JimV8

I was at a supplier show/seminar today and auto tinting was a big part of it with a couple of hundred or so folks taking part. At the lunch the horror stories got started and someone mentioned the rear window on a Porsche. Well you can guess it was a 944 and it is the #1 PIA to film. The winning method seems to be 3pc it and heat it to contour. I asked how to address the black trim around the glass and it is apparently painted on. Mine is pretty crumbled away and the advice I got was to scrape the rest away and then cut a piece of black out film to the right size and fit that. I'll give it a try and post results. Also the paint protection clear film and headlight film installation was demonstrated. After I get the car painted I going to put this stuff on my leading edges. It is urethane film and really tough.

Chris_924s

Good luck Jim- I've heard of removing the hatch- soaking it liberally with water and sealing it in black plastic bags on a summer day to loosen the film. I wont buy a car with window film on it FWIW.

IceShark

That painted on black "trim" on the inside of the glass is some sort of primer for the caulk that seals the glass to the hatch frame. If you are losing that glass seperation may not be far behind.

You probably want to investigate this before you spend the effort tinting the glass.

michaelathome

Here's my research,

The black stuff is called "frit" it is a powdered ceramic that is sprayed onto the glass during manufacturing and baked on at several hundred degrees. It is there to provide 1. a better bonding surface for the adhesives and 2. UV protectant for the adhesives.

While removing my glass from my frame the PO's attempts to repair leaks by adding more and more sealant were also removing that "frit" Once I got the glass out, I scraped all of the "frit" off, I masked the original pattern on the glass and used a new 3M product, its a single step primer for glass and metal specifically automotive glass and frame repair.

Took an airbrush and sprayed it on, removed the masking and used 3M window weld to re-seal the glass to the frame. It is sitting drying right now.

http://members.rennlist.com/michaelathome/DSCN0775.JPG

I am pretty happy with the completed job so far. I have heard a lot of stories of unsuccessful attempts to repair hatches. I'll have to give it some time to see how this job holds up. I'll also post the part numbers when I am able to.

Total product costs were about $50
Most difficult things were cleaning the old adhesives and prepping the glass and frame. (6-8hrs)

Michael

JimV8

Michael did you remove the glass from the car to do the frame?

nineeagles

I tried this on my 84....the window tint was really awful on my car when I bought it....the side window tint came right off and then I used a razor blade to scrape off the remaining adhesive....the hatch was another story....I soaked it and covered it with plastic and set it in the sun for a day.....it didn't help....I ended up scraping it with a razor blade and it took me more then 6 hours....just about an inch square came off at a time....very sore fingers and some damage to the defroster wires (I don't drive the car in the winter anyway)....took alot of work but I got it all....I would like to get it retinted but I am reluctant to go through removing it if it goes bad again.....

ErichCS

I just had mine tinted a year or so again. Looks very good, the tinter used the 3 piece 'seamless' method hinding the seams on the defroster lines.

On the top where the black crap is he scrapped away as much as possible and then used a thin section of black vinyl or tape material on the outter glass. It hides that area perfectly with little effort.

Erich

nineeagles

Erich.....do you mind telling us how much you had to pay?????

ErichCS

It took the guy all afternoon and he charged $250 for 3M lifetime seamless. I can post some pics later of the vinyl adhesive strip if anyone is interested. It truly looks OEM to me.
-Erich

michaelathome

Jim,

Yes here is a photo of the frame and glass while they were apart and off of the car.

http://members.rennlist.com/michaelathome/DSCN0573.JPG

Notice that there is no "frit" As someone had mentioned earlier my hands were sore for about a week after prepping it.

Here is the photo of the repainted hatch frame:

http://members.rennlist.com/michaelathome/DSCN0696.JPG

I'll post others when I can of the "frit" and the finished job.

Michael

Madant26x

Hey Michael, I see in your pics that you don't have the black frame where the 3rd brake light goes. Did you put that back on or are you not using it anymore?

michaelathome

Dan, mines an '83, no third brake light.

Madant26x

Ahhhh,

washington951

i had mine done and it looks OEM. look around for someone who can prove they've done corvette rear windows - if they can do that, they can do yours.

i had mine done in atlanta 5 years ago and it still looks absolutely perfect. flawless. it wasn't cheap, but its paid off.

gstein

Not that it matters....
But, I once worked in a glass blowing shop using frit quite frequently. This edge is not frit. Frit is simply powdered glass, not ceramic.

Also, what are manufacturers using now to seal windows to frames like this? just rubber? What about when using lexan windows??

Best Regards,
Ben Goldstein