I'm helping my nephew do some custom work on his 99 firebird and the tinting on the rear window needs to be redone (it has a tear in it). I was told by just pulling it off it could damage the defroster grid, is this true? anyone know a way to get the old tint off without any damage? thanks
Posted by Terry Whynott (Member # 1622) on :
David,
The tint isn't that old and shouldn't harm the defroster wires. But to be on the safe side, just apply heat from the outside of the window while pulling the tint off the inside. It might help to use a sharp razor to cut the film into strips between the defroster wires. The heat will cause the film to separate from the adhesive which will remain on the window. We used to use ammonia to remove the adhesive but I've been away from the business for awhile now and I wonder if Rapid Remover or any other adhesive remover would work just as well. Use a low abrasive scrub pad to scrub the adhesive off.
Good luck, it's definately not a fun job to do. Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
Yep, Rapid Remover will be ok there, no scrubing necc.
Just spray on(after film is off) and remove adhesive with a squeege, then spray again and wipe with towell.
Roger
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
David, I'm not a window tinter but the advise given to me by window tinters has been to spray the tint (while still on the glass) with ammonia, then place a black plastic trash bag on the tint. The ammonia will help hold the bag up (cut the bag in half first to get just one layer of it).
Let that soak for a while, spray again and place the bag back on it, and after a while the tint will stick to the bag and you can peel the whole she-bang off with minimal adhesive left behind and defrosters in tact.
This way does take longer than the tried and true straight edged razor but I dont know if you can get around the defrosters carefully enough not to knick 'em.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)