civicrice

you become a black belt tinter lol 

these are the vehicles that separate the pros from the noobs. even as a pro these are challenging. i like to cut out a slither and nylon brush the seal.  after that i steam blast it with a steamer. then i lay a thin layer of elmers glue. like captain spod said only wet the film and reverse roll it on. 

he might have scuffed some of the hard coat layer off.... not repairable.

hog wash

just wanted to hear anyone's experience with this. I installed some bronze 20 from solar graphics on a lexus sedan about 4 weeks ago. The customer wasn't happy with how dark it was.  it wasn't anywhere near a 20 but has a nice reflective appearance similar to the old school lexus SUV's.  He brought it back last friday and to my surprise one side still had alot of moisture pockets. I want to put a 20 percent over it but hesitant because it isn't all the way cured yet. 

3 hours ago, Whyme said:

As soon as any one asks about tint brands all the global guys chime in ! Like free advertising ! Top brands imo are Llumar , Huper optic , Solargard . 3m crystalline ! 

global has exceptional clarity, bulletproof scratch coat, color is a nice charcoal not overly green or blue, and the film doesn't turn purple even after 10 years in the california sun. easy to shrink and does't have curling issues during installation. the price is unbeatable for what you get. what else can 1 ask for? 

1 hour ago, Golf983 said:

Is the global ceramic tint reflective at all in interior or exterior? Wonder if I should just go regular tint for this reason

global ceramics look like normal films. they just a slight sheen to them nothing crazy

something others here haven't mentioned. Considering the age of your truck you might be looking at hard water stains caused by acid rain and oxidation of the glass. I have had 3 customers comeback this year thinking it was the tint and I had to prove them wrong all 3 times by removing the tint and having them take a close look. They look like zebra stripes when the light hits it at the right angle.  The tint magnifies the stains but they are actually on the outside of the glass. 

5 minutes ago, CuriousTinter said:

That's great! there are two popular methods for applying film. one where the installer bottom loads (requires panel removal) and top loading (no removal). Removing the panel almost always produces impeccable results.  shops that have a high quality standard will favor this method.  the top loading in my opinion will be close to perfect but will have flaws that only trained tinters will notice. flaws included contamination and little crease lines.  Personally I hate removing panels only because i feel like they never quite go on the same or have the same feel to them when you open and close the doors. I do like the good quality i get from removing panels though!
 

 

Civicrice: Thank you again for your feedback. This is really good information for people like me to learn and grasp. Believe it or not there are people who will remove the windows from the car and bring them to a tint shop to minimize the risk of getting any scratches or blemishes.

 

I don't mean to disrespect anyone's professional expertise but I am still wondering if there's any downside if my tinter could have just used something like an old credit card to tuck the film under the gasket without cutting it? Or is there a downside to this approach as well?

J

its clean and mean when the installer takes that slither out.  bumpling the film on anything increases the chances for sucking in debris and making for bad quality.  Like I said before this process can be botched by a beginner.  Good thing is this is the only cutting of rubber seals that tinters do so for your next car you can ask them not to cut it.  

4 hours ago, CuriousTinter said:

Thank you for your feedback. I've learned this was most likely an inevitable consequence in order to get the window tinted.

I stand by my earlier comments that my tinter did a great job. I understand that this is a tinters forum and I am just a customer who knows nothing about tinting so I appreciate your civility. That said, please understand that there are a lot of car owners including myself who would rather forego the tint or go to other tinters if they had been informed about this technique beforehand. This is why I asked my tinter not to remove or pop the door panels even though he said it's what he does all the time.

 

Thanks again.

J

 

That's great! there are two popular methods for applying film. one where the installer bottom loads (requires panel removal) and top loading (no removal). Removing the panel almost always produces impeccable results.  shops that have a high quality standard will favor this method.  the top loading in my opinion will be close to perfect but will have flaws that only trained tinters will notice. flaws included contamination and little crease lines.  Personally I hate removing panels only because i feel like they never quite go on the same or have the same feel to them when you open and close the doors. I do like the good quality i get from removing panels though!

 

definitely keep practicing.  Do the cars of your entire family tree and the work will speak for itself.  overtime you will build a solid clientele. 

On 9/3/2020 at 8:55 AM, CuriousTinter said:

Hi all,

 

This is my first post here and I am glad to be here.

 

I just had 3M Crystalline 90% film installed on my 2019 GSF and I am pleased with the result as the tinter did a great job. Before he started, I insisted on not having the door panel popped open for the installation and pretty much watched how the film was put on the car throughout the appointment.  As careful as I was, there are two things that I must have overlooked and I was wondering if anyone can chime in regarding them:

 

1. The tinter used a razor blade to trim/slice a very small strip of rubber (probably no more than 1mm) on the seal separating the rear and quarter windows before he put on the film on the rear quarter window. I would have stopped him but he did it within just seconds. Is it normal for seal/rubber gasket to be cut/trimmed off like this? Just to be fair if it weren’t for the video capturing what he did I would not have known about it at all. It looks flawless.
   
   https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=GeQyZsdF4Z4
    
2. I specifically told the tinter to not remove the 3M logos on the tint film for now. He did what I asked for but I don’t see any 3M logos on the quarter windows and the front driver side window. The tinter explained that since he used a 30 inch roll, he had to cut the film in certain ways and therefore the 3M logo won’t be seen on some part of the film. Does this make sense?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

J

you came in for a tint job and was shook that your seals be cut up. I get it. we as tinters do that to avoid a slither of a light gap that would be noticeably present if it wasn't for this technique.  Not going to lie some noobs can butcher them sometimes. as for the 3m logos i can bet anything that if you went back and asked for them on the windows that don't have they will gladly do that for you.  

I always tell people tinting is a woman's job..... I'm getting overpaid. 

On 1/30/2020 at 7:46 AM, DynamicATL said:

It has been a minute since we played with Wincos, so can't remember if it has a blue hue or not.  However, here is a couple of photos of a Lexus we did in Wincos 30.

 

what camera you use for these pics?

seen a vid on youtube where the guy explains that its a residue that is left on the defrosters for the chargers/challengers. he had a dawn ultra/ water solution and let them soak while he shrunk it. then he did a regular scrub and the film layd down good. 

but what about the wasp? 

don't sweat it its just tint.  at the end of the day service goes a long way.  anything from lumar, xpel, 3m and global should meet your needs. they are all good films that will last for years! but to answer your original question xpel and global might be made by the same manufacturer but are NOT THE SAME FILM. 

3 hours ago, arf22 said:

I'm trying to understand based on what a tint shop told me that Global is the same exact film as xpel. So i compared the specs of xpel prime XR plus and Global QDP ceramic and they don't match up at all in terms of specs. I understand they are independantly tested but how can they be that far off from each other.

 

If you had to choose which would you choose and if it is all made by Garware and just branded with different names is QDP really xpel Prime XR and are the specs for xpel XR plus false?

 

thanks

check this vid out 

malibus and fusions

Just now, civicrice said:

+1 on the HP been on one of my cars for 7 years now no bubbling or fading. still looking limo black.  i don't think it has great clarity like say the global qdp but would use for the long term. great film. 

the carbon is garbashh

+1 on the HP been on one of my cars for 7 years now no bubbling or fading. still looking limo black.  i don't think it has great clarity like say the global qdp but would use for the long term. great film. 

10 minutes ago, InTheCaribbean said:

Can you expand on this response?  An explanation and/or a link?

10 minutes ago, InTheCaribbean said:

Can you expand on this response?  An explanation and/or a link?

https://www.riotglass.com/portfolio/armorplast-125ms/

On 6/6/2020 at 11:51 PM, InTheCaribbean said:

Hi everyone, Any update on this? I’m looking for films that will block small to medium caliber handguns and also smash and grab.  I’ve got an old Mercedes G wagon that I want to do this on.  The advantage of the G wagon is all windows are completely flat.

armor plast 125 ms from riot glass

looks shiat

my old boss who had been tinting for 35 years would always tell tales of his prime tinting days.  he was still an animal and by no means anywhere near average even at 52 years old.  but he would always say he would whip out a four door in just over an hour.  He would do 6 to 8 a day.  I have tried and tried and the closest i have gotten is an hour and 45 minutes on a late model malibu.  Thats from the minute it goes in the bay up to ready to ship out status. In the pursuit of cutting time I have found that i cant really move any faster but have adjusted my technique to become more efficient.  i'm burned out after 3 full cars in 1 day i cant imagine doing more than that for an entire, week, month, Years! this stuff requires alot of focus and a stamina that i think can only be acquired through actually putting yourself through the grind and doing way more cars a day than your comfortable with until it becomes normal.  does anyone here know any 1 that has that kind of movement and swag?  is it an attainable goal?