vinyl on windshields?

[busshawg]

I replaced my drivers side windshield and seal , the old windshield had some sort of product on it that blacked out the upper portion, it looks like vinyl. After asking around here there is some concern about the windshield cracking from heat. Has anyone done this, and what type of product did you use to black it out.

Grant

[WEC4104]

Do you really want to completely black it out, or just heavily tint it?  There are vinyl products that that come in strips roughly 8" wide that are made to tint the top edge of the windshield.  They apply to the inside surface and have an adhesive backing. The trick is to apply it without trapping any air bubbles between the vinyl and the glass. I think my father had this stuff on a family car we owned back in the 60's.

[busshawg]

I have thought of teh tint, we did by the wide rolls and tinted teh side window's limo black but teh upper part of teh winshield I want to black right out. Keep all teh sun out of teh front as I can.

[busshawg]

sorry for the type o's forgot to proof read, have to have a talk with 2 of my fingers

[Jeremy]

Just about any sort of vinyl (from a signmaker etc) would do the job perfectly well. I have seen reflective silver vinyl used on vehicle windows, presumably to reduce glare and heat inside - might be more effective than black?

Jeremy

[JohnEd]

Grant,

Not only that but you type with an accent.

In So Cal we used a ton of that window tint stuff.  I put it on the bottom of my windshield to cover the part where I could only see the hood or the dash obstructed.  I also tinted the top of the windshield down to my eye level.  I was shocked at how narrow a slit of untinted glass I had left.  I asked a CHP friend to look at it and give his opinion.  He put his billy club on the seat in the vertical and the end lined up with the  "slit".  Verdict: good to GO.  I actually had no tint in the glass that I looked thru and that was the Ca spec at the time for the windshield.  Sides were not restricted and that proved almost fatal for me as I put MEDIUM tint on all of those.  I nearly had a really bad accident at night with a car that was running without his lights on so all that side stuff came off that was in my line of vision.

They make that stuff in a silver, sun reflecting and uv filtered, version that is truly state of the art and not all that spendy.  Nice thing about it being on the inside is that the window cleans easily.

I had a brainstorm a few years ago.  I want the sun glare and heat eliminated and the film only reflects 80% but the light passes thru the window twice and the film gets hot in desert sun.  Heck, even the clear glass gets hot.  Shade is the only true answer.  I will attach a stainless steel strip to the top outside of the windshield to block the sun and ALL heat from that part of the windshield.

I think the Eagles with their fixed exterior sun visor/sun shield look really Boss.  Notice that the semi conventional's with that type of visor have narrow slits of glass to look thru.  In those trucks the driver can reach the windshield to wipe it so he is even closer to the glass than a bus driver.  There is a MPG price to be paid with that config.

HTH,

John

[Gary '79 5C]

I had Luke replace a windshield, and I wished to have a blacked out eyebrow to match the other side. He painted the inside of windshield with a flat black spray paint can.

I have never noticed any scratching, but it is pretty inaccessable.

Good Luck

[JohnEd]

Gary,

That works for eliminating the glare but you are still generating a lot of heat in the interior.  When you are facing the sun try to touch that painted black surface.  Careful....it will be hot in the extreme and that heat is "inside" where the AC must deal with it in the summer.

John

[Ednj]

Grant,
I'm not sure what paint she used for the letters but for the black she used the spray paint for plastic garden chairs.
The paint can says good for glass.
We have not had any cracking or Heat issues.
My wife came up with this project and did it all her self, I think it looks Great.

[Ednj]

 

[busshawg]

EDNJ , you'll have to tell you wife that looks really "BOSS" as John would say. Thanks for the input , I had thought about paint but also was thinking the vinyl would come off if easy if I ever wanted to change it.

John, sorry for the accent, haha I'm all screwed up from traveling . Hell even the locals say I talk funny. I was thinking along the same line as what you did. I have travelled in the deep south and it seems to me that the tint on the lower and upper windshields are popular. I was thinking of using the vinyl on the drivers side to match with the destination sign, and then come a few inchs down with tint straight across both sides.  Then come up from the bottom only as high as the top of the instument panel.

I agree window coverings are the only good answer to protecting the interior from heat but thought this would be better for driving purposes.

Thanks for all of your input.

Grant

[Lin]

There used to be cheap vinyl window film that would hold to the window without glue.  If you find that stuff, you can experiment without serious expense, effort, or removal.

[Dreamscape]

Ed, tell your wife she did a "Mahvalus" job! Well done and it looks great!

~Paul~

[JackConrad]

We used a limo tint film applied to the inside of the windshield.  Jack

[busshawg]

Jack, that was my second choice, maybe 2 layers  of it.