i was wondering if the tint you buy at walmart was anygood and if its hard to put on? dont wana waste my money.

 

dont waste your time it is very hard for the first timer . just pay the money to get it done by a pro .

 

it can be done, but.. however, with the walmart tint, and just puttin it on like that, i will look terrible, airbubbles everywhere, even the side windows, it would be a total waste

 

Geting the air bubbles out is easy. Just use a small squeege and a heat gun( not a hair dryer). The hard part is cutting it so its the right size especially on the rear window.

 

theres two parts to this


the quality of the materials you use, and

the way you apply it.


doing the best install in the world, but using inferior materials, it'll look bad after a couple months...

getting the best materials in the world, but leaving air bubbles will look like crud too...


best advice is, use 3M or other quality materials, not the cheapie stuff... take your time, do it a 2nd time if you have to... and make it come out nice.

 

I think the wall mart stuff lookes like **** anyway you do it. Usually i see car with horrible jobs, not even tint by the time they are done putting it on. Looks like a blue sticky solution glued to the window. I heard that stuff fades, and turns to **** no matter what you do. Get a pro job done, then you know it will be good. I dont know of any wallmart job that worked out good, mabey i am wrong.

 

My first time putting on tint didn't turn out half bad, but could have been a lot better. There were no airbubbles, but I didn't put the tint down far enough on the window and it started to tear up at the bottom after a few months.

 

Go to a reputable shop...many where I live offer life time warranty's on both tint and labor.

 

Here in Az, good tint runs at a premium. EVERYONE wants to block out that harsh *** sun during the summer. I have to honestly say that any tint jobs I've seen where the tint was acquired at WalMart, Checker, or AutoZone have all looked like crappola.

Do yourself a favor.. spend the extra $$ to have it done by a professional.

Besides, it's a royal bitch to get that cheap tint off after it bakes in the sun for a couple years.

 

The wal-mart tint is horrible, and on our cars, it's really hard to get all that glass covered evenly without folding, tearing, or generally screwing up the tint. Then there is the back window... In all seriousness, if you want it to look even half-way decent, you should get it done at a shop, with a good quality tint.

 

This topic comes up pretty often. You can try a search but most people agree to just go to a professional that will give you a lifetime warrenty and also will be able to tint the hatch in one piece, not strips.

 

the walmart tint isnt all that bad, my bro has had it on his truck for 2 years, and still looks great, but it depends on what your puttin it on really, if you put it on, lets say a camaro, there is like no way u can get ALL of the air bubbles out of it over time and therefor it will look hidious in a year or two, if someone can get all the air bubbles out of the walmart tint on a camaro, w/o using a heatgun, pm me, cause i wanna shake ur hand,

 

There are several DIY yourself jobs that can be found on this site......

Tinting your windows shouldn't be one of them, unless you are employed at a tinting place, in which case this topic wouldn't come up........

 

I did my own windows and it came out pretty good.

 

were you able to do that rear glass in one piece or is it stripped?

 

I tinted my ttops myself using the static cling tint that you can buy at Autozone. I think that it came out fairly well. I agree with just about everyone else though, doing the side windows and especially the hatch would be a total pain to get to look right. It took me a couple of tries even on my ttops to get it cut just right and to get all the air bubbles out. Definetly have a shop do it if you want all the windows done. It doesn't cost all that much.

For those looking for ideas for some custom things to do to their car....
Here's a link to a page on my website that shows the tint job on myone of my T-tops. It shows a Firebird logo that I cut out of left-over tint. A Chevy bow tie might look good in a Camaro. It isn't a great picture because the car was wet.
http://www.angelfire.com/rock3/84_85...5ttopbird.html

 

ive done tint here 2 times on an s10 of my dads

we used some from autozone and basically same as walmart sales here

and i never had any probs looked great

if u keep workin it n do it right it wont get airbubbles

if it does u can get em out

lil trick to cuttin em tho u roll window down and then cut in bout 1/8 to 1/4 inch fomr top edges of window n apply method i like most is to roll windows all way up n do em so that when rolled up they dont rol tint off which sometimes happens

on camaros dont think thyed have this prob since no upper trim round whole window

as for bottom remove dor panels and let roll down under the panel and its lil felt sweep that way goin up n down wont grab tint n roll it off

if they do come off clear finger nail polish works great

only had one prob w/ our tint n s10 that was i made a dumbas mistake of not doin whats told to do
done what u aint ever supposed to do to tint n found out hard way why u do not do it

that is never use any cleaner w/ ammonia
it wil dull the inside like they got smoke on em or scracthes n they look aweful fomr inside outside yud never know

but never had any bad spots outside or discoloring

my friend done his tempo in 5 percent to and had no probs other then didnt trim edges down good and done another mistake n seemed the back together

thats the worst lookin thing ive ever seen done to dark tint is seem it it almost always have seem if u do like him and overlap

but i guess if u were precise cut n matched em up n butted em together it wouldnt

so id definatly say yea get some 15 to 20 buck a rol tint n have at it if u know what u are doin or have someone do it who knows or has done it

its not hard

 

Its VERY easy, get a spray bottle fill it with soapy water, when your ready to apply the tint spray the window with the water(completly) then apply the tint ontop of the soapy water, use a sqeegie or a plastic card like a credit card and push/pull the water to the end of the tint and out from under the tint. The soapy water lets the air out with the water and lets you move the tint into perfect position before you sweegie the water out. The back hatch is pretty hard compared to the sides because of the size of it but that can be done just get a friend to help hold the tint and apply it.For like $20 for a roll of tint,even if you use 3 or 4 rolls its not worth paying someone to do it when it is really pretty easy. I think most people who have done it and messed it up applied the tint to a dry window. Doing that makes it MUCH harder.

 

i agree i go one step further on wetting i soak my window then peel the back off tint and wet the back that helps a huge lot to keep it from goin together n stickin to itself while u try n place it.
and it does allow u to move it around and get it right.
just dont use something w/ sharp edges to rub the air out or yull rip holes in the tint.
i wasted 2 rolls like that a long time ago.

had thoose tint kits u can buy w/ the lil rubber squeegee thing and spray bottle n all well it set in glove box for yr or more and got hard.
tried usin it and ripped holes n tint. i was pissed so next roll i got a bondo spreader clean one!! and done it worked fine.
but spreader got sharp edges had be real careful.

only reason i dont want to tint my rear window is because 1 hard to get in there do it les u remove it.
then 2 even if u do its contoured that makes it harder. 3 they dont have dark tint in huge long rols wide and tall to do the hatch in one piece.
if they did it be hard with huge piece like that. and seeming tint looks bad.

but it can be done but id take hatch off to tint it. get a guy or 2 to help ya n soak it w/ water n soap and soak tint as well once u remove the sticky back cover that lil clear film piece. then soak the sticky side to avoid it stickin together.

i was goin to do mine but my window was etched fomr louvers n that look bad w/ dark tint so i went w/ some louvers.

plus i didnt want to sem it i hate that.
but if u tae time n carefullness u can seem it nicely.

 

A few questions and thoughts on the subject:

I think I could manage tinting the side windows without any problems. The guys that talk about using soapy water make it sound VERY easy.

However, those who mention the hatch being hard... well that sounds like an understatement. If it came to it, I would pay a pro to do it, but it doesn't seem TOO hard if you take your time and have a large enough roll. Am I wrong?

What exactly are the hard parts?

I'd take it off, of course.

How well does heating the tint work for the contours?

Are there specialty stores that carry dark large rolls of tint? Should I just see if I can buy enough from a local pro' tint shop?

Anything else?

Seems to me that the windshield would be harder. Unless you took that out of the car too, but I have no idea how hard or easy that is. The hatch is a snap to remove with two people.

Also... what the hell are those 'stripes' running horizontally across my hatch? How would I go about removing that and any factory tint first?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just tackled a few other projects and I don't want to stop while I still have the momentum and cash. Plus it seems like a very easy weekend DIY project.

Laters,
Scott

 

Man, that is very cool... I love that. How'd you do that? I've never dealt with tint, is it something that can be traced on or did you have a shaped guide to cut along?

Looking at that gives me some very good (or at least unique) ideas.

Thanks,
Scott

 

 

DAMNIT! i hate when you wrote a long message and hit submit, but then the page screws up and when you hit back, all you wrote is gone! anyway....

1. I guess it would be easier to take the rear hatch off before you tint it, and if it doesn't take much time then go ahead and do it. i know that at tint shops they leave it on and do a fine job, but being your first time it might be better to take it off

2. There's really no place you can get large rolls of tint. Tint shops get it shipped from their suppliers in bulk so they get a discount. If you were to somehow order it from a supplier, it'd be major expensive and you'd end up with enough tint left over to tint 10 more cars. So unless you talk to a local shop and they sell you the last part of one of their rolls, then I don't think you can get a hold of large roll tint.

3. Yes the windshield would be harder to tint than the other windows, no it would NOT be easy or worthwhile to take the windshield out of the car, and yes it is illegal to have a tinted windshield. I'm pretty sure that it's illegal in every state to tint your windshield. The reason you can't tint your side and back windows past a certain % is for the safety of the cops, when they pull you over the walk up to your car. They want to be able to see if you have a shotgun pointed at them or something. The reason you can't tint the windshield is because of safety for you. There'd be alot more accidents w/ dark tinted windshields. Gaurentee, a cop passes you and notices a dark tinted windshield, you're getting pulled over, fined, and made to remove the tint.

4. The stripes on your hatch = the rear defroster. They'd be hard to take off if you were going to, and then you'd have no defroster. Just leave them in...tint places just tint over them.

IMO, it's way too big of a hassle to tint it yourself. Go to a well-known shop and have them do it. It would cost you around $100-$130 usually. Most places only warranty their work if it's with 35% tint (WAY TOO LITE), but I still think it's better than doing it yourself. I had 15% put on mine about 2 weeks ago and I couldn't be happier.

 

hmm sounds almost same as my reply lol

 

lol well i wrote it like 20 minutes ago, but then it got deleted and i had to write it again

 

how much does a profession charge for side windows and hatch average?

 

in the $100-$135 range

 

Well worth it too..

 

3rdGenBlackBird, I made those Firebirds in the T-Tops out of removable window tint. There is a white paper backing on the tint that I used. I flipped the tint to the side of the paper backing and drew the Firebird facing the opposite way that I wanted it to face. After drawing it, I layed the tint over a thick piece of cardboard and cut out each piece using and Xacto knife.

When I installed them on the T-Tops I just but it on top of the preextisting tint. To install the removable tint all that you need to do is mist the area you want to place it on with soapy water. Put the tint on. Then use a squeegy to work out the air bubbles.

If you mess up, just peel the tint off and try again.

By the way, you can't see the Firebirds from the outside of the car unless it is brighter inside of the car than it is outside. I was hoping that they'd be visible from the outside. However, every one who has been in my car has noticed them and was impressed.

 

Hey man the tint looks good! Im thinking about going 15% for all 3 windows too. How is the visibility though? During the day and at night?

 

visibility is fine...as long as the window isn't wet, i have no problems backing up at night or anything else. i had 25% on my last car, and liked it at first but started to grow tired of it. now, unless you put your face up to my window, from a few feet away you can't see in at all. here's a pic of my old car with 25% and my new car before it got tinted

old tint (25% on the RS)

i didn't like the 25, you could see in too much

 

Thanks for all the good info!

I don't think the stripes are defroster related. I don't think my car has ever had any type of defroster since you wouldn't ever need that in hawaii. It looks like some type of design along the top and sides of the hatch, and it starts to seperate into stripes at the top. I can get a pic of it later this week, but I'm sure some of you must know what I'm talking about. I think there is the same type of thing along sides the windshield.

The main thing is that you said I can tint over them. That's all I care about.

I have no idea if it's illegal to tint the windshield in hawaii, but I would think you can tint it to a much lighter level. I have never even heard of not being able to tint your windshield in other states. I believe the top 4 or 5 inches are as dark as you want, and 65% or so below that. I'd probably want a decent amount more than the legal limit all around. I need to find out the law about the hatch, since it is also our trunk I think there might be legal to go very dark in the back. I forgot all the specifics so I'll probably find out later this week.

As far as a shop goes, I really don't like taking my car into places unless I have no way to do it myself at all. Or unless I can watch them do it. I think there are a couple tint shops as clients for the company I work for, maybe I can work something out with them to buy a large roll, in case I screw up. Plus I have my truck to do if I have a lot extra.

By the way, that 15% looks awesome!

Thanks guys,
Scott

 

i looked around a little to try to find the legal tint limit for hawaii but couldn't find anything. i know Georgia is 35% which is very light. i did read though that tint is one of the things they inspect in hawaii. i dont have inspection here, i don't know how often it happens, but they check to make sure your tint isn't too dark, so i don't know what you can do about that. i'm sure 15% is not legal, and you'd get fined (min. of $50,max of $250) and made to take it off. you'll never really get a ticket for it driving down the road, because cops dont really care. just if you get pulled over, roll your window down before he comes up to the car.

anyway, just lettin you know about the inspection if that'll make a differnece

 

Oh, thanks for lookin' for me! I was just going to ask a cop. They are supposed to carry these little books in their car with all the regs since most don't know them off the top of their heads.

I never have my windows up unless the car is parked or if its POURING. In either case I am not afraid of a ticket.

But my friends have gotten tickets for it, although he had somewhere between 5-15% plus the very light factory tint.

The tint inspection is part of our yearly "safety check." It's usually overlooked unless it's obviously illegal. I could just leave the windows down probably.

Mine safety check expires in march, so I guess I'll be getting some nice dark tint come april! I'm sure that I'll find some good guys to take care of me after next year.

Thanks again for all the info dude!

Scott

 

I did my own, its not all that hard just kind of tricky. I got mine from wal-mart and i think it looks just fine.

 

Talked to a cop yesterday, he said he it's 35% side windows, no tint for the windshield (damnit, I see so many people with windshield tint here...) and he think's the hatch might be as dark as I want. He said he thinks they are the same as the truck rear (tailgate window, I'm assuming) limit which is either 5% or no limit.

So how dark do you guys go on the windshield without it looking (at least obviously) illegal? I want some windshield tint, just not much I guess....

Laters,
Scott

 

i wouldnt go darker across the whole windsheild then 20.
35 is so lite u wont notice it and neither will cops.
round here in wv same law 35 on sides no reallimit on rear or the rear cab window.
and we can have tint strip on the window so far down. im not sure but ppl ive seen have 13 and 14 inch wide fomr top to bottom strips and im sorry it just looks stupid i hate a huge tint strip IMO.and now they are starting to do them strip on the bottom to and when they do it they do 5 percent and theres no way that stupid crap can be legal.

this pic of mine is walamrt tint 5 percent on sides and rear hatch done it myself me and my dad he mainly held it and cut it while i worked on it.

and yea if cops want to be a ***** w/ my window up id get busted but many ppl here has it or darker n dont get busted or nothin.
but they do remove it when its time for the inspections sticker, ill just rol mine down catch a nice day n have em down n get mine.

 

my friend and I got the walmart 20 percent. Its actually pretty nice. Its metalized like 3M and not dyed, so it wont fade purple. We did a fairly good job at it and we will do my car next weekend. WE did have a hard time on the hatch just because of the defrost lines, the fat one along the edge was pissin me off, but I have an idea how to fix that. Anyone have any good ideas how to deal with it? lol

 

when i got my windows tinted, the guy left the strip of window underneath that fat line untinted, and i came back a few days after the tint had dried and he put black teflon along that strip....looks great from outside, and good from inside

 

Yeah, I want to know what to do about that also. My inspection expired in feb so I still have to wait until I get the 'bird cleared before the tint goes on. I will do the sides and hatch first, then I'll attempt the windshield after I see how dark the sides/rear look.

So, for you guys that want to keep it legal-ish, use 20%?

Laters,
Scott

 

i was telling brent aka theratdude last night how i done mine.
i started my tint under the fat black line but under my black line was wire embedded for the brakelight so i went from the outside edge of that (part closest to the clear glass not goin over the wire w/ tint) and went off the inside of that wire outwards on my glass.
worked good.

 

What I would do is tint the side windows myself and pay someone to do the back window. The back window is the tricky part. That way you learn a little yourself and save a little money too.