Tinted windows - questions and picdump

Forgot to say it's on a Retro so flat (or near-flat) glass, no complex curves. I've tinted worse shapes in the past.
Just the rear side /door glass, not the tailgate or front windows.

What car is it ?
I have tinted lots of retro's, mk2 cortinas one Lotus cortina, vauxhall cresta PC, just in the process of tinting all 9 windows on a mk2 Granada estate while its in for paint, classic mini's and so on, most of the side windows on early classics are flat, place a flat edge rule on the surface of the glass and you will see if it's flat or not,

Some key rules to tinting

Clean clean and clean again

Clean environment

Clean hands

Clean windows

Clean interior

Clean rubbers

Light

Heat gun ( adjustable )

Lint free cloths

Glass cleaner

Small craft knife with snap off blade

Warning on above blades, cheap blades cut into glass and blunt very quickly !

I use olfa Japanese blades with olfa silver knife

If you can remove the windows all the better but if you can't you will suck up all the dirt and dust from around the edges and then proceed to pull all your hair out,

Talcum powder for casting the curved windows

Garden pump sprayer for the mounting solution ( don't laugh )

Mounting solution ( use cheap washing up liquid the cheapest one is best as it doesn't have hand conditioners etc in it )

I use Tint Slime from America

Masking tape

Squeegee for expressing the mounting solution out from under the film

Film for tinting, you get what you pay for, you buy cheap and you will probably never want to try tinting again,

And patience lot's of it, if you have all of the above then you may proceed, to start tinting but don't be surprised if you can't cope with the stress it will put you through,

If you want it to look good and last ie not fade after a year or be scratched to hell then get someone who knows what they are doing to do it, after buying all of the above and the stress it will put you through I am sure it will work out cheaper to have it done by a professional,

Tint shade, if you need for people not to see inside then the darker would be best,
say around 15% to 5%

Please don't take this as me being rude, I am only trying to advise,

If i can get the glass out i will, i totaly hate doing it in the vehical!
I cut the fil roughly 5mm from the edge of the glass and seal it with clear or black nail varnish, it stops the edges lifting when the rubber goes back on
As said clean it lots, i go over it with a new razor blade before the final clean, sometimes there are deposits sunk into the glass that washing wont remove

I have an orange tint in the rear 3 windows of my baja:



I found a place local to me that does both car windows & shop glass (the orange is intended for display windows etc).

I took them the glass in loose, the side windows (flat) were obviously no problem, but they were not sure about doing the rear glass as the "shop" type film is not as stretchy as "car" type film.

All turned out ok though, no peeling or bubbling at all.

I so wish i had never clicked on this thread, i now have this notion to tint the windows on my escort blue ( the car is bright yellow) :-O

Sent from my GT-I9505 using proboards

I have light tint on the front windows and Limo tint on the rears,you cannot see into the van through the Limo tint but obviously you can see out of them ok.

Can't help with Mirror tint though sorry.

I did the back of my T4 in a 20% tint and its quite a nice dark and very hard to see in. My new T5 has limo tint in the back (5%), fitted by the PO, Its horrible as it is too dark and makes the inside of the car gloomy and near impossible to see out of in the dark. For the t4 I bought expensive film from ebay and it went ok, but pro jobs are loads better.

Courtaulds Performance Film is the absolute best window tint around. I've tried others like Madico, 3M and others but none are as good.
To shrink film on rear windows in one piece I've found using soapy water is much better than powder a it softens as it shrinks the film. Keep the factory edges at the top and bottom, divide it horizontally with a squeegee and work the upper first using your hand and hard tool and work out the bottom after. Trim as close to the glass as possible for a fit that won't roll off in the heat.
I've been tinting in California since 1987 so I know what I'm talking about.