Tinting Mr. Grey

e-joo (32)in #blog • 6 years ago

A week after done the soundproof, the next Saturday, I came back to Mahihi Soundproofing shop to finish the roof area job. I also add 1 layer of 3M glass wool at the front wheel arch to further reduce the tyre noise.

Other than that, I also searching for a tint shop service to install tint on Mr. Grey's rear windscreen since Mr. Grey's already pass the 1 week period (period to not install tint)

When I visit Mahihi's shop for the first time, I noticed that he also doing tinting service. And since the soundproof job would not be taking a long time, I decided to do tint on Mr. Grey there.

Kelvin is selling tint brand named Llumar. I chose the one within my budget around RM500. The tint spec is VLT 70% (front), VLT 50% (side & rear), IRR 78%, UVR 99%, TSER 39%, Thickness 4mil.

Tinting a car would be taking a long process. Why?

The first step is peeling off the old tint (if any) before install the new tint. The hard part is if the old tint was local or cheap tint because the local/cheap type tint is glue type tint and when peeling off the tint, will leave glue residue on the windows, and you have to use glue remover to clean up the windows before install the new tint.

How to remove Window Tint and glue

(credits to theschoolpsych)

How to tint a rear windscreen

(credits to Ralph Van Pelt)

Window Tinting: Side Window Installation

(credits to Ralph Van Pelt)

According to Kelvin, good tint is made from either from US or Korea. A good tint will last longer than local/cheap type. A good tint also would be easier to peel off later when you want to change to a new tint.

And another important thing to look is a good installer, because a good installer will install your tint in good condition. And you don't want to revisit your tint shop again in a quick time.

But the question is, how to recoqnize if the tint shop you are visiting selling a good quality tint, of the exact original brand, or recommend the exact specification? Well, frankly as consumer, we cannot, unless :

you test using a VLT tester

test using a solar meter

Majority of us did not have a tint tester or a solar meter so we only knew after the installation complete, drove off and pray that the tint is ok and good.

The good standard way of buying things are always by surveying, getting reviews from other peoples, like friends and family members.

After finished the installation, I drove back to my home, and since I cannot wind down the side windows for about 3 days to properly get the tint fixed into the windows, I have to open the door instead for ticketing process (parking, toll).

I remember last time when I purchase Mr. Grey way back in 2011, the car salesman did offer me to install tint on Mr. Grey. Since that time I was a noob car owner, I straight away accepted his offer, because I was thinking later when I collected Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey would be ready with the new tint.

The next day, I had the opportunity to bring my family to go shopping and my wife quickly recoqnized the new tint. She said that with the new tint, she felt the car inside was less hot that before (credits also to the full soundproofing done) and she also felt that the car like new, just like when received Mr. Grey brand new before.

This makes me feel very proud and felt that the investment on the tint and the full soundproofing really worth it. And the correct word I could use is priceless, and I knew both would last for a very long time, at least 5 years for the tint.

Mr. Grey with old tint