Dano

Wait until you replace the glass and then tint it, or replace it anyway and sell the other one pre tinted. Those are the easy options if you're worried about damage. 

I do alot of run of the mill installs that arn't worth mentioning. This week I got to do something fun.

Before:

After:

Avery Rugged - Onyx Black

Had one in today, definitely recommend pulling the door panels. One 7mm behind the rubber plug behind the door handle, two t-25s below the armrest in easy view and two 7mm at the bottom of the panel. Bump upwards and comes right off.

Definitely need a sandbag if the wife, girlfriend and apprentice are all gone at the same time.

No pain, no stain! 

If it was easy we wouldn't have anything to do.

2 hours ago, Tintbox said:

I wish I could add something. 

The best thing you could add is a premium subscription to help TD keep up the site : )

It's always harder to hide contamination in darker film due to contrast. 

For removal here's my process....

Sides:

1. Pull film one panel at a time and spray with SprayAway.

2. Blade the glue and catch with a paper towel.

3. Spray again...Use an Olfa /SS NT blade to clean the edges.

4. Wrap a microfiber around a triangle card and jam into the gaskets/glass edge to scrub what is hidden/hard to reach.

5. Spray again...Use #3 steel wool to scrub, including top edge.

6. Rince with water/squeegee.

7. Wipe with clean microfiber, triangle the edges again. Once with the glass up and do the gaskets again with the glass down.

8. Spray with water and run your hand around the glass to feel for contamination.

9. Squeegee dry and clean the outside of the glass.

10. In good light, look through to glass at different angles to spot anything you might have missed.

11. When you get ready to install, blade/triangle/wipe/spray/wipe top edge/squeegee/flush edges just like a normal install to maintain consistency.

If you're working on used cars you may want to incorporate #3 wool or at minimum a 3m white scrubbie after your blade step. Keep a separate knife for cleaning edges so you don't wreck your film cutting blade. Only knife clean behind the edges, you can easily scratch glass in an open area.

Good luck and please consider a premium subscription here on TintDude. Without this site passing on knowledge would be much more difficult. It's not much and goes a long way towards keeping the site up and running. 

33 minutes ago, nehuge said:

 

 

Now I have "Rust in Peace" in my head, jammin' out. heh

 

 

Well I guess you're not all bad after all.

I would recommend finding an old schooler running an independent shop that worked on these cars the first time around. Have the glass in place with the panels pulled. Remember to leave the switches on the front seat for operating the roll ups.

The new group of tinters can't seem to do anything that doesn't come off the precut software correctly. You are mostly right on that point.

"It's a car, I said it's a car....you guys are bunch of d*cks. I already told you it's a car, why won't you tell me how much is a car?" 

I'll bet a dollar it's some euro crap or a corvette. Any takers?

7 hours ago, nehuge said:

Okay, so if you had 1988 Mustang glass out of the vehicle and 1988 Porsche 944 glass out of the vehicle, what makes the Porsche take twice as long besides more film?  Just trying to follow the logic.

Have you ever looked at a 944 rear glass? It's curves are compounded and irregular like a bowl in every direction, rear spoiler made of foam rubber and usually a window wiper motor to remove or work around. That glass is also heavy af. 

Just look for a video of someone trying to tint the car you are requesting to find the nuance of what it takes to get a good install. There is also a makes and models section here on this forum.

20 minutes ago, TintDude said:

 

20 minutes ago, TintDude said:

You have to consider that mistakes happen and replacing a part on a Kia is a little less expensive that replacing a part on a Bentley.

If the part is even available....

Laying film when it's out of the car increases the difficulty by a factor of 5. Also increases the opportunity to damage it as well.

I've got a dollar that says he scratches the film before he gets it reinstalled...

Nobody really wants to work on old restorations. Half the time they are glued together without the right clips and the fabric/vinyl/leather is brittle with a fresh coat of dye that starts running as soon as it gets wet. Don't even get me started about the cardboard panel backers...

Sometimes you have to pay the cost to be the boss. This is one of those times.

Without sarcasm, yes the ceramic film is worth every penny.

8 hours ago, TintLabb said:

 worked with a professional for FREE for a few months which sped up the learning process  

Best education time and money can buy. I wish more would do the same.

Remember....running slow is smooth, running smooth is the key to running fast. 

It takes 5-8 months to get reasonably consistent on not too difficult vehicles. 18-24 months to get proficient. 3 years in and you can mostly do it in your sleep. Steer clear of anything euro and any windshields for about a year to lessen frustration. Kia, Honda, Toyota is where I would suggest you try to focus. You can also make good coin on doing front door sets on pickups without much pain.

11 hours ago, HemiCoupe said:

 Johnson 

Way better

1 hour ago, HemiCoupe said:

Aswf

Run....

I've never seen any reputable shop using that film that stayed in buisness without switching off of it and doing a bunch of warranty work. Absolute bs about the a/c.

Dispute the charges and find someone using a name brand, ie: Xpel, Global, Llumar or 3M. 

Take it back there again at your own peril. Looks like you got lucky that there's no vehicle damage from those clowns. 

Full front w/fenders, headlights, cups and luggage strip on a new Tellurride this week. All bulk installed with wrapped edges where possible. Also ceramic front doors and windshield. Washed and waxed prior to pickup since the owner was nice enough to leave it with me long enough to get the best possible results. Always nice when that happens.

Went edge to edge on the HL with a steamer just to show it could be done and because I've never seen anyone else do it. Those things have quite a lumpy curve at the bottom which is probably why. 

Interiors are pretty lux. If it had a Benz badge it would no doubt be twice the price and last half as long.

Redesigned 23. Front sweeps still pull from the top. Slight tug on the rear of the panel to release. I soaped the gaskets to make toploading easy.

Windshield was too tight to put a soak roap in so I recommend cleaning first before shrinking and final rince before installing to not over saturate all at once. Also recommend taping the suade pillar covers and putting a microfiber over the headsup display, or not if living on the edge is your thing.

Here I used a steamer to streach a headlight from edge to edge yesterday. I know it's not tint but I reach for what I think is the right tool for whatever task is at hand.

FWIW I've never seen anyone else do one of these to the edge like this. Most probably wouldn't bother. Going the extra mile is how I've keep a good name and keep my clients happy long term. 

I do. Most of the time I would rather let the sun do the work while I do something else. The steamer is for when I'm pressed for time and/or I'm not worried about pulling the lines.

Black bagging gets everything heated more evenly. Behind the brake lights and deep into rear decks that I may not want to pull or scrape glue from.

Pull slow and if the glue won't come with the film, just soak and wait. I've gotten to where I use hot water when I soak and resoak to try to heat it more quickly and evenly.

Also found that if I spray with hot water when I pull the glue steams and pulls with the film alot better.

Yeah, I black bagged it with soap/water for 1/2day rewetting every 30/40min. A few lines came out uneven but didn't take 'em off completely. Maybe about 3inches worth over the whole surface. 

What I learned is to just not be in a hurry. If it looks like it's tacking, stop and soak again.

^^^ Correct, in writing and signed on the work order with an attached mechanical lein in the event of non payment. That goes for any/every job that cycles through.

Just for the record I used to read here all the time and decided I needed to publicly join and post if I wanted to see more quality, relative content and help the newbs to up their game to improve the industry. 

I got the posting portion figured out, quality might be subjective. 

Agree that it would be nice if more folks would add some updates. Particularly when new model years are released, even if it were to state that there are no changes. I'll make a personal effort to do a few myself when I see some roll in.

Is it possible to do an inline add every 4th or 5th post that says " Go premium to support the cause or your a just a drain on society" or something similar?

@Bham which flavor do you use?

Premium paywall? Tshirts/swag or discounted membership for x number of useful submissions?

I've had to squeeze the rubber on some other makes to find a lumpy spot that has caused the same. Ended up pulling the seal and trimming some excess from the hidden backside to even it out. Not sure if that helps.