Hey guys. I did this tonight, and while the information is plentiful on the web, I thought it might help here. So here's a short write up.
I started with a pulled window out of an 86 SE. This window had a defroster which made things pretty tricky. Without the defroster, you could probably do this in about 30 minutes. It took me 3 hours to get this stuff off without damaging the defroster lines.
Here's the work station. I was getting tired of the garage
. You can see the tint which has turned purple. The tint was obviously cheep and was fortunately attached with simi decent adhesive. I'd probably would have been at it longer if a decent glue was used.
Tinting is made out of a two layer film of polyester. If you try to pull the tinting off without properlly soaking the tint and glue in ammonia, the layers will separate and make things more difficult. I tried doing that unknowingly and made things slightly harder than they would have been had I not messed with it. If you're getting ready to remove the tint take note not to pull at the edges.
Here are the materials that you will need. 100% Ammonia (some diluted ammonia window cleaners can be sufficient I hear), a heat gun, razor blades, a towel to apply ammonia and one to remove excess. I read that I should use 000 steel wool to pick up small bits of remaining tint, but the wool can very easily chew into the defroster lines. I did use it to softly clean and polish the lines. If the window is still in the car, you can scratch the heat gun and replace it with several large black trash bags.
Begin by applying the ammonia with a rag. You need to apply a decent amount in order to solvent the glue.
Let the solvent sit for a while, 5-10 minutes. Apply one more coat of ammonia and then hit the entire surface with the heat gun. Use heat until the surface ammonia vaporizes.
If the glass is still in the car *and its daylight*. Apply a coat of ammonia to the tinted side the glass. Cover the inside glass with a trash bag; this will cause heat to collect between the glass and tint, causing the tint to swell and come away from the glass. Point the tinted glass towards the sun and let the car sit for about an hour. Then return to remove the tint.
The heat is essential to removing the tint easily. I tried several different methods so that I could share what worked best for me; ammonia without heat, with heat, only heat and soapy water, soapy water only.... etc++. The heat causes the tint to soak up the ammonia. Somehow the glue also swells into the tint and leaves no traces behind after the tint it lifted. Areas that were not heated left heavy glue blotches. So use a gun, or allow the sun to do the work before trying to remove the tint.
If you cannot get a grip on the corner edge of the tint, you will need to coax it up with a razor blade.
Gently lift the tint up, being sure not to let the tint tear. Using the razor blade to continue coaxing is sometimes beneficial.
In my case, I was in a hurry, and so the tint did not have enough time to separate from the glass. The defroster lines also acted as anchors for the tint. So I had to go in between each row of lines.
Just as predicted, several very small pieces of tint would not come up with the rest, sticking to the defroster lines.
As mentioned before, another website recommended using the steel wool to remove these blotches. I learned very quickly that the wool was far too abrasive. So instead of using the wool, I used the application rag with the remaining ammonia. Fingernails also help a little when scrubbing.
As good as new
. The also went over the line softly with the wool, removing any dirt and grim. Shinny huh!
On the right side of the glass, the tint had not been tampered with, and so I soaked the area while I was working the left side. Here's what happens when you have patience and wait for the ammonia and heat to do its job:
After getting the tint off, be sure to go back over the glass with ammonia and scrub up any remaining glue. Finally use another towel to remove the remaining ammonia & glue and polish the glass.
Once again, without the tint lines, this job would have been much shorter. If you do have a defroster on your project window, and you happen to catch one of the lines with a razor blade, you can always repair the line with a kit from your local auto parts store. Hope this helps!
I hope you or I never have to do that again. Thanks for the help once more!
, that would have been pretty crazy. I shattered my last window. This one was a replacement. Might as well take off the tint before installing.
