The CRX that I just bought has tinting on it that may be 24 years old, and it's gotta go. What's the best way to handle this? I did it once before with a razor blade and it was a nightmare, especially on the rear window. One factor that may contribute to the ease or difficulty is the fact that the temperature here is in the low thirties.
PS: You are my hero.
done it before w/ heat gun to remove the film, handled razor to scrape leftover residue and laquer thinner for the remainder.
Razor, several blades, pain, and swearing. I'd warm it up with a heat gun or something if it's in the 30's to give it a better chance of coming off in pieces larger than toothpicks. Follow up with glass cleaner of choice and more razor action for the adhesive.
Good luck. NOT fun, as you know....
To be honest, taking it to a tinting shop to have it removed was the BEST money I ever spent on window tinting. About 70 bucks to remove all of the windows and windshield, and the defroster grid still worked afterwards.
Or just spend $20 and get a wand style steamer. Make sure it gets good and warm and it pulls right up in no time.
I did a CRX hatch with a heat gun and razor blade, took maybe 15 minutes.
I have a heat gun but I'm almost afraid to used it on glass when it's this cold out.
In reply to Woody:
pour the heat on and let us know how it works.... so we uh, know the next time...
pass or fail
bmw88rider wrote: Or just spend $20 and get a wand style steamer. Make sure it gets good and warm and it pulls right up in no time.
This is the method I've always used.
bmw88rider wrote: Or just spend $20 and get a wand style steamer. Make sure it gets good and warm and it pulls right up in no time.
Like this?
Woody wrote:bmw88rider wrote: Or just spend $20 and get a wand style steamer. Make sure it gets good and warm and it pulls right up in no time.Like this?
Perfect. My tint guys actually use an old clothes steamer, commercial grade.
Spray with amonia and cover with sran-wrap let sit over night. It will peel off nicely
Progress.
Still working on the rear window, as it tears right at every line of the rear defroster.
I used 3M adhesive remover and a razor blade on my F150. Wasn't that bad.
I just had our 840i re-tinted and it was $60 to strip the old tint. After hearing about what a nightmare it was, especially the rear window, I'm very happy I paid someone to do it!
Yep, the pros use steam to take it off.
Here it is with the easy half done, just to give you an idea of what I started with. Bottom line: the back window was a slow, uncomfortable nightmare.
Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do another rear window unless the film was as bad as this was.
Once I had the film off, there was still a ton of glue left on the windows. I didn't really want the interior to smell like solvent, so I heated them up with the steamer again and then scraped with a razor blade. This got a lot off. Then, more steam and I wiped it with paper towels. That got the majority off. Then, I followed with Invisible Glass and paper towels and it's nice and clear.
The side windows weren't bad at all, but I hope I never have to do a rear window again.
Now you see why I suggested taking it to a shop 
Imagine doing it in a Civic coupe where you can't even lift up a hatch for easier access!
Now you see just how cheap I really am.
And...the only other time that I did this was in an '89 Civic LX sedan. I'm pretty sure that I left the rear window tint in place though.
I like the Zep foaming window cleaner you can get at Menards. It eats that tint glue up and makes it super easy to wipe it off with a towel. I just got rid of all of the awful tint on my new and abused W124, just peeled the film off and then Zep'd the windows. Easy as a lion.
Karl, is that Union Jack on your headlight(MGB) a decal? I think thosewould look great on our TR-6.
Woody, That sounds exactly how my removals have gone. I was lucky as I was always able to get the back off in one sheet.
I found the receipt for the tint and it was done in August of 1988. Combine the age with the fact that the rear window is nearly horizontal and you can understand that the film was really brittle.
You'll need to log in to post.
