Window Tinting

[Tim]

My Festiva is like a greenhouse. I get sunburned sitting in traffic and the A/C barely keeps the cabin cool.

The windows are untinted - I understand tint only came if the car was factory equipped with A/C (mine was DIY).

This winter I want to put tint on the windows. I've never done it before, and I don't want to bite off more than I chew.

How difficult is it? Do I have to remove the window from the door/body in order to tint it? I also heard that cheap tint turns purple over the years - is this true?


Regards,

Tim

[Marc's fesDiva]

I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself, even if you buy a good kit it's still really hard to not get little air bubbles, and those look like crap. But if you have good attention to detail you could give it a shot, I don't think it's terribly difficult.
'
Marc

[EricZKC]

not that hard, but make sure not to use anything with ammonia in it to clean or apply the tint. Ammonia breaks down the tint and makes it turn purple. Applying the tint is not that hard, but, it takes time. Make sure to start with clean windows (lemon Joy works great) and slowly work out all the air bubbles. Personally, I'm going to remove the rear windows to tint them, make sure that they are on there nice and good, then install them
Most veichles have a 3% tint from the factory, to help protect the interior, if you add a 50% tint with the 3% factory, and you get stopped by a trooper, on a light meter you will ping a 35% tint, and in some states, this might be illegal. Check with local laws prior to tinting to see what is legal!

[skeeters_keeper]

Every1 on here told me not to do mine. I did it w/ the stuff I got @ pepboyz... 20% tint (the smaller the nr, the darker the tint. its measured in how much light it passes...). The roll i used for the sides in the rear was heat reflective, standard adhesive backed stuff. I removed the windows for the quarters, but left the back window on when i did it. the roll i used for the rear window is static-cling. you can remove it, but to apply it is basically the sme procedure. IMHO it looks perty good all around for my first try, and i don't think people ever notice the lil boobos. for i think $30 I was very happy and it keeps the car cooler in the summer/warmer in the winter. Take your time and it'll b fine.
pics at www.nates-rockets88.8m.com/skeeter.html
scroll down most of the way.

[EricZKC]

if you cut the tint with the plastic backing facing out on the outside of the window, and you use a heat gun or hair dryer, you can shrink the tint so that you dont have to use strips to form fit the back glass. I worked at a install shop (car audio) and the tinter took some time out to show me how to tint some more of the difficult cars so that I could help him out in a crunch. The heat gun or hair dryer take some time to do, but the results will be better than strips...No offense to skeeter or anyone else.

[skeeters_keeper]

Eric, you are absolutely right... mabye i should have said that.

the only problem for me was that i was using the static cling stuff... heat gun doesnt' work w/ taht and the overlap is hardly noticable b/c of the lines from the defroster already there.

[aithanmier]

i did mine myself but have never really been satisfied with the results. the bubbles are barely noticable, but it still seems a bit wavy and i havn't noticed that with professional jobs. i also took the side and quarter windows out to make the job easier. next time i'm gonna pay a shop to do it though so it's perfect.

[Guest]

I've done every drivable car I've owned. I've done the heat gun way and yes if it's done right it's very nice.. but if it's done wrong, it's a nighmare.. I've pretty much done the strips on most.. much easier and barely noticeable.. my rear tint on Techno was done in 2002 with strips. It's still good now but has shrank over the years.. what used to be a 1/4" overlap is now almost edge to edge... so I will be replacing it this year.. but I will have mine done professionally now because the law requires stickers. No sticker, instant ticket.

[25Horseplay]

Stickers?

[Guest]

Texas compliancy stickers that go under the tint.

PS. I think they created the law to keep track of all the tint shops.. legitamate shops can issue them.

[Tim]

Damn!

That means I gotta pay someone to do it.

Or find pre-tinted windows at the junkyard...


Regards,

Tim

[Biff]

tinting the rear and back side windows in this festy was a little tough , not ever doing it before ,but with the compound concave of the rear window, I found that I had to cut a strip across the window to relieve the amount of stretch in the film, once I did that it worked much better. Also using a rule as a straight edge I put the cut right over the defog strip across the window which hides the cut even better.I'am happy with the job with one or two bubbles. The first side window I did was the best ???go figure!