I'm lookin at some precut window tint on the internet for my Camaro. I've never really attempted to apply window tinting before but I think I can handle the sides. What about the rear? Since it's already cut to exact size, Will it be just as easy as the sides?
I'm debating on whether to spend $25 and try it myself or spend $100 for a professional. Any suggestions? past experiences?

 

I hired a "pro" to tint my GTP... and this winter I was pleasently suprised to find out that they destroyed my rear defrost grid while removing the old tint (I gave up counting after I probed over 25 breaks in the grid). I checked my bill and it says "not liable for damaged rear defrosters". There is no way I am taking the camaro into one of those hack shops after that. I am going to do it myself.

 

How hard is it to remove tint on the side windows where you don't have to worry about the defroster. Reason I'm wondering is in case I put on tint myself and it looks real bad, I was wondering how easy it would be to remove?

 

I don't think its very hard... the longer you let it dry, the harder it is to get off.

 

The precut tint that you are looking at, is it the stuff that is on E-bay? I've been thinking about it also, but I have never put tint on either.

 

Never tried to take fresh tint off but i have old tint and i spent a few hours scraping it all comes off in slivers. As far as doing it yourself it is not too hard just have to line it all up straight and then work out the air bubbles.

 

I bought some precut tint off e bay,not tried doing side glass yet but did try rear hatch but coudn't get it to stick down around bottom edges so ended up ripping it off,i did this with hatch removed from car as i think it would be a lot harder with it fitted,i would use a pro for hatch.I have done side glass before using tint sheet from local car shop and it came out ok,its just curved shapes that are hard to do,the instructions said to use a heat gun but i found that it made things worse as the glass needs to be really wet but the heat gun obviously dries it.Also when i got my tint it was precut for high level brake light but my car does not have one,so if you buy some check with seller to make sure you get right tint shape.

 

I bought that precut tint off e-bay for $.99 cents (now starting bids are 24.99) plus $16 for shipping() I figured what the hell, for $.99 I'd give it a shot, and if I messed up, I messed up. Before I applied the new tint, I had to remove my old ugly purple stuff, and that took me about a half hour each door, after I called my friend up and asked him to come over and give me a hand to put the new tints on. Now this is where it all went down hill....First I pulled it out of the packaging and you had to cut the tint out of the sheet it came in (it was precut, but you still had to cut it out of the square tint it came in) and from there I cut into it alittle bit, I didn't really get mad though, b/c it came with instructions and it said if you mess one up basically, they would send you ONE new precut tint for the door you messed up on, so I kept that in the back of my mind. Now we go an apply the tint, soaked it up and the window and peeled the clear side of the tint apart and went to put it on......it was hell!!!! I could not get it to line for crap, and when I did, I had so many bubbles that I couldn't get out. Keep in mind, this is my first attempt at applying tint so I guess it was kind of expected, but after that, it will also be my last time I will try it. I vote just to take it to a tint shop, save the trouble, spend alittle extra and get a warranty with it. All I did was try and do the doors, I didn't even want to attampt the hatch. So all-n-all, I had a bad experience with it and won't be buying any precut tints for any of my cars again, nor try and do it myself.
-john

Ps-Sorry if you guys have trouble reading this, I'm typing in school right now, and I'm trying to be sly and hide the screen. I'll revise it later when I get home, it came out bad.
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btw I did ended up pulling it all off and trashing it

 

why buy the precut. If you don't want to pay a pro. Goto a autoparts place and buy a roll of tint. Its EASY to cut. Make templates of it on the outside of the windows.

When you appy just make sure you have a good bottle of soapy water. (few drops of dawn & water) soak the window.
Apply the tint. work it around to where you need it. squeeze the water out. Let dry.

I did it long time ago and it wasnt to bad. lasted a long time.

 

i don't consider ripping off the old defroster a "hack job" by any means. That's what happens when your old tint is removed. Furthermore, the side windows aren't difficult to do with tons of extra water sprayed to move the tint easily. The rear hatch is a complex shape and most professional tinters have to heat the tint to shrink some sections if you want a one piece rear tint. I paid $210 to get the 1 piece rear tint and 2 side windows done.

 

I'm still debating if I want to D.I.Y. this myself or not. The Hatch has me scared.

 

I did the sides myself about 2 months ago with the ebay precut tint....not easy! I had my rear professionally done and i think it was well worth the $100.
Of course now I am searching the boards for how to remove window tint since the local police don't like it very much. Only $20 for the tint, but that lead to my $107.50 ticket.

 

Tinting requires some skill but is also fairly easy. The back window will be the death of you unless you take it off.

 

You still have to cut the pre-cut?

 

I'm sure if you do it 100% perfectly, you won't have to. I had to trip about a half inch off the whole thing. It's really easy with a sharpe razor blade.

 

Trim off the bottom or the curve on top?

 

for the work that the precut window tint seems to entail its probably easier to get a roll at an auto store. putting the tint on side windows is fairly easy. my first attempt on my car(not the ta) went really smooth and the tint hasnt purpled or faded yet. the soapy solution is key.... better to spray too much then not enough. i tried to tint the rear window on another occasion. didnt end up too good, windows with a curve are a PITA, there was bubbles everywhere and it creased a few times.... needless to say that went in the trash.... i successfully did the back window on my friends bonneville, we took the roll and cut it into about 7 inch strips. much easier to work with and you can make the seams pretty invisible if you use the defrost grid where they come together. good luck and remember too much soapy solution is better

 

I cut a little strip off of the entire top of the window. Not the sides or anything else