The rear winshield has that has that really poor sticky paper window tint. The one that looks like somone put on purple paper because they couldn't buy the real thing. The worst thing about it is you can't see anything behind you, its just all blurry.
Does that come stock on the 86 Trans Ams? Anybody else have this? Whats the best way of taking that paper off?

 

It's just cheap tint. Usually the sun fades it, or someone tries to clean it with an ammonia based product like windex, and it gives it that purple color.

If you don't have the defroster grid, take a razor scraper to it. If you do have the defroster, you can try heating the tint with a blow drier and peeling it off. Then use some adhesive remover to get rid of the remains of the adhesive.

Good luck,
Matt

 

yep take a razor blade to it

 

good luck. give your self a few hours alot of razor blades and have fun.

 

If you go the way of the razor go to the parts store and by a scaper (holds the razor for you); Your wrists and fingers will thank you.

 

my rear tint is starting to do the same thing...I'm saying heck with scraping it off....I'm going to pay to have it allllll done!

 

If you go to a professional window tint place, they will usually take off the old stuff for free. Or if they are shytheads, they might charge you additional labor.

 

I have a friend that runs a tint shop. He told me to spray the glass down with ammonia and put a black garbage bag up against it. Let it sit in the sun for a few hours and then it should come off easier. The ammonia will let the bag cling to the glass. Make sure you use the black garbage bag or plastic.

 

tint shop told me $40.00 an hour to remove the old tint

 

Its 30 degrees out-side and no sun to speak of. I may have to wait for a warm day. I do have an electric defrost grid, so I'll try turning that on before scraping.

 

I have the same problem on mine rear window. I have the defroster now if i heat up the tint and scrape it off will the defroster come off wit it also.

 

the ammonia and black plastic trick should work even without the heat from the sun to an extent. I would try that. I dont think you should use the defroster with the ammonia on it. Might short something out.

 

What great advice! You would think it's obvious advice, but I had to get three stitches before I learned this lesson. It definitely doesn't pay to try and rush the removal process - tint just takes some time to take off. Most especially on the rear hatch!

 

And people wonder why I stuck with the rear window louvers

I don't have discolored tint, I don't have to worry about defroster grids and I still keep a cool, dark car.

 

Well, I don't know about "cool"......just kidding, louvers are great for some but simply don't fit in on every Camaro. So again window tint is the only way to go in some instances.

 

I'm not referring to "Cool" thumbs up. I'm referring to cool as in the car is not an oven.

 

I think your louvers look pretty good scott. They are very form fitting compared to some of them that make the car look like a dinosaur

 

merlot-fro - dont scrape it if you got rear window defoger you will ruin it by cutting a line after you do that that line/grid wont work!

TPI 350 Z28 - No the sun wont give you enought heat to take the tint off....if so youd park your car on a summer day with the windows up your tint would be laying on the floor. Also NO you cannot take a razor blade to the glass with a defogger on it.

bluegrassz - Dude you cant short anything out???? its a curcuit.

And to everyone else purple isnt a sign of cheap tint...its becase ppl clean it with windex. Ive seen 3M among other expecive tints go purple and scratched because of poor cleaning. It is the ammonia in the windex that ruins it. But yes of cource a cheaper tint will go purple faster.
I dont know where you guys think turning on your defoggers will help you removeing the tint, it will not!

To remove the tint start at a corner carefully lifting it with a blade (carefull not to cut a defoger line) enoght to get your fingers on it then just pull it off,,most of the time it comes off in one haul if your lucky..it should take all of 3mins for that. But bepending on it you got old tint on there most of the time theres a sticky film of clear glue left,,,this can be removed with actone products. I used fingernail polish remover. but the rear window is alittle big for that..use strait acetone. Were a resporator mask (not a dusk mask) and paper towel and a dishwashing pad and scrub. I have removed tint on just about all the cars ive owned and everytime this worked,,,no scraping also some blades can scratch your glass. Any tint shop around here will want you to remove the tint yourself if you bring your car in....unless you talk them into charging you alot of money for them to do it !!!

scottmoyer - yah your lovers look good...i like them on stock looking rocs thats it. They look soo cheap on 2nd gens and on trucks hahaha oppps i had them on my 81 firebird yikes haha

 

When I took my took my first 89 Camaro in for a tint, the back tint was bubbling and they removed it for free. The old tint was not installed by them but they removed it for nothing. And I only paid 95 bucks out the door for all 3 windows and a 3" windshield strip. That's why I suggested the shop do it for you.

 

Got that covered above, JCurrie I can't dispute the thing about only cheap tint fading though. It says right in the directions of most tint not to use the ammonia based cleaners

Also, you want to be careful if your just pealing it off like that. My girlfriend tried that, and no matter how careful she was with it, it ended up peeling off about half of her defroster grid elements (Just the copper element, not the actual adhesive). That's why I recommended the heat gun to try and soften the tint, but I don't know if it'll actually work. Some of the other guys recommended the ammonia bath. I've never tried that, but it sounds like that would work great to really soften it up.

 

Ive never seen the grids coming off myself but i could see it happen if the clear sticky film comes off with the tint and puls the grid with it...which in all my years of tinting i only seen happen once on a side window (and that didnt have grids oviously). But Id say you got a real good chance of leaving the sticky stuff and the grid behind still on the window just by peeling. Her results were a rare.

I didnt mean to come across as a a%$hole but first you shouldnt recommend something if your just guessing and never tryed it before, your just seting someone up for disapointment. Second you recomended a "hair dryer" not heat gun, big diference.
Thirdly, even if you could soften the tint with a heat gun how are you planing on getting it off????...id say all youll get is a gooie mess or a burnt plastic with a heat gun. Its like gum, if your trying to remove it easy you make it cold with say an icecube, if you used heat your just making a mess. This glue actually cures better with heat, thats why we use heat when installing tint.

Im also not guessing here i know acetone bath is faster then a ammonia bath, ive tryed both.
My opinion is based on my experiance, I dont think it will work, that glue is tougher then you think.

If any of you really want to try a heat gun or hair dryer go ahead have fun

 

You didn't come across like an a** at all JCurrie. I had asked a tint installer in the area how to remove the tint when I still owned the car, and that is what he recommended to me (hairdryer or heatgun). My girlfriend tried the exact method you recommended above, and she had poor results. I didn't say your method wouldn't work, I was merely passing on our experience with the board. Whole 6" copper chunks all over the grid had peeled off with the tint.

And I didn't mean to come off like an a** either JCurrie. Pretty much all the advice you've given on the board is sound, and I definately respect it

Take care,
Matt

 

Ha! I decidely misinterpreted that. Also, I didn't mean to sound disparaging concerning your louvers. I love louvers, but they would look bloody silly on my Z. That was my one and only point.

 

Thanks Matt,
But yah i will take your advice when tackling a back window to make sure the same thing doenst hapen to me with the grid comeing off. I also have never tryed the heat or blow dryer method and I CAN'T really say from experiance I will NOT work for sure. So i could still be provein wrong i guess. I was also passing along my opinion too that i still stand behind but I still respect everyone can have there own (which I should of metioned before).
IMO means its just my 2 cents worth and should be taken as what its worth.

Jeff

 

well all i can say is find the cheapscate that went to kmart and bought the tint there and knock him around! and as for the coment about freebe removal, sorry but my time is worth more than that. i am going to spend hours removin the crap i am not cheap. now to answer the question- lots of windex and peal the film off. then once that is done scrub till your arm falls off or you get all the adhesive off.

 

I am sure it helped that I was getting $1200 worth of equipment installed at the same shop. The owner was more than happy to do a few things for free.

 

Now, I've been wondering:

If we aren't supposed to use ammonia based glass cleaner on the tint, what are we supposed to use on it? Almost everything I've seen used for glass is ammonia based.

On second thought, does that Simple Green stuff work for glass too? I don't recall as to whether it has ammonia in it (it probably don't since it smells similar to oranges) and all I have is a half gal of carpet cleaner.

 

thats right nothing with ammonia! it will break down the adhesive. and cause it to bubble and peel. best thing to use? and cheap enough? ready for the shocker of a life time? soap and water! good old soap and water is the easiest thing to use.

 

Yep that what I use,,,remeber Maverick H1L your not cleaning glass anymore your cleaning plastic so why do they even bother looking for a glass product? Anyhow I use a old empty spray bottle put a drop of dish soap and warm water in it and keep it in my car cleaning bucket with the the rest of my supplies,,,this solution I also use when i install tint.

 

I thought of Simple Green because you can get a spray bottle's worth to last a long time because Simple Green has to be thinned out (supposedly) around 10:1 (water:detergent) for glass, and I am pretty sure it's not made of ammonia.

And wouldn't soap and water make the adhesive lose its adhesion after a while? After all, that's what you are supposed to use to install it, right?

 

I use plain old rubbing alcohol <--Spelling? to clean my window with tint. Works very well. Also is cheap. lol.