Removing Tint

[WERDdabuilder]

when i bought my car, the original owner had the dirty dark purple tint. i can bearly see out the back of my car at night and the tint looks nasty. im ready to remove the tint tomorrow but im a little worried about my rear defrosters. im going to be using a heat gun and i dont want to remove/damage the defrosters in the process. is there anyway not to mess-up the defrosters? thanks.

[DocTaDrifT]

just take it to a shop and let them do it if your scared youll mess it up

[rps13_fastback]

Originally Posted by DocTaDrifT

just take it to a shop and let them do it if your scared youll mess it up

you can buy tint remover spray at your local parts store.. my friend just bought some last weekend... haven't tried it out yet though so don't know how well it works but it's $6 for the bottle

[Inland180]

well if you gonna install new tint then just let the tint shop remove it

[JDMark]

windex with amonnia-d takes that shit off. all i remeber about taking my tint off (like 1.5 years ago) is that the tint glue smells like POOP! also i scraped the crap out of my rear defrosters, they still work.

[danger69]

To remove tint the easy way is to get those steam buggys. Thats what I used and depending on the tint it will come off easy, but there is two layers the tint part and the sticky crap. If you get the tint layer off thats good but if that sticky crap is on there you will need to use acetone to remove it. I had 3 240sx before and all of them had tint that i had to take off. It sucks but at least I'm good at it now.

[Dream240]

Okay, here's some tips. I did a complete removal of the tint cause the shops want to charge like 100 bucks for the whole car at a reputable shop. WARNING!!! don't go to "TJ's window tinting" right next to the liquor store!! Those bacyard tint shops have cheap quality tint material, do cheap work, hell that's why you only pay 100 bucks for the whole car. Trust me go to a good shop....you know the one's I mean. And if you don't, ask an expensive body shop where they recommend. They can point you in the right direction.

Okay removal tips:
1. Use a second person and heat the window from the OUTSIDE. Start in the driver's upper corner and work your way down and around. BE CAREFUL THE WINDOW WILL BE HOT!! Wait a few seconds for it to cool the area where he's heating. Keep a cold towel handy for those really hot moments.
2. It will come off in pieces, this is normal. Just be patient!!
3.ONLY, and I repeat ONLY, use a razor blade on the glass parts of the windshield. You scrape one of those defroster lines and that line is toast.
4. Use the razor blade to get a piece started and slowly tug on it until it starts to go. (hint: find a spot where the tint is starting to separate...you will have alot of choices if the tint is really bad)
5. Once you have all the tint film off, the glue is what's left.
6. Use GOOF OFF, or equivalent to remove the glue. Takes some time and alot of elbow grease but it get the job done. Don't worry about the defroster lines at this point. The Goof Off will not hurt them.
7. Clean the inside window with soap and water and your done!!

Hope this helps....and look I just helped you save 100 bucks!! Don't worry, no thanks is needed.

[WERDdabuilder]

thanks guys. im not planning on putting in new tint and i dont want to take it to a shop for something small like this.

thanks for tips.

[Raysurc]

ok so the former owner of my s13 tried to remove his tint to, but the rear defrosters got jacked up/messedup in the process. so..... in hopes of repairing/replacing my defrosters, what are options and which one is more reasonable to follow through with?

[Dream240]

Originally Posted by Raysurc

ok so the former owner of my s13 tried to remove his tint to, but the rear defrosters got jacked up/messedup in the process. so..... in hopes of repairing/replacing my defrosters, what are options and which one is more reasonable to follow through with?

Dood you're FUBARED....get a new hatch with working defrosters, or you could just keep a squeegee in your trunk and clean it every morning.

[WERDdabuilder]

if you dont want your windows to fog up. you can also try wiping shaving cream on them. works for me.

[projectRDM]

Isopropyl alcohol also works to prevent fog up.

[the head]

JC whitney sells defroster retracer little bottle of the stuff you are supposed to connect both sides of the break and it supposedly fixes the problem I personally havent tried it but one of my friends was able to fix the back window of his camaro that way

[Al_S14]

i had same thing.... tint in my 98 looked like ass with wear marks everywhere so i just pealed it off . then used a razor blade to remove remains of glue. ended up using liek 10 of them but sure beats the hell out of paying someone 15bucks per window to do that. by the way razors dont scratch the glass nothing to worry about

[Raysurc]

Dood you're FUBARED....get a new hatch with working defrosters, or you could just keep a squeegee in your trunk and clean it every morning.

(fubared?) and yeah... i keep a squeegee behind my driver seat, turn on the car, and while im waiting for the car to warmup everymorning, i wipe all my windows including the rear ones.

[/QUOTE]JC whitney sells defroster retracer little bottle of the stuff you are supposed to connect both sides of the break and it supposedly fixes the problem I personally havent tried it but one of my friends was able to fix the back window of his camaro that way[QUOTE]


my defroster is majorly damaged... like.... half a foot missing in different parts of the lines.

i tried using the rain-x "fog-x", doesnt seem to work very effectively...

[WERDdabuilder]

try the shaving cream. test it in your bathroom mirrors.