tinting my own windows = how stupid?

[manimal]

Tint is hard. Takes years to be able to do it without a plotter.

 

[Kroze]

This thread inspires me so I bought the tint kit from ebay for my car. Will give you an update once I install it

 

[railer]

This thread inspires me so I bought the tint kit from ebay for my car. Will give you an update once I install it

If my sarcasm meter wasn't pegged I'd be telling you to post pics when you finished.

I think I have been convinced by this thread that tinting is not as easy as it seems, and I'll be dropping my car off to have it done once I find a guy. Thanks!

 

[Fritzo]

I have yet to see a home kit that didn't look like crap. Have a pro do it. They have tools and experience you don't have.

 

[ajskydiver]

It's easy to actually do, but extremely difficult to do well.

Considering how long it would take me, amount of frustration experienced, how good of a job I could do, and how many times in my life I'll need to do it = Hire a Pro.

 

[AdamK47]

I say go for it. Make sure to post photos of the results.

 

[lavaheadache]

Since we are talking about tint...how hard is it to remove from the back window? Will removal damage the defroster lines?

I want to go ahead and tint mine to 35%, but I am afraid of bubbling.

The tint itself is fairly easily, esp. if the application was bad. The real pain in the ass is the residue. I've never had the liberty of peeling a rear window. Hopefully you want have to either :ninja:

 

[Insomnihacks]

I'm having mine done for me tomorrow. It's one thing learning how to do it for practice on an older car that already has imperfections, but if you want a pro job.........take it to a pro.

I'm not saying "don't learn how to apply window tint". I'm merely saying don't expect pro results your first time. Just like anything else, practice practice practice. It depends on how much money you'd like to spend learning.

 

[lavaheadache]

It's easy to actually do, but extremely difficult to do well.

Considering how long it would take me, amount of frustration experienced, how good of a job I could do, and how many times in my life I'll need to do it = Hire a Pro.

Or you could practice tinting odd things before you go diving head first onto your baby.

A pic of my Z's tint

The back window is 40%
the 2 small "backseat" windows 5%
and finally the 2 door windows are 35%

 

[Plugers]

Since we are talking about tint...how hard is it to remove from the back window? Will removal damage the defroster lines?

I want to go ahead and tint mine to 35%, but I am afraid of bubbling.

Easy to tint and easy to remove.

To remove, first rip off all film. Then spray residue with ammonia and water combo (50%-50% is good, lemon is also good)

Then use plastic scraper to remove residue, plastic bondo knife works good for this.

I have used the process above, but there may be better ways here:

http://www.tintdude.com/forum/index...ques/how-to-remove-window-tinting-page-1-r423

Also good tinting tips for those that want to try one piece heat shrunk rear windows, or gluing the dot matrix for no white dots around the borders of your windows that have the dot matrix.

 

[railer]

Well since I forgot to update this thread back in April, and since there's another active tint thread going on, and really who can pass up a chance to post a pic of their car? - I'll update this few month old thread with some pics and details of my window tint.

I did end up heeding the advice of random people that I do not know on the internet, and did pay a professional to tint my G8's windows.

The grand total was $295 + NYS tax, and while 70% tint is all that is legal in NYS, I was greeted with a look of horror when I told the tint shop that I wanted to go with 70% or "maybe" 50% tint. I ended up with 35% tint (Suntek) all around (nothing on the front), and I'm very happy that I went that dark. It's been 3 months so far and the po-po doesn't give me a second look. I see lots of cars/trucks rolling around with windows as dark or even darker than mine, and no one seem to be getting bothered.
The tint itself looks great - as would be expected from a professional outfit. Perfect cuts, no bubbles, no seams, just perfect factory looking tint. I could never have done a job this good in a hundred years, and I will never even think about tinting my own windows again.

Post-tint money shot:

 

[Plugers]

Looks great.

I still may get a G8 in the future, nice cars.

 

[amdhunter]

Well since I forgot to update this thread back in April, and since there's another active tint thread going on, and really who can pass up a chance to post a pic of their car? - I'll update this few month old thread with some pics and details of my window tint.

I did end up heeding the advice of random people that I do not know on the internet, and did pay a professional to tint my G8's windows.

The grand total was $295 + NYS tax, and while 70% tint is all that is legal in NYS, I was greeted with a look of horror when I told the tint shop that I wanted to go with 70% or "maybe" 50% tint. I ended up with 35% tint (Suntek) all around (nothing on the front), and I'm very happy that I went that dark. It's been 3 months so far and the po-po doesn't give me a second look. I see lots of cars/trucks rolling around with windows as dark or even darker than mine, and no one seem to be getting bothered.
The tint itself looks great - as would be expected from a professional outfit. Perfect cuts, no bubbles, no seams, just perfect factory looking tint. I could never have done a job this good in a hundred years, and I will never even think about tinting my own windows again.

Post-tint money shot:

That looks super good. I went around to a few places to get my car done, but they all look super unprofessional here in The Bronx. You shouldn't have to feel like you are going to get shot if you complain about shoddy work. lol