Want to tint my own windows.

[phenomic]

I want to tint my windows, at least my rear hatch which is legal in my area. I want to know where to buy good materials that wont peel or turn purple. I know its possible to do yourself and i've seen great jobs and ive seen terrible diy jobs. Please don't tell me that its best left to the professionals because i do tons of stuff myself that are generally considered left to the professionals. And even if ido mess up, i can always take it off and try again.

Well, first off, I want to know where to get quality products that won't fade or turn purple. I think im gonna do about 30%. Can anyone run me down on the process, give me any tips/tricks and dos/donts. What else do i need to buy? Also, what do i do about dot matrix so it won't bubble.

Has anyone had sucess/failure doing a tint job?
Thanks for all the help any extensive guides on the internet would be great as well. Hopefully ican do a few friends cars as well.

 

[drive it forever]

If you can afford to, have a tint shop do it for you. You wont save that much money anyways. Alot of the rear windows film has to be put in, in multiple sections (because of compound curved glass), which is difficult to do.

 

[drive it forever]

If you mess up and later have to remove the film off of the back glass on a window that has a rear window de-fogger, you will probably mess it up. This happened to a friend of mine who tried to tint his windows on a ford mustang, and he rendered his rear window de-fogger useless.

 

[sprintman]

I'm currently on my 26th vehicle. I strongly advise you get a pro tinter to do it. Both of our current vehicles have a top quality tint from U.S company 3M if my memory serves me correctly. 10yr warranty and many references helped select the tinter.

 

[phenomic]

I really want to learn how to do it so i can do some of my friends cars. How much do actual supplies cost once you have supplies. My car has dotmatrix and a huge rear window (97 z28 camaro) so my front windows cost 30 each minimum and most shops wont over 100 to do the rear window which i don't want to pay if im not gonna learn anything.

 

[sprintman]

OK. Why not see if a tinter will let you work gratis for them and learn how to do it? It is a speciality job. You really don't have to look far to see shoddy bubbled tints everywhere.

 

[seotaji]

quote:

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If you mess up and later have to remove the film off of the back glass on a window that has a rear window de-fogger, you will probably mess it up.

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Not if he does it properly.

http://www.tintdude.com/tint.html is a good resource.

It's not that hard, but it takes a good eye and steady hands. Also the proper tools and prep are vital.

 

[JohnnyO]

The main thing is to get the window really, REALLY, REALLY clean. Any lint will cause bubbles. Clean it, squeegee it, squeegee it, squeegee it, squeegee it with a razor blade, and pay extra attention to the corners. I always make a pattern out of newspaper first. To separate it from the backing I sandwich a corner of the film between two pieces of masking tape, then pull the tape apart and the film will separate. Spray it as you peel it, or better yet get help. Put a few drops of dish soap in the squirt bottle too, and use a lot of it on both sides of the tint film when you squeegee it. Give it a day or two to dry also. On the side windows I seal the edges with clear nail polish after they dry.
I've always used Gila tint film, it's never turned purple on me.
The main thing is to take your time, it's not something you can do well quickly. Don't do it on a windy day either if you're outside.

 

[Schmoe]

I'd go with 3M, best stuff out there and best factory warranty. You'll really want that on the back windows that have the de-icer strips on them because for some reason you have to remove the tint, you'll more than likely break those deicer lines. One thing about tinting windows, before applying the tint, the window must be CLEAN. I'm not talking a quick wipe type of clean, I'm talking scrub clean. Every little spec of dust will stand out once the tint has dried. The most hardest part of tinting is the edges and trim. You'll need a super sharp razor. One trick I did was get a thin piece of cardboard and make a template for each window. Time consuming, yes. But well worth the results. That way you just cut out the tint via the template, use lots of water on the window before applying the tint so you can slide it around to get the correct fit, then start squeezing the water out. When done, don't open the windows for about 3 days when the sun is out.