So I was pissed off about how crappy the dot matrix on my rear window looked after tinting. Following some feedback I got in
the exterior section of the forum, I cast aside my roll of vinyl and decided to have a go at painting the window. So I did my annual allotment of "handyman-ness" last evening, I didn't screw it up as badly as I might have.
This is what my neighborhood tint guy left me with. Bleech.
I grabbed some Krylon Fusion on the way home from work, since it was the only rattle can I could find that mentioned glass. I got satin black, since this line of paint didn't seem to have flat black to choose from.
After I discovered that regular painter's tape is useless on curves, and after I decided I was too lazy to go and get some plastic painters tape, I found a roll of electrical tape and made something resembling a smooth curve. The window is dirty, yes.
I ran an razor blade along the edge I had made, and praised the lord that the tint was fresh enough to peel off freely. Had I been thinking, I would have cut a little higher and painted over a little bit of the tint for a clean edge, but I wasn't thinking, so I suck.
I took a moment to enjoy the closest thing my car will ever have to a sunroof unless I have an unfortunate incident involving a meteorite.
This was after something like 7 coats. I was getting a bit pissed off about the pathetic coverage of this stuff.
About 25 coats later and after emptying the can, I got here.
Outside looked far better than when I began.
About 20 minutes later, I dared to peel the tape back. The light was also fading, so my camera began to hate me. The edge was a little ragged, but I figured I could go in and smooth it when the paint was fully dried.
When I got outside, I kicked myself for not overlapping the edge a little bit. Oh well, lesson learned, and a big improvement nonetheless. Maybe I can go in with a little sandpaper, some black paint, a small brush and a steady hand to clean the edge later on.
So the moral of this story?
a) Painting is a valid and relatively easy way to solve the dot matrix issue
b) When masking your line, plan to paint over the edge the tint slightly, dummy.
c) Wear a mask unless you like black snot
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a good tint installer could have taken care of the dot matrix problem.
We tint windows here at my work. Our shop Manager at the Miller Rd. Location sands the matrix with 2,000 grit sand paper. After the sanding the tint sticks to it very well.
glad to see u got a solution to work for ya. dont you think that looks alot better then just putting vinyl on the outside of the glass...
very nice, man. looks a ton better.
idk what my tint shop used, but they got my dot matrix to look just like that... but the tint was over it. they did a really awesome job.
props to you.
I guess thats one way to fix that problem.
Looks really good, props on going out on the edge and doing it.
"Remember do what you like because you have to drive it."--Me
DrAkE wrote:a good tint installer could have taken care of the dot matrix problem.
Probably, but I didn't have a lot of luck finding a good tint installer.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:Our shop Manager at the Miller Rd. Location sands the matrix with 2,000 grit sand paper.
I've heard of that, and before this, if I was going to get it redone that would have been worth keeping in mind. I've heard that some car's dots have enough iron that they start to rust, but that probably doesn't affect J's. One thing for sure is that this is preferable to the solutions involving clear glue that will yellow or debond over time.
manta z(now o3 eCot3c LsS) wrote:dont you think that looks alot better then just putting vinyl on the outside of the glass...
For sure. Granted, my attempt was hardly flawless, so at the moment some exterior vinyl would have looked better in some ways, but I hope to clean it up. I'm also thinking about spray-dying my back seat black, now that I've got some overspray on it from this escapade.
Thanks to the rest of you for your comments.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, June 26, 2007 6:50 AM
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Great work man,
Only thing I would have done like I mentioned to you in the exterior section is to over lap onto the tint a little. No worries though it still looks great.
What I would do now for the couple little spots you have that need some paint. I would just spray paint some of that paint into a cup and just use a small brush and just paint with the brush over the couple little spots missing some coverage. You will never notice the difference. Just as long as the paint covers up the tint edge.
Sucks to hear about that paint. When the tinter did my car I think he just used flat black or Primer or something. But I do remember it not needing like 20 coats like you said. I think it was only like 2-5 coats for coverage. That is probably why you have so much over spray and sounds like to me like crappy a$$ paint.
Did you not cover up your rear seat with like a blanket or a old bed sheet? When the tinter did my car he had everything taped up like you did. Had a sheet over the rear seat and also covered my front sheets with a sheet as well.
Did you do the painting with both your doors open on the car? for ventelation?
NeoJuice wrote:Only thing I would have done like I mentioned to you in the exterior section is to over lap onto the tint a little. No worries though it still looks great. What I would do now for the couple little spots you have that need some paint. I would just spray paint some of that paint into a cup and just use a small brush and just paint with the brush over the couple little spots missing some coverage. You will never notice the difference. Just as long as the paint covers up the tint edge.
Thats pretty much what I have in mind. I might even have enough left in the bottom of the can to get it done.
NeoJuice wrote:Sucks to hear about that paint. When the tinter did my car I think he just used flat black or Primer or something. But I do remember it not needing like 20 coats like you said. I think it was only like 2-5 coats for coverage. That is probably why you have so much over spray and sounds like to me like crappy a$$ paint.
I was probably a bit over-cautious with the light coats. I don't do much painting, so I was paranoid about it running. Still, it just barely got full coverage before I got to the bottom of the can.
NeoJuice wrote:Did you not cover up your rear seat with like a blanket or a old bed sheet? When the tinter did my car he had everything taped up like you did. Had a sheet over the rear seat and also covered my front sheets with a sheet as well. Did you do the painting with both your doors open on the car? for ventelation?
I used a lot of newspaper, but ran out before I could close up a couple of openings around the bottom of the seat. Sure enough, by the time I finished I had some color change in the seat. Both doors were open, and you could seen the paint waft out for about half a minute after each spray.
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dude, spray painting in the back of a car without a mask = brain damage!
seems like more work than unnecessary, id rather just lay some vinyl
navycav3 wrote:dude, spray painting in the back of a car without a mask = brain damage!
seems like more work than unnecessary, id rather just lay some vinyl
Yeah, it probably wasn't the healthiest thing I've done. If the amount of paint I washed off my arms is any indication of what I probably have in my lungs, then... well um... yeah.
If you can imagine my position after trying to tint the car myself -- twice -- and then paying a guy to do it and still having this problem with the matrix, then you can probably guess why I chose to go with a solution that didn't rely on some dainty plastic film going on perfectly. I just wasn't having much luck in that area.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, June 26, 2007 9:17 AM
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what about putting vinyl on the inside of the window over the dots? How would that work out
Matt wrote:what about putting vinyl on the inside of the window over the dots? How would that work out
As discussed in the thread I linked in my first post, vinyl on the inside OR outside is an option. My concern was that the vinyl would fare no better than the tint film, and still show air pockets. Granted, a skilled installer should be able to work right over the dots with either one.
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Looking good man... and a little spray paint in the lungs will only make you stronger! Maybe you could use a black Sharpie to fill in the line along the tint/paint meeting point.
Matt --- vinyl on the inside doesn't look very good IMO. I tried it back in the day and it sucks because it's the same idea as the tint, the vinyl has trouble filling in the grooves and looks funny.
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I don't know if sharpie will cover well enough without a lot of coats. In any case, I've decided I'll probably run a new masking line and brush on some paint a fraction lower.
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i'm going with vinyl on the outside myself but you did an awesome job and it turned out great! your no mask = black snot comment cracked me up...keep up the good work
vinyl actaully works amazing...
Hope it works out for you better than it did for me, I done that also. After a while of having it done it started to crack and peel, from the sun and damp days.
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We actually have a marker at work that is DESIGNED to cover up mistakes like the gap you have. It is actually made for it. Goes on the glass VERY WELL and is Transparent.
actually a vinyl strip on the inside works really well and looks great. I got my tint done over a year ago and theres no problems with it at all.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:We actually have a marker at work that is DESIGNED to cover up mistakes like the gap you have. It is actually made for it. Goes on the glass VERY WELL and is Transparent.
Great. I'm guessing it's probably not something I can pick up at WalMart, and you probably aren't going to steal it and ship it to me. So -- I'd probably rather have NOT known that, thank you very much.
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I haven't gotten my windows tinted yet, but was wondering if you could paint the matrix first, and then apply tint over it. Will the tint stick to the painted area? TIA
Ryan Granholm wrote:I haven't gotten my windows tinted yet, but was wondering if you could paint the matrix first, and then apply tint over it. Will the tint stick to the painted area? TIA
My thought would be *maybe*, however you would probably need either a more professional paint than I used, or more drying time than mine has had. The last couple of 100 degree days have actually started to make the paint tacky again. Yesterday got pretty hot again, and it seemed much better -- but I still don't know how secure a surface mine has -- yet, anyways.
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