Some window tinting questions

[OneSweet89SC]

I am going to get my back 3 windows tinted soon, but I have a few questions. First, why do some quarter windows have lines around the tint and some don’t. I want to make sure I don’t have the lines! I’m going for this look:
http://www.sccoa.com/member/images/gilliland3.jpg
Maybe even darker? That’s my second question. What percent tint should I go with on the quarters and rear? My doors won’t be tinted at all, so take that into consideration. Also, I want to avoid the “purplish” tint look. Are there any brands I should make sure they aren’t using? My tinting knowledge is slim to none, so any other advice is appreciated. I’m just trying to do my homework so I don’t end up with something I don’t’ like. Thanks in advance.

Rich

http://members.tccoa.com/onesweet89sc/Sig.jpg

[tbirddan90]

I think for the percent of darkness may depend on local laws. I know here in Utah you can't have them very dark at all. But in New Mexico darkness doesn't matter.

[Scott Long]

Do 5% limo black on the back 3. You may want to consider tinting your windshield from the top to the bottom of the mirror mount 5% as well to block the sun. Cheap tint turns purple after a while, also if you clean it with windex it will eat the color. Only use soapy water to clean your tint on the inside. As for brands, my SC's have Johnsons Tint on them, so does my Audi. Some places use Llumar tint, its a good brand, but is a dark gray and not a black. For back windows usually cops don't care as long as they can see the driver.

In Michigan you can't have tint on the front door windows but I do on my Audi and my 90 SC and I'm getting my 92 SC tinted in the front. I have an eye doctors medical slip saying I have sensitive eyes so I am allowed to have tint on my cars, but if someone else is driving my car and they get pulled over they will get a ticket for illegal tint. Stupid law but at least I found a loop hole for myself.

All my cars have the windshield tinted to the bottom of the mirror. It really helps block the sun on bright days.

As for lines around the sides of the windows, its because these cars have the little paint dots on the edge of the window. Tint doesn't stick well over them. If you want, take some flat black and paint the edge of the inside of the window over the dots to make it solid, then have the tint shop tint to the paint line. We did that on my friends Camaro since the top of the back window is the same way and the tint wouldn't stick.

See if they can do your back window in 1 piece, if not have them seam it with the defrost lines. Mine are both 3 pieces and the guy seamed them nicely with the defrost lines. From outside you can't tell its not 1 piece. I've seen other SC's where the tint in multiple pieces and they curve from the bottom of the window, it looks like @#%$ in my opinion. Go to a good shop, the back windows on these cars are hard to tint since the curve around and out at the bottom. I tried to tint my cars and got the windshield, doors, and 1/4's done myself. I had the back window seamed all the way to the bottom defrost line but the last piece from there down bubbled on the sides and I couldn't get it to stick. So I ripped it all off and took it to a pro. He also happens to own a 35th anniv. SC so he is very familiar with tinting TBird rear windows. If you are in Michigan or Indiana I'd highly recommend Ryan Renner.

-Scott-
http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/audi/no 100.jpg
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC auto

[Steimie]

If you'd like to see out of the back window at night when trying to back into an unfamiliar spot then I'd recommend not going any darker than 20%. As far as which film to use I've always had great success with 3M. It is a little more expensive, however, I think it's definitely worth it. It has a real nice look to it and I believe that they even offer an anti-purple guarantee.

[JustinH]

In my opinion I would go 5% on the back three windows. You can see fine out the back windows, even with 5% tint. Remember, its only 5% from the outside looking in, not the inside looking out. I have 5% tint on the back 3, and 20% up front, and have no visibility problems whatsoever.

Justin

[Scott Long]

I have 5% on all my windows, no visibility problems even at night when turning corners. It takes a little time to get used to it at night, but I will not drive a car without tint. It makes me feel.... naked. I also have to have a radar detector in my car at all times. Just some things I'm accustomed too.

http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/sc1.jpg

-Scott-
http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/audi/no 100.jpg
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC auto

[Scott Long]

sorry, heres a better pic:
http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/sc2.jpg

-Scott-
http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/audi/no 100.jpg
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC auto

[DCClark]

I have 20 % all the way around, if you have any problems what so ever in the dark now go with 20 %, it really isnt that dark at night and you can see out of it. I had a shop do all 5 rear windows for 240. They did the rear in one piece (well worth it), and the rest really nicely. 20 % you can still see inside on a sunny day, on a cloudy day it is fairly dark looking inside. It is a good privacy screen. My reason for doing it was to help keep my leather in shape, not dry it out and to get some privacy. Go 20% all the way around if your state allows it.

[OneSweet89SC]

Well, I've got one vote at 5% and another at 20%. Anyone else want to add their opinion here? Or, is there a % in between the two that I could possible go with--10%? Thanks for the input so far. I was quoted $100 for the back three windows from a respectable place. Is that fair?

Rich

http://members.tccoa.com/onesweet89sc/Sig.jpg

[Tazer999]

I like my double layered 5% on the back 3 windows

Crappy pic, but you get the idea

http://members.tccoa.com/ryanb/exterior/tinted_windows.jpg

[92rollingthunder]

i got 5% in the back 3 and 20% up front but in Brooklyn cups say its to dark
http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0NwAAACMSduLyEPXZxw7WpUBnn9wsik0WKO066UB5ocAe2EFth 2sBHn8Q*JomNNch97*aR!c4PGi2DC0Ng3pD8Q/tbird-011.jpg

[Scott Long]

I paid $100 for my back 3 windows and an "eyebrow" on the windshield on my 92.

I paid $75 to get my silver car tinted on every single window and windshield.

Same guy did both cars. He will do a 2 door car for $100 for all the windows and a 4 door for $120.

If you don't like people staring at you, or looking in your car when its parked to see if you have anything to steal like cd player, cd's, money, radar, sunglasses, etc.... go with 5%.

-Scott-
http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/small.jpg
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC automatic
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed

[Scott Long]

92RollingThunder, is your car lowered? How much did it cost to get your door handles shaved?

-Scott-
http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/small.jpg
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC automatic
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed

[92rollingthunder]

when i took that pic only the front was lowerd with ebach and tociko combo thats why it look like that
i did my door handels when i did the body work so every thing was included
Marcin

[Dave Neibert]

Here is a link to a site that has the state laws for window tinting.

www.tintdude.com/laws.html (http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html)

[AATVFury]

i work in the tinting business..avoid these folling brands if u dont want purpling..Gila,and lumars lower priced tints..this best tint i have ever seen (i work at a tint shop) is Alpena..it keeps the rich black look for years and it has a life time warenty..go to a well knowen tint shop..and *dont* get the *cheapest* priced install..

[Scott Long]

Marcin, do your inside door handles work or do you have to hit the unlock switch to pop the doors? My friends neon has shaved handles and he has to push the unlock to open the fronts but they both pop. If he uses his remote it only pops the drivers door first, then push it again and the passengers door pops. The back doors aren't controlled by poppers so you can still use the handles on the inside. I'm debating about shaving my door handles and trunk lock. I'm for sure going to do the trunk lock but I don't know about the handles. I might put 97 handles on it.

-Scott-
http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/small.jpg
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC automatic
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed

[92rollingthunder]

Scott
the handels still work in side the remote has two bottons i push one to open driver side and bouth to open pasenger i kept my lock in the trunk for savety some people say it look weard but it saved my a$$ two times allready
Marcin

[Scott Long]

I have had to climb in through my trunk a few times when my keys have gotten locked in my car. I have a spare trunk key. What sucks is that I had to remove my sub box and climb over my amp.

I think if I do end up shaving the handles on one of my SC's that I'm going to put the newer late model trim on, in my opinion not having trim on the doors makes them look WAY too big.

-Scott-
http://members.aol.com/kenwoodsc/images/small.jpg
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC auto
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed

[Rob Noth]

I recently got my SC re-tinted, because the film I got on there like 10 years ago had turned purple. Believe me, you don't want to ever have to remove the tint film from an SC. Anyway, what I learned is the films that don't turn purple are the metallized films. These don't use dye, which will turn purple with age. Around here, the two most common brands are Llumar and Madico. I went with Madico 20%, and the only complaint I would have is that it isn't quite as dark as the 20% I had before. But it's still plenty dark for me.

[Still Cruisn]

Thanks guys for all the info. I'm also about to get my windows tinted. Should a done it many moons ago. I was also clueless when it came to tint. Very timely info for me.
-Rick-

[OneSweet89SC]

Here's an update:
I made an appointment to get them tinted and went in to have it done today. The guy uses Llumar metallized tint and I've seen his work and must says its perfect. The plan was to do 15% on the back three. Well 4 hours later he finished the back window, but he still was not happy with the look (it looked dang good to me, but he said it wasn't perfect). So he made an appointment for me to drop the car off Thursday so he could have it for a full 8 hours. He is going to remove the rear deck and backseat to make sure he can get the bottom curves right (tint will be all one piece on the back). For making me comeback a second time, he is going to do the door windows free of charge. So the new plan is 15% on the back three and 35% on the front two. The price remains the same as originally quoted, and he said he will make sure the thing is perfect. He also said I'm going to end up with about a $270 tint job and that he is losing more on just the tint he's wasting on my car then what he's charging me, but he said it didn't matter to him because his name and respect draws business and he wants to keep that reputation. Assuming this comes out as good as I expect it to, I'd recommend the guy to anyone in the Canton, Ohio area. He's very professional. Anyways, sorry for the book, I'm just excited to finally be getting all this done.

Rich

http://members.tccoa.com/onesweet89sc/Sig.jpg

[Scott Long]

Take some pics and post them.

I hate removing tint. The guy that tinted my windows on my SC's had to peel the mirror tint crap off my car that was on it when I bought it. I couldn't get it off so I was gonna let him do it. He put some adhesive remover on the glass that was so strong it started to soften the glue that held the window in. So we had to wait a few days for that to dry before he tinted the back window. So i had the doors, sides, and windshield done but no tint on the back. I felt stupid driving around like that. I even had the car in a car show over the weekend. I was pretty embarassed about that. But the next week he finished the back window. It looks great.

-Scott-
http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/audi/no 100.jpg
1993 Audi quattro 5-speed
1992 Thunderbird SC 5-speed
1990 Thunderbird SC auto

[Vic W]

So who is this guy that did your window tint? In St Joe? I am in the Detroit area, a do-able distance. How long does the job take and what did he charge you?

Vic
1990 SC, 5sp with Ripper, 3/4 top, K&N,
3 magnacors on and 3 to go.

[ilusnforc]

I had mine tinted back in about November, a friend that did my front end conversion knew a local guy that did tinting for a lot of cars he works on. He got me a hookup on it for about $85 i think. I told him i wanted limo dark on the back 3 windows (5%?) and legal 35% on the doors. I am very satisfied with what i got, also i put my windshield banner on and did it myself so the bottom of the banner goes perfectly along a line where the 2 arrows are on either side of the windshield. Very nice look from the outside yet great visibility from inside the car looking out.