Black & Green modding thread (1998 Civic DX Coupe base)

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by Ecky

I can't help but think, the challenges one faces in California are so very different than in the Northeast.

Looks great. Every time I take a carpet cleaner to my car, the water comes away endlessly dark, even when the fabric looks clean. I can't figure it.

I've tried hosing off floor mats until the water comes off clear. I have never been able to reach that point!

[Xist]

Have thrown floormats in the washing machine.

[California98Civic]

A few significant errors in installing the windshield tint tonight mean that I'll have to do it again. But I'm going to keep this failed attempt for a few days to get a feeling for what it's like and to do some light meter measurements.

I needing specialists tools for reaching into narrow spaces. I did not apply my slip solution copiously enough. And I made the very foolish mistake of pulling it partway off in order to apply more.

View through the tinted windshield from inside, close to sunset.


View from outside car. Notice edges are bubbling. There are also micro bubbles on the passenger side, and a few ugly creases on the passenger side.

[California98Civic]

Well the windshield tint works. It lets most light in (and it seems within the Cali legal limit in full sun). And it is definitely cooler on my hand and especially on the dash. At this hour on a full sun day like today my dash is too hot to hold my hand on for more than a short second. I can do it indefinitely now. The dash is more like "very warm" than really hot. That is the point of the tint. Here are my measurements of the light transmission. What think you?

Three light meter tests (no bearing on heat rejection)

1) Tint on tint difference (test done early afternoon)

Rear passenger window with one layer metalized dark, high quality heat rejecting commerical car tint.

Full sun: 59,300 LUX
Tint: 10,300 (83% light reduction)

Rear driver side window with both tint layers

Full sun: 59,300 LUX
Tint on tint: 6,100 (90% versus direct sun, 41% versus one-layer)

2) Windshield test (overcast cloudy sky 8:15 a.m.)

Overcast open air: 10,500 LUX
Windshield without tint: 6400 LUX
With tint: 4200 LUX (35% reduction over OEM, 60% reduction over direct sun)

3) Windshield test (full sun midday, cloudless blue sky)

Open air: 59,396 LUX (steady reading)
OEM glass alone: 59,396 LUX (steady reading)
Tint: 42,000 LUX (29% reduction). But this reading fluctuated a lot over minutes and ranged from lows of 40,000 LUX to a fairly steady high of about 49,000 LUX.

[caioazevedo]

Huge project. Part of the energy that hits the car is infrared. 3M sells a glass film that blocks infrared. Soooo expensive.

Your measurements show good results, i think. Congratulations. I cannot imagine how to measure infrared. If you can, do it.

[RedDevil]

I always thought tint film should not reflect infrared, as then it would trap the heat inside. Sunlight contains less IR than a car interior emits, as visible light converts to heat, emitting IR, when it hits something that absorbs it.

[California98Civic]

As far as I know, the product doesn't claim to block or reflect any infrared light. It claims to block nearly all ultraviolet light, which of course is on the opposite end of the light spectrum. Soon, I should be receiving a good heat metering tool that I ordered, and then I plan a test of how effectively the tint prevents heat buildup on the dashboard.

[Piotrsko]

Any possibility of throwing a sunshade across the window and using that as a baseline?

[Xist]

Just do A-B-A on baking cookies on your dash!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Any possibility of throwing a sunshade across the window and using that as a baseline?

Yes, I think I could to that, too.

Originally Posted by Xist

Just do A-B-A on baking cookies on your dash!

Ok. Will choc chip do?