Let me start out by saying that I'm probably the most **** person you'll know when it comes to doing things right, the first time... with that in mind, I just purchased an ITR and it has extremely dark tint on it. I want to take it alllll offfff...

I know I have a ton of work ahead of me (the entire windsheilds even tinted). Do any of you have any tips that work? I'd like to not lose defroster lines if possible, or get a mess of glue anywhere where it shouldn't be.

Any suggestions are appriciated, thanks.

- Louis

 

Don't take it off yourself if you don't know what you're doing. Your best bet is to take it to a window tinting shop and ask them to take it off for you, they shouldn't charge you much. Or you could call up your acura dealer and ask them what to do.

 

Yeah I may just take it somewhere... looks like it will be a ton of work... I just don't want anyone at a tint place messing up my seats/doorpanels etc with a sloppy mess... I know that at least I'd cover everything correctly..

 

Get a razor and go at it.

 

at most auto stores like Kragen, Pep Boys, Checkers, etc... have stuff called tint off or 3M adhisive remover. Both will work fine for removing the tint. Just try to stay away from using a razor blade on the rear window and on the edges of most of the windows. Having it removed professionally is a good idea IMO because removing that stuff sucks! I had to do it once on one of our cars here because in CA its illegal to have any tint on the front windshield and front side windows! Why? Remember the LA gang stuff, etc... yeah cops can't see what your doing if the window is tinted! Kinda BS IMO, but I would hate to be a cop pulling someone over with tinted windows.

Anyway try that stuff first or at least do as much as you can first. If you need a picture or part number of the stuff let me know.

 

I did my fronts with a razor and pure Amonia. I did it at the tint shop... with the amonia he had there.

 

just get goo gone at walmart or home depot and do it yourself, its so easy, just takes some elbow grease and some time

 

get it professionally done. its not worth the couple bucks you save. Cuz its hell.

 

get a razor, lots of soap and water, and a blow dryer, tint comes off alot easier when its hot. have a professional take the rear window tint off, you are going to stress yourself out it you do it yourself

 

Oh, you're in Ft. Lauderdale, I'm in Sebring. Bring it down here and I professionally do it for you...

 

i did tint removal on my car and it was a lot easier than i thought... i thought the rear window was going to be a pain cause of the heating strips, but it want bad.

basically all i did was use a straight edge razor to get under the corner of the tint. Once you have it lifted up, just pull it and it should come off in 1 sheey as long as you take your time pulling. After you have it off, use the razor to clean the left over glue on the window and then just clean that up..

it is a lot easier that you think it is. i did My teg in about an hour or so.

 

Razor and Lots of Simple Green works wonders...

 

Leave the back window to professionals.

For the rest, just lift a corner with a razor and peel it off like a bandaid. The remaining adhesive residue is easily removed with any solvent like acetone or lighter fluid. It's not a hard job at all - just takes time.

 

I removed the tint from a 325is I bought a few years ago. like someone said, it's not as hard as it sounds. time consuming and messy, though. first, remove the front door panels if the tint you have on there runs under the rubber seams on the bottom.

to remove the tint film, try finding a corner or edge you can lift. once you do that, it should come off in large pieces or if you are lucky, in one piece. I found pulling slowly and firmly with the tint coming of 90 degres to the window surface worked well for me. working in warm weather may help... can't comment on that cause I live in Hawaii and it's pretty much over 70 degrees most of the time anyway.

after the tint is removed, you are gonna be left with the adhesive residue... lots of it. I used windex with ammonia to remove this stuff. use lots of it to keep the surface really wet so it can soak into the adhesive. it turns into a gooey mess, but I just used lots of old newpapers to keep getting all the stuff off. repeat about 3 or 4 times. get as much as you can off (it should look clean at this point), then move on to the next window. after you're done, you'll have to go back and scrape the last bits off with a razor blade in the corners and edges. depending on the adhesive that the tint manufacturer used, other removers may work better than the windex. all I know is this worked for me.

the rear window is a little more tricky as you need to try to rub only in the direction that the defroster lines run. same procedure, only you need to be more careful. try not to break the lines, of course, but if you do, they sell repair kits for the lines at any automotive parts shop, so no real disaster if you do end up breaking some lines. took me about 6 hours to do the whole car.

How well did it come out? after I removed my tint, I had it retinted with another type of tint at a shop. tint job came out perfect with no debris under the new tint, showing that I had got all the old residue off.

good luck with your car. I'm debating on tinting my R, but I like the look of this car without any tint.


[Modified by kkim, 9:12 PM 2/21/2002]

 

Dont use a razor, you will cut the windows up. I thought tint shops use a chemical to remove it?

 

Scrape it off with a razor. The Glass is harder than the razor so it should not scratch. You can use goo remove or even a little steel wool to get the other crap off. Be careful of your interior.