Date:         Fri, 10 Jul 1998 12:19:10 CDT
Reply-To:     Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Privacy glass for VW's?
Comments: To: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
In-Reply-To:  <199807101635.JAA11766@natasha.>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Fri, 10 Jul 1998 09:35:27 -0700 Malcolm Holser said:
>Vanagon glass is mostly flat, and is the ideal "first time" vehicle for the
>do-it-yourself'er.  Don't attempt the rear window, though, until you've

very true. Vanagons (and Buses) are very easy to do-it-yourself tint with
the K-Mart/Wal-Mart kits. but i recommend a couple of things ...
- get some "bond spreaders" (little flat yellow plastic thingies, used to
    apply Bondo to cars) for use as squeegees. don't use that piece of
    rubber hockey puck they give  you in the kit.
- when it tells you to squeegee the water out from under the tint, do it
  once. then again. then again. then again. then again. then again. the
  "secret" to getting NO bubbles in the tint is to get as much of the water
  out from under the tint as possible. and it really does help to leave that
  little bit of gap around the edges (follow the directions) of the tint,
  so the water can get out.

(for those who don't know, squeegee is to scrape the water off glass or
whatever, with a wide narrow blade-thingie. like a windshield wiper blade.
or those things they have for cleaning office windows. or at the gas pump,
in that bucket of filthy-looking water, for you to clean your windshield
with). :)

this is, of course, after you did like Malcom said and got the inside of
the windows SUPER SUPER SUPER clean. :)

joel

p.s. i also recommend putting about 8-9" inches of tint across the TOP of
the windshield. you'll have to do it in TWO pieces, which meet up behind
the inside rearview mirror (one piece won't go all the way across the
windshield without wrinkling). this extra tint helps like sun visors or
sunglasses when driving into the sun (or morons with their brights on at
night). but it doesn't hang down too much to make it too dark for you
at night. the one problem area is when you are going down a hill at night,
and the road flattens out or goes back up ... you'll have to crane your
neck a little to see out from under the tint. all in all, i think it's
really worth it.