Shadow rear glass removal

[cordes]

OK, so I've figured out that the rear glass needs to be cut out like a windshield and I have that 99% done. The glass seems to be very caught up on the bottom though. Please tell me that you don't have to cut it out all the way around...

[ajakeski]

Yes, you have to cut all around.
And be careful, the wires for the brake light run just under the glass and are usually gooped up in the window adhesive. It's easy to cut the wires while trying to cut out the glass.
It's a thankless job. Putting it back in is just as bad...

[cordes]

Seriously? How the heck do you cut out the bottom of it without damaging the paint on the outside of the hatch? My wire on two handles tool is out for this portion of the job and it's my go to tool!

[ajakeski]

Long bladed knife from the inside.
The glass companies use a vibrating knife.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261229034573?lpid=82

[mr glenn]

Not trying to be funny but I tried to replace the same window on my shadow A friend recommended that I pay a off duty window installer to do the job best advise .Paid him under 100 to take my broken one out and take the glass out of a wrong color hatch and install. Saved me from a lot of cursing even he caught hell. He told me it is easier to replace the entire hatch from a same color donor car

[Ondonti]

Remove the seal around your hatch and seek the speed limiter with your windows rolled down. :P

[cordes]

Long bladed knife from the inside.
The glass companies use a vibrating knife.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261229034573?lpid=82

Thanks! I just ordered up two of them. Seriously though, that's about the only way to get this done "easily".


Not trying to be funny but I tried to replace the same window on my shadow A friend recommended that I pay a off duty window installer to do the job best advise .Paid him under 100 to take my broken one out and take the glass out of a wrong color hatch and install. Saved me from a lot of cursing even he caught hell. He told me it is easier to replace the entire hatch from a same color donor car

If I would have realized that it was sealed like this before I got going I would have paid someone else to do it. The sealant that the person who did the tint used it some top dollar stuff too I would add. I've cut out a few windshields and they are nothing compared to this thing.

[cordes]

I got the glass out. Now for the tedious process of removing all of the old tint and glue. It's going to be a doozy to get the old tint off of the defrost lines without tearing them up.

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

[clocktowersniper]

Go to a tint shop. There is a chemical for removing the tint without damaging the lines. Either that or just keep soaking it in soapy water until It releases. Make sure you seal the body before reinstalling or you will get rust. Use a good urethane and PRIME THE GLASS before reinstalling or it will release! EVEN IF it says primerless to glass.

[cordes]

Thanks for the tips Clock. I'll definitely be looking into this more. I did cut through some of the wires at the corner of the hatch too. they were embedded in pretty much the middle of the sealant so there wasn't much I could do.

[clocktowersniper]

You can re-solder them if need be. I haven't done one of those in a long time but remember they were a pain in the ---. I retired from doing glass after 22 years this year. Now to find something else to do.

[cordes]

That's good to hear. I've gotten pretty good at soldering wires I've accidentally cut over the years.

[cordes]

Also, what brand of tint should I get and where should I buy it from?

[crusty shadow]

that chemical to remove tint is ammonia. the way we do it at my shop is the tint gets sprayed down with an ammonia solution, then the clear backing from a piece of tint gets placed over the tint being removed, then a heat lamp is set up over the glass. the ammonia and heat melt the glue till the tint will peel off. once you have the tint off you can use ammonia and a plastic pot scrubber to remove the remaining glue.

whatever brand o tnt you buy get either metallic or ceramic window film. buy a known name brand.

if you don't have any real experience tinting you really should have it done by a pro. the film needs to be heat shrunk to fit the glass properly, and if you've never done it before its a LOT harder than it looks- you will waste an entire roll of film to do that one piece of glass.
if you go to a shop and they do film in strips instead of heat shrunk 1 piece film go somewhere else- that's the super cheesy ghetto way tint and it will look like --- compared to a 1 piece tint job.

[cordes]

Thanks for that info. I'll certainly be using it.

[Fuzz's '87 Shadow]

I've used a wallpaper steamer remover and it works great. Also if you can find 3M film, that's what I recommend. I've been out of tinting for many years and don't remember who is still selling tint, but the steamer trick works great. You can find it on youtube alao.

Fuzz

[85boostbox]

I know the tint that I used while I was doing it was solargard products. There HP tint was great. Also word to the wise is the cheaper the tint you go with the more difficult it is to work with to get on. There are some other good films out there I'm just out of the loop.

I know there was Suntek, and I think the name of the other good tint is lumar maybe?

[crusty shadow]

Lumar is pretty much the top name when it comes to tint. that's what we use at my shop.

we do use a steamer on some cars to remove tint, but mainly its the cars that have really old cracking purple tint.

[jayspartanburg]

A guy we trust used, ammonia and stream to get the super ugly tint off of my sister's car. Lumar tint came out good afterwards..