Today I decided to tint the back windows, I bought the tint a while back, and its a job I would like to have done before I start work on the interior properly. Working out on the driveway does feel a little like being in a fish bowl at times !
I did tint the two new side windows on Scooby (the T4), but today I was going to find out this was a VERY different job !
The roll of tint I bought was enough to do both back door windows, but that was it, so no room for mistakes.
I did wonder if the pattern on the inside of these windows was going to be a problem, its kind of raised or embossed, you can see it in the dark edging around the window in the pic above. What I didnt realise was that the curve of the windows was going to be such a pain !
I cleaned the first window thoroughly using a spray bottle filled with a teaspoon of baby shampoo and water. You need to use baby shampoo as it doesnt contain the harsher chemicals that normal soap has. You need to make sure the window is completely clean and clear of dust and bits. Sadly I didnt give the inside of Nina a good clean first as well, as I now have the odd dog hair entombed under the film ! A good way to make it totally free is to run a blade from a stanley knife or something around the glass. Once it was all clean, I cut the film to size, carefully peeled the clear backing away, spraying a small amount of the shampoo solution onto the tint as I did it. Once all the backing is off, I sprayed the window too, then put the tint on with the glue side obviously against the glass, as everything is wet, you can easily slide the tint in to place, the start carefully squeedgying the excess water from underneath using something like a credit card that has a very straight edge and is slightly flexible. Mop up the water as you go. Trim around the edge once the film is sticking using a hobby knife. I bought a pack of 4 knifes from the shop What ! for around 90p which worked perfectly.
Now, on my T4, that was it, no bubbles or creases, I just had to leave it to dry. Not so with Nina ! Grrrrr. Once I'd pushed all the water out with a squeedgy, lots of 'finger creases' kept appearing all the way around the edge of the window, as quick as I was scraping the creases out, they were reappearing. I tried everything I could think of but nothing was working. I thought I'd sprayed too much water on or something.
Time for the iPad to do its magic and find out what the hell to do on the internet. I was surprised to see it was a common problem :S, caused by the curve of the window mostly, not helped by the pattern. The solution was to use a hot air gun to literally shrink the film to fit. Luckily, I still have Clives hot air gun here, so tried it out, and it got rid of the fingers ! The finished tint isnt perfect, but its good enough for someone like me. It looks mostly good, with the smallest dust spots or lines that dont really spoil the overall look of them from the outside. We've all seen the vans going around with the back windows tinted and looking like a spiders web of creases, well mine doesnt look like that ! :P.
First one done, as you can see, no major blemishes :). Its Limo tint, and as you can see, is a huuuuuge difference to the non tinted window.
Who would like to see a time lapse video of me doing the second window ? Knowing what I was doing the second time, I did it in 40 minutes from start to end, not bad for a non window tinter lol. Ok here ya go !
So thats it for today, back windows are lovely and dark now, and look great from the back ! Once I've debadged the back and its plain white, will look really nice with the glossy black spare wheelcover too :).
Once the back end of Nina has been converted to a kitchen, dog crate, and storage, the limo tint means that the stuff I put in storage wont be easily seen from outside, which is GOOD :).
Hopefully more jobs coming soon ! Make sure you stop by again :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
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