finally back in a vette after a long streak over in the ford world. havent visited the boards much since then and i had a couple of questions...

i plan to get my windows done in the next few weeks and i was wonderin about the part of the upper rear window where the dot matrix is....my last car i had trouble gettin the tint to stick to it. jus wonderin if there has been a good fix for that???

and

my car has the heads up display and i was wantin to tint the front windshield. i know its illegal but i have all my cars done that way seein as its a weekend/show car. i was wonderin if there has been anybody out there that has done this and how well the HUD worked???

im not real sure how dark i wanna go so if there is anybody out there with pics and info they wanna post up i would greatly appreciate it. thanks

 

Even with the relentless sunshire and extreme heat here in Arizona...I would never tint the front windshield. I know the HUD requires a special reflective windshield. At the very least, I would have to think tinting the windshield would diminish the HUD.

The extreme top of the rear glass is still a problem. Some people have had black vinyl placed over a portion of the dot matrix (instead of just tint film) and others have even sanded-down portions of the dot matrix.

The guy the tinted my glass used a single sheet in the back...no vinyl and no sanding. There was a very small strip along the top that did not adhere perfectly over the dots. I spent several days heating-up the glass/tint in the sun and working the area down by hand. It made an improvement but it's still not 100%. This small area of imperfection does not detract from the overall appearance of the car (you have to be looking for it to even notice) so I don't worry about it.

 

The installer who did mine used a single sheet in the back as well. It took him two tries to get it the way he wanted it. It's close to 100% but it still has some areas that aren't perfect.

As far as tinting the windshield, I have tinted the windows on every car I've owned for the last 20 years and I have never tinted the windshield. To me, anyone doing that is just asking for trouble. Alot of LEO's will give people a pass on tinted side windows unless there is something additional that catches their eye, but tinting the front windshield is akin to saying "Hi, I'm hiding something!".

If the sun is too bright, buy better sunglasses.

 

any other ideas? i reall want to do 30% on the windshield to give the front a clean look...

 

i did 20 on the back and 35 on the sides, the stock glass is a bit more tinted than most cars or i would have done 20 on the sides as well

on my shelby i did 50% on the front and it looked great, and i loved it, but it wasn't a daily driver,

this one will be my daily driver so i opted not to do the front windshield

heres pics of the shelby, i thought it looked awesome with the front done

 

that's wild... looks good, tint on the windshield; whoda thunk? That's a "Po-Po" stop for sure around here.

 

Sharp looking Shelby!! Great lines and color.

 

Thats the only car that I would consider trading the Vette for.

 

I would never even consider tinting the windshield. I've had enough probs with the side glass around here. You don't want to be a target...

 

Although not legal, an R50 window tinting was used in prototype HUD vehicles to eliminate the ghost and brighten the image. If it was smooth. It helps the HUD a lot!. Similar tinting "patches" are used on the aftermarket HUDs.

 

I'd do it. I wouldnt go darker than 50% i dont think.. Then again, i dont think 50% is worth doing... 35% would be too dark, you'd be asking for problems!

 

I respectfully disagree with this.

This is a basic question in the properties of light and physics. A reflection off of glass or some semi-transparent material will only be good if the light emanating through the material is less than the light bouncing off as a reflection. This is why two way mirrors only work well when one side of the room is dark.

Your HUD bounces light off of the windshield for you to see, but if too much light is going through the windshield, it will diminish the reflection and you won't see the HUD as well. This is why you will see the HUD much better at night when there is very little light entering through the windshield. It also means that by tinting your windshield, you will be reducing the amount of light that enters the windshield, thus making it easier to see your HUD. This is of course assuming that the tint material itself is relatively reflective which they usually are. I would see if I can go to a tint shop and ask them to cut you a small square, maybe 6"X6" and tape it up to the inside of the windshield. Make sure you have it oriented right (not inside out) and see what it looks like with the HUD. It won't be exact, because the tint will act differently when it's glued to the windshield, but it will at least give you a good idea of how reflective it will be.

 

I had my front windshield done a couple weeks ago (30%). HUD looks fine, maybe even a little better...