinted windows was almost 20yrs ago.

Didn't have the internet...

Other than spending lots of time and patience getting out all of the air bubbles, I don't remember it being that difficult...



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