Window tinting

[Johan]

Well, to cut a long story short : here are the pics................

Before :

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/p336f5e2dc4e5c7f3054f3f9e95882478/fda8be4b.jpg

After :

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/p3c7821505b6261941668805fc4747178/fda8be3a.jpg

:) :) :)

[Chumpchiggy]

Looks like you used reflective tint...?

Did you? :confused:

Looks good nonetheless, did you do it yourself, or have a shop do it?

Chiggy

[zcs626]

same tint i have on my silver celi

[Johan]

It is blue in de shadow and silver in sunlight, it's named alu Saphir.

Here are the specs :

radiation transmitting 35 % (right word ?)
radiation reflection 13 %
radiation absorbence 65 %

light transmitting 32 %
light reflection 10 %

UV tranmitting < 1 %

Throw back sun energie 51 %

EC code : ABG-Nr G27 /\/\/\ D5211

Is was done in a shop and it took them 6 hours to get it perfectly on the windows....

[LaW]

6hrs??? Geez they must not be that good.... :)

I had my tinting done in 45 minutes and it's perfect....

[XteSy17]

that looks like my tint...mirror blue...i dont' konw the real name thats what i call it...

[Johan]

Originally posted by LaW
6hrs??? Geez they must not be that good.... :)

I had my tinting done in 45 minutes and it's perfect....

Which tells me that your defenition of perfect without any doubt different is from mine................

[LaW]

I doubt you can tell the difference between my tint application and yours :) the place that did my tinting does high end cars as well etc whatever no sense in arguing

[Johan]

Sure............ this man who has been doing this for the last 9 years, every day and doing it also for BMW and mercedes must be an idiot.

I've been in that shop the whole day to watch the process and there is NO way to do it the same exact way in only 45 minutes. What do you think? I'm that stupid ?????

[nccelica]

did mine with a friend in about 2 hours... it may of been so long for you because it sounds like there was only one guy doing it

[cool2miketlu]

Guys don't argue please, there is a reason why his took so long. It is because his tint film is made for residential/commercial building tinting, they are alot thicker thus harder to work with. That is why it took so long, I should know because my buddy owns a tint shop and I help him out on weekends.
As to quality of the tinting, its not how long the shop has been there its how long his employee has been there or how much experience. My buddys shop was opened since 1985 and it has been in same location with same guys since 1985, now about cars being done there... We did higher end then Mercedes Benz try Diablo once a month for awhile until the resaler closed down.
One bad thing about Diablo is that one of the window in that car you need to apply film on the outside, which will go bad within like 1~3 year... But then if you can afford a car like that retinting that window once every 1~3 year for $100 (stripping and retinting) should be insignificant. I think the most exotic car the shop has done would be the S7...
As for more famous accounts the shop has, TRD in Orange County brings their show cars to have all the windows blacked out including windshield (legal because it is not driven, it is always towed) Latest work on their car is their new Matrix show car.

[cool2miketlu]

Oh! forgot! Apex sales manager in Orange County Sean had his Skyline R32 tinted at the shop also. Now that is a bad ass car, exotics we are afraid to use the power with this one we can. This is one car I can afford and get, it is a better exotic than others because of that.

[Johan]

cool2miketlu, you might be right. I don't know what kind of tinting they use in the USA, but this tinting is 7/1000 of a millimeter thick and is build up in 5 layers. It is made in Germany and it's not for buildings, it's specialy for car tinting.

First you have to clean the window VERY good on the outside. Then you have to put the tinting upside down on the outside of the window, VERY good, like you are going to put it there. Then you have to cut it.
Next you have to clean the inside of the window real well. You take it carefully from the outside and remover the protection layer.
Then you spray the clue emulsie on the inside and put the tinting on the inside. You finish by heating carefully the tinting and make it real good.

I forgot to say that this man was the owner of the shop...............

If you want to see how it was done, the pics are on : www.imagestation.com/members/tccn

You find them in the map named window tinting............................

[cool2miketlu]

To do this right you clean it real well on the outside of the window, then put the film on (clear glue protecting film on the outside) with water holding the film onto the window. Use squeegy and heat gun to shape it to the curvature of the glass (Celica is not as extreme in curvature than others but this is a proceedure that should be done) Then you cut it to shape (overcompensate on the bottom) then you clean up the edges alittle. clean inside of window real well with stainless steel razor blade going over surface then wet the glass and apply the film (glue toward the glass), move film in place then squeegy water out. After its done shave the edges uptop and tuck the overcompensate part on the bottom below the door. After getting enough water out heat the edges of the window (top) to dry it enough that closing door and open door will not shift film. Ofcourse the use of the heatgun and amount of heat applied gotta be done carefully, or else it will ruin the film.
Yeah U.S. reflective film and other color film is illegal to use so in the states all these films are only used for homes or commercial buildings, so thats why we do not have those films to use here. But I am not sure about Europe.

[Johan]

Originally posted by cool2miketlu
To do this right you clean it real well on the outside of the window, then put the film on (clear glue protecting film on the outside) with water holding the film onto the window. Use squeegy and heat gun to shape it to the curvature of the glass (Celica is not as extreme in curvature than others but this is a proceedure that should be done) Then you cut it to shape (overcompensate on the bottom) then you clean up the edges alittle. clean inside of window real well with stainless steel razor blade going over surface then wet the glass and apply the film (glue toward the glass), move film in place then squeegy water out. After its done shave the edges uptop and tuck the overcompensate part on the bottom below the door. After getting enough water out heat the edges of the window (top) to dry it enough that closing door and open door will not shift film. Ofcourse the use of the heatgun and amount of heat applied gotta be done carefully, or else it will ruin the film.
Yeah U.S. reflective film and other color film is illegal to use so in the states all these films are only used for homes or commercial buildings, so thats why we do not have those films to use here. But I am not sure about Europe.

Thanks a lot, your english is better then mine and you can explain better. That is exacty what I wantes to say. In The Netherlands its legal as long as 20 % of the light is ot reflected or absorved....

Thanks again :D :D :D

[De Lange]

I must say that I've seen multiple cars with this window-teints, various cars from cheap crap in 45 minutes puton (and half-year wear off LOL) and stuff like Johan showed, which WILL take up to 6 hours or more to apply firmly and professional. I must also mention the fact that this film used is especially made and designed for use on automobiles and NOT for buildings or what so ever!! Look at the cars in your area, you pick the half-hour jobs out in no time, air bubles....half loose ends....damaged...crappy quality etc. And I read something of a 100 us$ job??? I hope that's for 1 window only, not for all 5, because professional film alone is more expensive than that.
So pls check upon former done cars of the firms that offer these products and then check for air bubbles or loose ends , if not, you're in good hands and if so, leave it and continue your search. There is a price that has to be paid for quality.

Regards,

Roy

[nccelica]

my tint was a grand total of $25 labor and tint, no bubbles, no loose ends, 1 year and holding strong ;)

[Johan]

Originally posted by nccelica
my tint was a grand total of $25 labor and tint, no bubbles, no loose ends, 1 year and holding strong ;)


Have you been reading the posts ?????????? :angry:

[cool2miketlu]

Well, the films here in the states with reflective property over 20% (not sure exact number but Lexus SUV is testing the limit of the reflective property US allows) and most of the film supplier will not supply automotive reflective films (normally but there are ways around it), the only reflective film like that is only for residential and commercial buildings. The tint jobs around CA area for 4 door car are from $150~$500. $500 is from Beverly Hills or something, but the shop I work at charge $165 for 4 door normal sedan. Wagon and SUV or Beetle charge more because SUV and Wagon use more film and Beetle charge more because it takes forever to do it correctly (2 piece, impossible to do this cleanly 1 piece). Reason we can charge cheap is because cheap rent.

[Johan]

Yeh, that is what the man told me also. The beetle is close to impossible. He did one and is not willing to do it again.
The mazda MSX3 (I don't know the US name of that car) is also impossible to do.

The prize you have to pay here is for the front and back window $ 181.00 each and for the side windows $ 66.00 each.

If you consider it is a 6 hours job I think it is a realistic prize.........

As as said before the light tranmission is 35 % so that is well below the max of 20 %

Nice to have a reaction from someone who knows what he is talking about......................

[nccelica]

i know what im talking about.. im just giving you an idea of what the pricing is in the US to do it yourself.. sheesh

[Johan]

Originally posted by nccelica
i know what im talking about.. im just giving you an idea of what the pricing is in the US to do it yourself.. sheesh

Okay, have it your way............................

[LaW]

Well lets see if it was one guy maybe 6 hours is fine plus like what was said it has to go on in layers? or what not. The place I had mine done at had 3 people working on my car. Probably why it took 45 minutes then.

[De Lange]

It now looks as if everybody is settling a bit. 6 Hours may seem a bit long and 45 minutes(times 3 persons) seems a bit short, but in the end I think everybody agrees to the fact that this is not a half hour job of US$50 or less. I'm gonna see Johans car in a few weeks and the man that installed the tints onhis car will be on that meeting as well I understood, so that's the day I'll ask a lot of questions, also regarding the cheaper tints that are available in almost every carshop. Nobody has to convince anybody that his or her tint-job is the best. A noble opinion is enought. I'll respect your opinions as long as you respect someone else's. Afterall: don't we all want the best for our celica?

Roy
PS checkout the dutch celica forum on: http://www.toyota-forum.tccn.nl

[Johan]

Roy (that's De Lange) I didn't start this thread to convince anyone. I simply wanted to tell about the nice job done on my car as you also saw on www.toyota-forum.tccn.nl

It was the fact that some stupid kid, who doesn't know what he is talking about was posting his stupid comment. Later one someone stepped in who knew what he was talking about and with him there was no problem........ Owwww, never mind, let's stick to our board where you get a more smart reaction then most of the time here.

The most stupid thing was that even after the good posts and the explanations from the guy from trom te US (the only one) who knows what he is talking about, they keep posting...... I did it for $25.00

No more comment from here.......

cool2miketlu, if you want to talk about it, you're more then welcome but please PM me................................................ ..

cool2miketlu, you can also go to www.toyota-forum.tccn.nl and post in international forum and I will answer you there. My name there is Blue Lighting.......

See you and thanks :D

[nccelica]

all we are trying to say is it doesnt matter how long you take on a car, a job can still be good quality in less time, just depends on the person(s) and the tint, you made it sound like that the more time someone spends on something the more perfect it will be and thats not always true, and i dont understand why your making such childesh comments when we are just trying to explain to you how it could be different

It was the fact that some stupid kid, who doesn't know what he is talking about was posting his stupid comment.

The most stupid thing was that even after the good posts and the explanations from the guy from trom te US (the only one) who knows what he is talking about, they keep posting...... I did it for $25.00

obviously i know what im talking about since i did my own and you didnt :confused:

as far as your tint goes, it looks good:thumbup:, I had the same idea back when i was doing my tint except i wanted to use 2 seperate tints instead of an already layered one, i decided to go with the regular blue tint (3 layers) because i thought it matched up good with the sparkle in the carbon blue plus reflective tends to be very susceptable to policemen, since reflective tint is illegal in north carolina

now lower that car :p

[cool2miketlu]

Ok... there may be some confusions here. Yes it is possible to do this in 45 minutes, that is if you have like more than 2 guys working on the car. 1 guy do the back window and the other two guys do the side windows. As for the prices it varies from state to state not to say different country, but it is a good reference as to how much they are charged in other countries. For example I have heard some of my San Diego customer saying that they are being charged over $300 to tint car and that does not include drives side window and passenger side window because it is illegal. So pricing is not really anything to argue about. Now about tinting a car... I would recommand having a professional do it. Because there are different films out there, the ones pep boys sells suck big time. Most of those films do not contain metal which will reflect some of the heat right away (also makes that shiny metal color) so the film being black will absorb all the rays of the sun, this will cause the glue in the film to heat up. If this keep up for a long time the glue in the film will break down and bubble, thats why you see alot of cars with bubbles in their back window because the areas around defrost lines are most suseptable to this. With the metalized film it will keep the glue fairly cool which means the glue will not break down, thats why many of the company that sells these film come with lifetime warranty from bubbling and peeling. Now the higher quality films they are sold to tint shops only and the tint shop is not allowed to sell films out customers, if they do the warranty that comes with the film will not apply to that customer.
Yes by all means you can do this yourself, but once the glue breaks down and bubbles, you will have to pay $50 or so to just remove the back window. If you do it yourself by razor blading it or just rip it off you may kill your defrostline. If you are going to do this yourself buy the best tint film you can find and make sure they are metalized film (has a layer of metal in the film).
The steps to how to tint your car is above, you can try it yourself. Just becareful do not heat the film too much or heat the glass too much. With heat glass will flex thus may shatter if you heat it too much, so be very careful.

[dodiet]

The tint shop i went to had this machine that you feed the roll of tint in and it cuts it into the shapes of the windows. I thought it was really cool. A nice time saver. BTW, your tint looks really good

[cool2miketlu]

A plotter that has a knife instead of pen, same as the ones sticker people uses. Good thing is it saves time, but bad thing is not everyone has the same window. But it is a time saver, however getting the template right is pretty hard.