DO it Yourself tint? hot or not?

[DSMnOOb00]

me and a few of my buddies are going to try to tint our own windows, i just wanted to know if anyone have had a good turn out, i mean i went to wallmart and paid like 15$ for something that cost me almost 175 to do last year (on my RS)

 

[eboy0]

A buddy of mine tried it on his camaro, using those 30$ tints you find at autozone or something.
He ended up taking them off because too many air bubbles formed, and he didnt have anything hard enough to press them out with.

 

[1512gvr4]

if you can lay the tint on well then go for it, but make sure you buy good quality tint, or else itll turn purple when it gets old

 

[b00stedtalon2]

I got the 5% tint from murrays.. like 11$ a roll. They've been on my car for 2 years now. They did not turn purple.

Don't expect them to be perfect doing them your first time. It took me a while to master it ESPECIALLY the hatch.

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[jking29]

Tinting is not hard as long as you take your time and use a good quality tint. The biggest thing is getting the windows absolutely clean. Take a razor blade and scrape the windows clean before even starting. Then take your time and make sure you keep everything wet. It's not hard, just time consuming.

 

[longemoco]

Yeah, it takes a while to master it, i have done about 6 now and they still look good, with no bubles. I just noticed that you stay in fresno, I was there just 2 weeks ago. i could have done it for you, for a case of beer, .

Juts a few tips.

clean the window really really good.
When cutting the film, always start on the outside of the window. with the clear part of the film towards you.
When you are ready to start tinting, remove the clear part and have a buddy help you hold it, dont let the tint film stick together or you will be f@@@ed. Also, i always like to go to the opposite window and apply soapy water on the outside and the apply the film so it looses all the glue, and you wont have a hard time trying to tint the window.

 

[tom04841]

I have found the best way to do it, is to remove the window if you can. It takes a bit longer, but the results are much better.

 

[staticbrainwash]

That sounds like a big pita. Though i'm sure you're right, i imagine the results are MUUUCH better.

I just went to a shop after 3 failed attempts to do it myself. That hatch is a bi***. They charged me 110 to do the back 3 windows. I would have done more, but in michigan it's illegal to have the front windows done.

 

[eclipsemustang]

ive done it on a few and its turned out great on some and terrible on others the main key is clean the window and make sure you dont roll down the windows untill the directions say its ok i've found that to be a big factor

 

[Idontknow]

Pretty easy to do. Although I never attempted to do hatch window, because it's curved. Your tint should come with instruction, I am a living proof that anyone can do tinting. Front and back windows should be no problems, I have done few cars and never had any bubble issues.
I would leave the hatch to the experts

 

[pooker]

The best advice I can offer is take your time, when doing a friends car we had heck with creases and air bubbles. Get a good scrap/squeejie and ad good cutter and just take your time and you will be fine.

 

[roadrunner2176]

Tint is easy, and that cheap stuff at autozone works just fine.

A few tips for the beginner, if you have a garage use it for this especially. Wind carrys dirt, and its not a bad ideal to even wet the floor of your garage if its the slightest bit dusty. Tints have a film that you have to remove from the back before installation. I would recommend that you leave the film on, make a rough cutout of the tint, spray the window with water, and do a mock install. This will give you a general ideal of what your going to be working with, as well as keep your pieces smaller and less likely to crease. Remove the inner window sills on the door panel. Once you have done that, clean your windows again, use a squegee to get the dirt and lint off, a clean water line isnt a problem, you'll get that later. Now comes the fun part. Take your tint and seperate a piece of the backer film from it. Dont remove the whole backer just yet. With a portion pulled back, spray your window with tint solution, or slightly soapy water. Be generous with the solution, it makes things so much easier. Take your tint, start at the top of the window and start applying. As you go down the window remove the backer film, this makes it much harder to get lint and big air bubbles on your window.
Now you have your tint on, thanks to the solution, you can squegee it in the position you want it in. Always sguegee from the center out and keep things wet. A squegee will still tear if things catch. If you get a cluster of small bubbles, peel the tint back just past the bubbles, respray, and squegee out again.
Now comes the trimming. Depending out your preferences, some people like to leave a 1/4 inch around the top of the eclipse window. I however do not. Just take a good sharp razor blade and with a circular motion trimming the excess off from the inside out. With you windows up, move your car out of the garage and let the sun do the rest. You can usually drive right after, just dont do it with your windows down, but if you've got the time, leave your windows up and let the adhesive do its job.
The back window is much the same, it can either be done in strips and than cut later, or as a full sheet; just have a blowdryer in hand, you might need to stretch the tint in a few places because of its shape. Strips are eaiser to do for a beginner on the back window, especially if you have rear defrost.
Those side windows look easy, but you dont tint over the black dots along the edge. You can, but it wont stick, and starts to look bad after awhile. It also leavs a nice 1/4 inch reveal mark bordering the window.

Now remember that tint is just like a giant sheet of tape, once you touch dry ends, its done, keep things wet and it's hard to screw it up.

That cloudy look after its done is just the adhesive working, it will clear over night.

 

[plymubishi]

Tinting is not hard as long as you take your time and use a good quality tint. The biggest thing is getting the windows absolutely clean. Take a razor blade and scrape the windows clean before even starting. Then take your time and make sure you keep everything wet. It's not hard, just time consuming.

DO NOT take a razor to your hatch window or you will scrape the defrosters off the glass.
id suggest just paying a shop to do it, costs more than trying yourself but if you go to a good shop you never have to worry about imperfections or something happening to it. shops have warranties that cover it against discoloring and accidents like taking a chunk out of it or whatnot.

 

[GinNBoost]

I agree, if you want the job to look clean and have a warranty to go with it, take it to a place that specializes in tinting windows. It's not worth the hassle of doing it yourself just to save 100 bucks.

 

[white92tsiawd]

...remeber, you can never go wrong with 5%

 

[StR8sPo0Ln]

I agree, if you want the job to look clean and have a warranty to go with it, take it to a place that specializes in tinting windows. It's not worth the hassle of doing it yourself just to save 100 bucks.

Ill agree, i tried a few years ago to tint my 93 i had at the time i spent about 3 hours of time that ended up as one big giant waste. for the extra $80 you would spend at the shop its well worth it. Also you cant warranty your own work but a shop who does tinting can.

 

[oldman]

Moved to appearance forum.