Always looking for ways to save a few bucks, I decided to try out a pre-cut DIY window tinting kit. So I put a few drops of baby shampoo and water in my spray bottle, grab a couple of squeegees, borrow some space in the back of a heated shop, and go at it. How bad can it be?
Looks pretty good from this angle. I also took the opportunity to give the car a waxing.
All good here too. 35% was a good choice, balancing appearance with legality.
Oh dear. Get any closer than 10 feet or so, and we begin to see some unresolved "fingering" and air bubbles around the bottom of the side windows. Heat gun treatment helped, but the portion hidden behind the gasket defied me. Not too bad for a beginner though. I could probably live with this.
Crap. Crap crap. I knew from my initial reading on the subject that the rear window was going to be the real challenge. It did not disappoint. I was confident enough that I tried the "expert" method of pre-shrinking the film, rather than slicing it into horizontal segments. The results are stunning. I know I'm stunned. Aren't you?
So it probably didn't help that the morning after application, I found a bunch of spots where residual moisture had frozen solid, serving to lift the film. It could have also been a problem that I used "no name" baby shampoo, or that I probably used too much of it in my application mixture. All in all, there were a lot of strikes against me, not the least of which was lack of experience.
So I've decided that this evening, after work, I get the happy chore of applying ammonia and attempting to undo this embarrasing half-assed mess -- which is a fun way to follow up a wasted weekend. If I'm lucky, it will be as eager to come off as it was during installation. Or not. Probably not. All in all, this has been a good experience, but a really bad choice. I guess the moral here is that window tinting is for pros, and that hiring me would be inadvisable.
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wow... that sucks man. yup, i too have come to the conclusion that tinting windows is for professionals with years of experience. its def. a major challenge. ive gotten side windows and windshield banners to look decent, but that back window always got me, i could never get it.
pre-shrinking? what exactly does this entail?
UFlip06 said it best: Just look underneath the engine and if you see big hairy balls it's a 2.4 Twin Cam, if they're shaved it's an Ecotec and if you see nothing it's a 2200!
LOL... Good post.. dont half ass things.. take it to professionals..
z yaaaa wrote:pre-shrinking? what exactly does this entail?
I can relate the instructions I was given, for all the good they did me. I started with the pre-cut rear-window film section in a single section. Wet down the outside of the window, and lay out and position the film on it, liner up. Anchor the film from the middle, and smooth all the fingers to the top and bottom (none on the side). Use a heat gun to distort each finger in turn, smoothing it down with a moist towel. The fingers should get smaller and eventually disappear, giving you a pre-fitted piece that should match the contours of the glass.
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never tint windows in the winter...
you wanna do it in the summer when the sun can beat down on it and bake it on
i had similiar probs,my rear window looks good(vert.)at 5% but the quarter windows were harder to do and bubbled a little,i used a little of the JOY dishsoap.think i'll pay the $30 to get both 1/4's done by a professional
15.2@89mph 2.171 60ft. 9.830 1/8 R.I.P. "LULU"
BIGGSZ24 wrote:i had similiar probs,my rear window looks good(vert.)at 5% but the quarter windows were harder to do and bubbled a little,i used a little of the JOY dishsoap.think i'll pay the $30 to get both 1/4's done by a professional
wow thats odd, i would think if you could get the rear window done right you could do the side windows as well? IMO the 1/4's are a frickn cake walk.
UFlip06 said it best: Just look underneath the engine and if you see big hairy balls it's a 2.4 Twin Cam, if they're shaved it's an Ecotec and if you see nothing it's a 2200!
Agreed. I didn't show any close ups of my quarter windows, but they turned out best of the bunch.
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Its not a very good job but for a beginner its not bad. When I first started tinting I was the same, I couldnt do the rear windows what so ever. And the pre-shrinking method is definetly better but harder to master, I could go into detail but that would mean my post would be crazy long and I just dont feel like typing that much, lol. I kinda miss tinting cars now, I very rarely get to tint them in my city since most people have trucks/vans/SUV's where I live. I've even had people get 5% tint ontop of their factory tint, lol. Good try though on your cavy none the less!
You tried and that is something! You gained some respect for the guy that takes you for $$$ too!
Good try and you are braver than I am....I didn't even attempt it! Just took it to the "guy" and came back at 5pm to pick it up and write the check! LOL!
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
Geeky wrote:
I guess the moral here is that window tinting is for pros, and that hiring me would be inadvisable.
the best thing written on this site in months.
MIAMI HEAT
NBA CHAMPS!!!
I take off my door panels before I get my windows tinted, MUCH EASIER to get the tint ot lay flat. Also removing the Rear deck is ANOTHER GREAT way to get it done right.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:I take off my door panels before I get my windows tinted, MUCH EASIER to get the tint ot lay flat. Also removing the Rear deck is ANOTHER GREAT way to get it done right.
Yeah , it makes it easy because the plastic flap thingy isn't in the way. Makes it way easier to tuck in and squeege
Looks like you're the best of the non-professional bunch. I've seen MUCH MUCH worse from people tinting themselves. Good try and not bad for now.
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Words that you can't use in modding: Finished, Perfect, Cheap.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:I take off my door panels before I get my windows tinted, MUCH EASIER to get the tint ot lay flat. Also removing the Rear deck is ANOTHER GREAT way to get it done right.
I agree. The guy that does my tint will lower the price down some if I bring in a car with no door panels or rear deck, etc. I have done tinting in the past and the biggest thing I learned was a window can never be too clean. Usually when tint peels in the corners the glass wasn't clean enough.
Just an update: Even after being in place for a couple of days, the tint took a grand total of 10 minutes to remove. I've had a harder time operating a roll of packaging tape. Everything came away in one piece, with only a tiny bit of residue. Clearly my foray into tinting simply wasn't meant to be.
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I bet with just the 2 tips I gave you you could redo it and get awesome results. And with only 2 attempts you would come out cheaper than getting it done at a shop. We charge $185 at my work to tint a Cavalier coupe.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:I bet with just the 2 tips I gave you you could redo it and get awesome results. And with only 2 attempts you would come out cheaper than getting it done at a shop. We charge $185 at my work to tint a Cavalier coupe.
Normally you would be right, but I had some hefty shipping and added duty charges getting my pre-cut fim from the States into Canada, so I'm in for about $70 already. Maybe if I found a cheap local source I would consider it, but I think I'm just going to pay someone else next time. I've heard there is "a guy" around here that can do good work for about $100, so I might try and track him down.
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It looks good in the first two pictures
Proud member of Jbody of Kentucky ... Click on sig to go!
JoeyDaBomb wrote:It looks good in the first two pictures
Thanks. It's all gone now though.
I guess the other useful thing I learned from all of this is that if I use a camera flash close to my car, it looks like I have pearlescent paint. Nice.
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James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:I bet with just the 2 tips I gave you you could redo it and get awesome results. And with only 2 attempts you would come out cheaper than getting it done at a shop. We charge $185 at my work to tint a Cavalier coupe.
I know tint is a "you get what you pay for" job, but I paid 180 for my sedan at 20% and a vinyl strip to cover the dot matrix. Mine turned out awesome as well.
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Man, Im glad my dad is a professional.
I've got some of the precut 15% tint sitting in my closet still from when i bought it over a year ago. I considered trying it myself, but with the lack of time, I just paid $75 and had it done professionally.
here is some custon tint that i did last year enjoy. tookme about 5 hours to do tint my truck
side window base layer is 5%
back window.
Norms Fenders
Holes in front bumper from plate bracket (custom)
Solo Hi Flow Cat/ 3in dual exhaust
Kappa Intake/IC Pipes
Pcm4less Tune
Infinity Kappa Speakers
Dakota Digital EGT & Boost Gauage
DDM Probeam
JPM Shifter
Custom Kicker System By JPM
MBRP Heat Shield
Dejon Intercooler
AlkaControl Water/Meth Injection
