DIY Window tinting & new seals/gaskets

[Maryw164]

Originally Posted by BeckyAnt

One other question--on all the side windows of my 74 Sovereign, it appears there's a plastic pane as well. I noticed a couple threads mentioning the plastic panes in the vista windows but I haven't heard anyone mentioning it in the windows that open. Can you tell me anything about that? I assume I'll just have to remove it to get to the double pane glass, but again, trying to research ahead of time. We all know "what happens when you assume..."

This was better suited to it's own thread since the question was originally asked in a thread about wing windows. I was going to post this anyway so here it is.

We have a '72 Sovereign. We had an extra pane on our front window, it was not glass, it was plex I think. It detached fairly easily. I think there were just some screws holding it in. I'll have to double check with the hubby as he took it apart. We just finished removing and applying new tint to our windows. They were a bear to get the old tint off. I had to scrape with a razor blade/window paint type scraper to remove the old stuff. You must change your blade often to make sure it is always sharp for best results. They were a lovely purple color. I then cleaned it well with goof-off to remove any residual adhesive ( you could probably try MEK also, as an alternative), then a final cleaning with naphtha to remove all remaining oils fingerprints, etc. Make sure all traces off old tint/adhesive are off before applying new tint. We went with the off the shelf Gila brand tint from Lowes (you can get it at Home Depot too). I used the platinum tint, it had the best heat reflection rating, it has a slight mirror finish. I did all the windows, including the vista & lower non-opening ones for around $100. I used 2 boxes of the 2ft, and 1 of the 3ft size (I think), with 2 bottles of the application spray & tools. All are available in the same area at the store. It helps if you have someone to help you with the application spray and film/backing separation steps. They take a bit of practice to get the hang of smoothing out the bubbles and cutting the excess off. Also if the weather is not hot or the sun is not directly hitting the window they can take longer to cure. They normally take about 7-10 days to cure and for the smaller fine bubbles to go away. Granted not all the bubbles completely disappear, but for the lower cost compared to getting them professionally done ($300 & up), they look just fine to us. It was a bit labor intense as is most of the DIY projects on the AS. We also replaced the rubber seals/gaskets. That required scraping off all the old and again thoroughly cleaning the aluminum (used the goof-off & naphtha again), then applying adhesive to attach the new ones. Now they look great and seal up nicely. This will help the A/C work more effeciently and keep the UV and heat from the sun out.

I hope this helps someone.

Mary

See photos below. The first is the old purple tint, the second is the new tint and seals.

[Yhottys]

Thanks for posting Mary. Your windows look great!

We had thought about tinting our windows but were discouraged by the sales representative at TAP Plastics. He stated that it was very challenging to get bubble/air pocket free results. We opted for a tinted privacy film that you can stick on/peel off as many times as you'd like.

We're going to try it first with the rear bathroom window in our 1974 Tradewind. We're a little tired of dealing with the original roller shade which has a tendency to fall right when someone's on the toilet.

Thanks again for the images and your easy to follow directions. We may tint our windows after all.

Happy and safe journeys,

[63Silver]

We are getting ready for a Florida trip and decided to tint our windows to help with the heat. We purchased a reusable tint from Walmart. It is dark charcoal with about 20% visibility. It is difficult to get all the bubbles out but if you keep peeling it back and re-wetting it works fairly well.

63Silver

[BeckyAnt]

Thanks, Mary,
So...did the windows with plex also have double-paned glass, or single-pane?

[Maryw164]

The front window had a second pane on the inside it was plex, the outside window was glass. So we removed the plex one so we could tint the glass one. The plex was not in great shape(lots of scratches), so we opted not to put it back. It was the only window this way. Another FYI about the tinting; we removed the side and front windows to do the tinting and make them easier to work on, as we also did the seals. Of course the vistas and lower ones were done in place. This posed a bit more of a challenge for the scraping and applying the new tint. Just be patient and take breaks, because your arms will get tired. Its all worth it in the end.

Mary

[Maryw164]

For those of you replacing your seals on the windows:

We used the newer "D" shaped seal/gasket. We got it from Inland RV. Just remember that when you put the new seal on make sure the adhesive is good and dry before you put the window back in place. Also you may need to adjust the latches due to the new gasket being thicker (we did).

Mary