Ok guys, There are so many knowledgeable people on Thirdgen that have saved my bacon more than once ,that I'm throwing this one out in hopes that you all can help me out with this as well. I went to get my windows tinted today. The guy did a great job on the side windows ,but when it came to the rear hatch ,he struggled with that for an hour and a half. Seems he couldn't figure out how to get around the defroster braided ribbons ,and gave up ,tore the tint off and muttered something about never doing one of these again. He did only charge me $50 for the side windows ,but I would still like to have the rear hatch done. I've looked at maybe a dozen cars on here ,with the defroster and tint. Can someone tell me how it is done ,and perhaps I'll attempt it myself ,or recommend some place in my area that can tackle it? Thanks

 

I went to 4 different places trying to find someone to do the rear hatch. He had trouble also. Have you asked this question in your region here on the boards? You may get a better and faster response.

 

I have tinted these for years and also had them done cuz I did not to mess with it. It takes a lot of patience to do them.

HINT:

When you run the tint up to the defroster grid, get 1/4-1/8" close to the grid. Trim along grid wire on both sides, then when dry, mask off tint and spray paint (black semi gloss) where the gap is between the grid and tint. Looks great.

 

Local trim shop did my son's, no problems. That was three years ago, still looks good.

 

I'm looking to have tint done on mine soon as well.
I asked a friend of mine who does bodywork and has done tint on his own 3rd Gen fire chicken years ago.
He said he did the rear hatch glass in strips, not in one whole piece. Each section would join horizontally where a defroster strip was, in order to hide the joining of each section. I think Bob88GTA had the same idea.
Might be worth the labor of removing the hatch and flipping it for easier access?

 

I just tinted my own windows a few weeks ago with tint I picked up at a local Auto Zone. The sides were really simple but for the rear I did completely remove the hatch cause I wanted to adjust the deck and reapply the adhesive between the deck and hatch glass anyway. I first attempted to go all the way across but it wouldn't adhear between the defogger braided line to the outer edge. So I just carefully used my razorblade and cut it along the inside of the braided line (skipping the horizontal lines) and left the outer portion untinted. Did it come out perfect, no. Does it have small bubbles along the outer edges, yes. Will I redo it in a summer or two, probably. I can attach pics this weekend I you need me to so you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

 

I used to live in the west Chicago suburbs, tinting shops hated the Thirdgen and fourthgen hatches. So much so that most would charge an obscenely high amount for them or flat out refused to do them. Lowest estimate I ever received ceasing for $180 for the hatch only. I am good at side Windows so I thought I would spend $100 on tint and try, if I couldn't do it I would shell out the money for a business to do it. It took me 3 1/2 tries. I had to do it in two pieces. Twice I tried it in one piece and failed. Then failed on one or two of the strips. I finally got it and it looks great. If you can do windows well and have a hundred bucks give it a try if not, pay whatever the lowest price is asking as long as it has a year warranty.

Some tips if I remember correctly, shrink it on the outside of the hatch first. Use water not baby powder when pre shrinking and respray as needed. You can't tint over the vertical defrost lines- only horizontal. Use 2- ply tint because you don't want to be an hour into it and burn, crease or tear it. Expect to take at least two hours unless you have done many successfully.

 

I just had mine done at a local tint & upholstery shop. He used black vinyl on the edges and it came out great.