highplains

3 hours ago, no ma'am said:

A first for me, as usual strip and retint. Easy car. Pinnacle 30/15 

That generation RX7 was a great looking car

A carpet dash cover will likely help you more than a lighter shade of film

20 hours ago, Bham said:

‘69 in the house   LS3 w/T-56 6spd

 

 

I just did a '69 the other day too!

21 hours ago, Dano said:

@Tintguy1980This The hydrophobic glass that was shedding water was fun. Now a bunch of the detail lots are using a ceramic infused glass cleaner that acts about the same. I've had some luck breaking it with a white(least aggressive) clay bar.

I've been using a torch to good effect, just have to be extremely careful 

I haven't done a Kubota so I can't tell you if a 36" roll is wide enough but I can tell you that in my experience tinting a tractor isn't fun and you should charge accordingly. The last one I did was a mid sized John Deere and it took over 20' of film

On 9/21/2022 at 8:06 AM, Dano said:

I remember back in the day people getting upset that I didn't match the new glass to the old one, color and all.

I've had a few customers over the years come in and request purple tint.

There was a mercedes I did for a dealership a few years ago that had the most ultraviolet purple 5% tint I'd ever seen come in to R&R the driver's window they scratched. I tried like hell to convince them to just remove all of it but they just wouldn't listen. From the outside it wasn't that bad but from inside even Stevie Wonder couldn't miss the difference. 

I've done several of them without issue. Like the others here have mentioned make sure the shop is aware of the factory coating and knows not to put a blade or steel wool to the glass, that the shop puts out quality work, and that they use a film with a proven track record of longevity.

My daily is 20 on the fronts, 35 over factory in the rear, 80 on the 'shield with a 5 brow. Wife's ride has 35 on the fronts, 20 over factory in the rear with 80 on the shield with 5 brow as well. My nice/weekend/going out car has 35 all around and nothing on the shield. Edited to add, they're all done in ceramic all the way around minus the brows.

@TintDudenailed it. 100%

12 hours ago, no ma'am said:

If you remember I did I a 5 series a few years back that had privacy on only the back driver or passenger roll up. Not the qtr or back or any other window. New from the dealer. The Wehrmacht’s quality control was lacking that day . 

I do remember that now that you mentioned it!

@JohnGalt if I were in your position I'd try calling them directly and see if they'd sell you a short roll. Almost every other film they offer is available in a 50' roll, doesn't hurt to ask.

On 9/13/2022 at 12:51 PM, TintDude said:

 

Thanks for correcting me, I thought that was against fed law.

It is in the US if it's classified as a passenger vehicle. I've noticed more and more vehicles being classified as MPVs on the Vin tags in the doors jamb and they're mostly shipping with privacy glass in the rear. I also believe that in the international market (certain markets anyway) they're allowed privacy glass from the factory on sedans

Yeah I still wouldn't mind having a clean Fiero

It could be trimmed by hand to the edge of the stripe but there is risk involved in that. Beyond that I don't think you have a lot of options, unfortunately those factory stripes are inconsistent in their placement so getting that precut piece to line up with them 100% perfectly 100% of the time isn't always possible. Your options as I see it are to live with it; have it trimmed by hand; or have the film and stripes removed, the film reapplied and then new stripes applied over the film. 

Thanks for the heads up.

It may be semantics but that's the limit strap/check strap, the striker is at the opposite end mounted into the jamb that the latch grabs.

15 hours ago, Kmann said:

Planning to take the car in to have the shop look at the gaskets. I noticed this as well, looks like the tint was a little high here and he shaved onto the rounded edge of the glass. Is this normal to happen?

That's just the glass. I see low spots in the bevel of new glass like that all the time.

The top of those panels pop loose so easily it's a non issue for me. Pop the top, yank the seal out, and cover the panel with a walmart bath towel. In my opinion there is no easier money in tinting than the '14-18 GM full size trucks. The included picture isn't that truck but shows what I'm talking about.

I'll chime in here that I've had very good luck using glass polish to remove haze like that. @Bhamis correct that any scratches you can catch your fingernail in are too deep to polish out but surface level haze clears up beautifully. Ive never had distortion issues with the glass I've polished and I get aggressive and use a 3" rotary air polisher with Rayon pads and Ceriglass compound. It's important to keep in mind that you can do damage if you stay in one spot and focus too much in one area. Here's a before and after on a Dodge Ram window I did

19 minutes ago, Ryker said:

The rubber cut is on the inside not outside so it is odd to be the Tinter that did that.  Lots of frameless cars are bad about the glass going too high and tearing just like this...

 

If the slice wasn't so perfectly clean and on a brand new car I'd say you're right as I've seen it plenty of times as well. My guess is it was done while trimming the top edges 

On 7/27/2022 at 12:30 PM, mobiledynamics said:

Are hood strips done these days....Partial's are so 3M Ventureshield 2000's....

 

But again, I speak as a enthusiast.

IMO, the market segment is

 

- Full front

- Full Front + Rockers

Or simply just Full Wrap.

 

 

Absolutely partials are still done and carry a decent amount of market share. Like @Dano said your average commuter in a Honda, Hyundai, Chevy, etc. will shit themselves at a full front quote. There are always exceptions of course but the full front/full wrap market really doesn't seem to come into play until you move into the higher end market or enthusiast vehicles. That said it is a large market and what you're going to see advertised/featured on social media.

On 7/28/2022 at 10:53 AM, James Hudson said:

Any recommendations on which software is best to use? The Xpel software looks good, but i'm not very familiar with any of the software's.

Of the software I've used Xpel has been the best. 

You have every right to be upset there, not normal or acceptable. 

The one I've found that I like best is the Genesis, reminds me of the older Wagners before the Furno series came out, but with better air flow output. They're cheap on Amazon and I've had good luck with them holding up. 

22 hours ago, dcf_atl said:

 

Thanks -- should I do the windshield too? originally I was just going to do it because I was going so light all around

That's really more of a personal decision. That said, I personally would. That way you're going to maintain a uniform appearance all the way around which sounds like it's important to you and you still get the benefit of the additional UV and IR reduction. 

On 7/15/2022 at 7:29 PM, dcf_atl said:

Ok so I am considering other tints now -- how about xpel xr 70?  I want a 70 or higher that looks clear/grey/black  not brown or blue  - any recommendations?

 

XR70 is a very nice film that should accomplish what you're after.