Messed up twice already

[pancake]

Ah.. I'm still learning and trying to tint the back window of a 94 Camaro. Not only it is curved like a Corvette (think shape of the letter n) but it is also curved slightly concave near the bottom. 

 

I saw a video of a guy doing it outside and no shrinking and idk if it's some black magic type of stretch film he's using but it seems near impossible. 

 

I'm using solar Gard nr supreme and maybe it's the film but I don't know. 

 

I squeegeed from the middle but as I start to get towards the really long curve on the bottom, the tint is too tight that it starts to flare up. 

 

Thoughts?

 

Personal car so Im open to 2 or even 3 piece strategies to get it done

[JOHNNYBTINT]

Not bashing your film, but I tried a few rolls of that film about two years ago and it was horrible in my opinion. Get your hands on some other film and see if thats your problem.

[pancake]

21 minutes ago, JOHNNYBTINT said:

Not bashing your film, but I tried a few rolls of that film about two years ago and it was horrible in my opinion. Get your hands on some other film and see if thats your problem.

Yeah no worries. Solargard is the only film Ive tried but it seems from the youtube videos I've inspected.. my film doesn't move as quite well. It doesn't shrink or stretch at all. It's very thick and sturdy. I tried to stretch some old film with my hands just pulling on it and it really has no give.

 

I'll try a different film. Even when I put it on the window before I squeegee it, it has a lot more fingers than some of the videos I've seen and I think it's the film

[no ma'am]

Don't squeegee towards the bottom, squeegee along the bottom. And if you lay it up outside wet and stretch it out right you should only have fingers up top in the dots to shrink. Hardest part of the window is laying it and cutting the defrost tabs out right. 

[pancake]

I think there's something wrong with the film or this type of film doesn't stretch/shrink properly. I tried again and just couldn't get it to work and so as an experiment, I cut up the film into 6 pieces and tried to shrink a rectangle the size of about 15" x 12" around the curved end of the glass.. No matter what I did, it would not shrink or stretch. Tried it wet and dry.

 

I always thought even with relatively flat windows, the fingers were not shrinking properly like I see on some of the youtube videos. The fingers on my film won't iron out very well. Even on flat surfaces. 

 

I think I'm going to have to try another film.

 

If you look at this video where I timestamped it..

 

My film does not shrink like this where he can work it up like that. The film feels very rigid. If you continue to heat it, the adhesive gets dried off and the film gets useless. 

 

I bought mine at tintcenter thinking solargard was a good brand but I might have to try something else. 

 

 

If anyone has any brand recommendations for something similar to how Solargard Supreme looks, I'm all ears. I already did the 2 front windows so would like it to be reasonably close visually.

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by pancake

[Sunbreakers]

@JOHNNYBTINT is correct when he says solar gard is not really sticky at all. This is an old school rear glass and it must be done "old school." In the old days before we shrank that much it was all about tension. @no ma'am makes reference to it when he says to pull across the bottom. What I do is tack in the middle a place a bit larger than my fist. I soap shrink so I put a little too much soap on the window and while it is still sticky I attempt this. Pull all of your fingers and slack around the bottom and towards the top. You should have nothing....not one finger....to shrink around the bottom and sides. On the top you have maybe 5 seconds of shrinking. There are a few windows I have done where at the very bottom on the passenger side it will not stay laid down on the glass. If that is the case then you will need to do a bit of shrinking at the bottom in that area. Very unusual but it can happen. When you get all that done I then cut one side of the defroster elements and you can either cut the other one  or wait till you put on the inside and hand cut it to fit. Usually I cut both on the outside and then adjust the one that will not fit on the inside. It gives me alignment and I don't have to worry about gaps. Another thing you can do is all along the border and the matrix at the top you can sand with 1000 grit wet sandpaper. Wipe the gray residue off with a towel before you clean or squeegee. Do NOT sand the bare glass. This will help you get adhesion when you put it on the inside. 

 

You can do it with a bit of practice. This is not a window meant for the beginner level. However even our Llumar Pro Select shop here avoids them and will not do them they struggle so bad with them. Good luck buddy...hope you pull it off. 

 

[Sunbreakers]

Also, the video you posted the guy is wet shrinking...you may have a harder time trying to shrink doing it that way than other methods. There are many other comments I have, but I will simply add that there are many techniques that I think could be a bit easier and possibly more forgiving for you than what you are seeing there. Obviously his approach works and that is all that matters at the end of the day. Hope this helps. 

 

[BIG E]

The bottom of that window needs to "snap" into what I call a reverse curve.  Sunbreakers is correct, tension is your friend on this one, the bottom, outside edges only need to shrink at the very bottom, and when installing the bottom center snaps back into a reverse curve compared to the rest of the window.

[quality tintz]

Another tip when installing with baby shampoo use a real light mix of soap to install and use some clear tape to tape down your Corners so they don't peel back for a while till it dries when I used to do these I would make a bubble in the middle and shrink it wet shrink 

[quality tintz]

Still shrink top regular...try solar fx good stuff  good price u know !!!!