SE Glass Tint

Tools and supplies needed
1)windshield removal knife (see picture)
2)guitar strings 039 nickel plated ribbed
3) wooden dowells 2x with hole drilled for guitar string diameter
4)Sika Flex polyurethane adhesive or other profesional polyurethane windshield
adhesive. I got some from a local auto glass place (Elite Auto Glass).
http://usa.sika.com/en/solutions_pr... Replacement/01a001sa01100/01a001sa01102.html
5)Sika black primer 206 G+P. I got some from a local auto glass place
(Elite Auto
Glass).
http://usa.sika.com/en/solutions_pr...Replacement/01a001sa01100/01a001sa01104.html#
6)single edge razor blades, utility knife blades, and a handle for scraping
7)sharp pointy awl (poker)
8)sand paper
9)small and medium foam paint brishes
10)Drill & drill bits
11) Manual Rivet gun and aluminum rivets
12)heavy duty caulking gun (home Depot, the kind with the long
handles, not the bent
metal ones)
13)masking tape, fine line and normal
14) window tint, not too dark
15) Window tint application tools, squeegee, soapy water


So first of all you need to remove the 1/4 window. I have attached a
picture of a windshield removal tool. This tool is very handy and
makes it easy to control the amount of force that you apply so that
you don't slip and damage the car (which will happen with a normal
knife). I bought this at an industrial tool supply called Harbour
Freight.

This kind of knife can't reach all of the areas around the Esprit 1/4
window, so you'll also need a bunch of guitar strings (nickel, not
copper, with the ribbed texture) I think I bought 039"s??? You'll
also need a couple of short handle shaped dowells with a hole drilled
through each.

What I do is drill out the rivets of the ABS plastic trim pieces along
the leading edge of the 1/4 window. These ABS pieces break easy and
are around $55 each, so be careful. Try and slide a knife under the
plastic piece to cut the polyurethane glue that holds it in place.
There should be only three dabs, one near each rivet.

Once you get the ABS plastic piece off, I start by poking a hole
through the glue at the leading edge of the 1/4 window. I use a small
awl (poker). Once you break through into the hatch area of the car,
cut one end off of a guitar string and pass it through one of the
dowell handles. Take the free end and pass it through the hole that
you poked into the window glue. On the inside of the car, pass the
guitar string through the other handle, wrap it around the handle a
bunch of times and tape it to the handle. Start sawing up and around,
or down and around the 1/4 window. The window removal knife is
particularly helpful along the straight bottom edge of the window. Be
careful not to pull out with the knife or you'll break the glass.
Also be careful not to pull your inside hand toward the car or you'll
cut into the fiberglass. Keep you hand near the glass (on the
inside). The most difficult part is the rear corner of the glass, due
to the tight space available. Don't pull on the glass, it might
break, though it is pretty strong.

Once you remove the glass, you need to trim down the adhesive around
the window frame of the car. In my case I removed all traces of the
glue. You can leave a thin ribbon of the old adhesive to act as a
base for the new adhesive. I didn't do this, so I'm not sure how good
the bond strength is. I do know that the way that I did it was very
strong, it took me hours to remove the original glass, and 5 days to
remove when I glued it in my way (I wanted to make sure it was bonded
well).

For this next step you must have Sika 206 G+P black primer!!!!
http://usa.sika.com/en/solutions_pr...Replacement/01a001sa01100/01a001sa01104.html#
I got mine from a local Elite Auto Glass store, they gave me a used can for free.

On the 1/4 window; using masking tape on the outside of the glass,
make a pattern of the black trim around the inside of the glass.
Since you wouldn't be doing all this if the black trim was still
perfectly intact, scrape off all the black trim with a razor blade.
The wide black ceramic frit along the leading edge of the window does
not come off!!! Though do not gouge it with the corner of the razor
blade!!!!! Also scrape off all of the window tint, and glue. And
orange oil based cleaner degreaser will help remove the adhesive.

Now if the car and the windshield are scraped free of black trim and
glue (you may leave that thin ribbon of polyurethane on the car) you
are ready to prime the 1/4 window. If you removed all the
polyurethane from the car, then you'll need to prime the bond area
with the Sika 206 G+P. Mask off all of the parts of the car that you
don't want to get a permanent black coating on. Using a foam brush,
wipe the primer onto the areas where the window glue will be. It
dries instantly.

Once you scrape off all the black on the glass, copy your tape outline
from the outside to the inside of the glass, so that you have masked
off all but where the black used to be. Pour a small amount of the
Sika primer 206 G+P into a small plastic cup. Stick the foam brush
into the primer and wipe it onto the window in one clean easy stroke.
You may want to practice by wiping it onto a newspaper first. The
primer goes on easy, and dries instantly. When dry it is like a
metallic glass coating. Try to do this in one stroke so that no brush
strokes appear. You can always scrape it off and try again. Try and
do this in a thin coat, because a thick line will cause problems with
the window tint film later.

When the black border is done, peel off the masking tape. You are now
ready to have the window tinted. You can either take it to a shop or
do it yourself. The original Lotus tint film slightly covered part of
the black border. In the meantime, keep dust from getting onto the
primed surfaces!!! If you do it yourself, a little hint is trim the
film on the other side of the glass, so that you don't cut the black
coating.

Now the window is ready to bond onto the car. Apply the polyurethane
adhesive with the caulking gun, to the outside edge of the 1/4 window.
One bead width will do, you don't need a double row. Make sure there
are no breaks in the adhesive ring. Pick up the glass and press it
onto the car. Press it all around, and space it evenly from the car
along the bottom edge. You can use a couple 4mm spacers (rubber) to
hold it up off of the car's body, though the viscosity of the adhesive
will usually do this. And you can tape the window to the body to keep
it from sliding down. Use your finger tip or rounded tool to smooth
any adhesive, that squishes out around the window, into a fillet like
you would while caulking a bathtub. You can add a little extra
adhesive around the perimeter, and smooth it to make sure there aren't
any voids.

Let it set, check on it for the first hour to make sure the window
hasn't slipped. I would let it cure over night, especially in a cold
garage. Normal drive away time for the Sika adhesives is around 1
hour, but I would let it cure overnight.

Now you'll need to re-rivet those ABS plastic pieces in place, use a
little of the adhesive to hold them in place and seal around the
riviets.

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