With all this sunshine and the intense summer heat, which often exceeds 40 degrees Celsius in the metropolitan area, and higher than that in inland regional areas, many of our cars suffer from sun exposure causing them to look old and tired before their time.
It is not uncommon to see fairly modern cars with peeling and faded paint work. Plastic headlight lenses can become frosted and discoloured in appearance whilst red taillights can fade to pink or, in extreme cases, totally loose their colour altogether.
Example of faded paintwork. (Thankfully not UGU)
Image from www.meguiarsonline.com/forums
Image from www.meguiarsonline.com/forums
The Mercedes-Benz W210 is unfortunately one model that suffers particularly badly due to it's plastic headlights.
One of the first MBCCWA events I attended was a demonstration evening at Autovis in Osborne Park, a company who specialise in the refurbishment of plastic headlights.
The demonstrator explained the process in simplistic terms, saying that they sanded off the damaged coating layer, before reapplying a sunscreen layer which protects the plastic below. I found the demonstration very impressive, and was informed that the cost to do this is significantly less than replacing the lenses.
There are of course plenty of videos on Youtube and DIY kit's you can buy at any auto parts store so you try this yourself. As UGU has glass headlight lenses I have never had the need to use any of those products, but I would be interested to know what level of success anyone has achieved trying these DIY products.
MBCCWA demonstration evening at Autovis, 2012
It is common to see dashboards with cracks in them. I assume this is caused by the expansion and contraction of the components over the years. Some people opt to install dashboard mats, which are essentially a piece of carpet to cover the dashboard whilst sheep skin seat covers are installed to protect the seats.
I was very thankful that my first Benz had sheep skin seat covers. They had been installed when the car was new which meant that by the time I got the car, almost 30 years later, the original seats were in perfect condition.
The dashboard mats are not my personal cup of tea, and often they are used to cover up an already damaged dashboard, or people glue them to the dash causing more damage than what was there in the first place.
Example of dashboard mat
Really the best solution is wherever possible, keep your car out of the sun when it is not in use. In Perth, as I am sure it is in many other places, it is always the underground car parks and shaded parking spaces that fill up first at the shopping centres. In the suburbs most people are also fortunate to have enough space for a garage or carport.
I have been very fortunate that UGU has been garaged her whole life, and whilst she has had a re-spray at some stage, the interior is pretty much perfect, with the exception of one crack in the dashboard.
Everyone I know with a stroke 8, has this crack in the same place, so perhaps it is a weakness in the dashboard design. The crack runs from the central speaker grille to the edge of the dashboard. I did considered getting it fixed, but decided that it was part of her character so decided to leave it.
UGU's original interior photographed on the day I collected her
UGU's data card, reference 598 shows that as part of the Australian specification, "heat-insulating glass" was installed. I understand this to mean the glass is slightly tinted.
Tinted windows are standard in all new cars, but often further tinting is installed via the application of film. You can tint the back windows as dark as you like, however strict laws govern how dark the tint can be on the front side windows. Tinting the windscreen is forbidden for obvious reasons.
UGU had had film installed many years prior to my purchase, however I am told that it had started to deteriorated over the years, developing cracks and bubbles, so the previous owner had a go at removing it. Unfortunately as he did the layers of the film separated, leaving the glue residue and a layer of the film stuck to the back window making it impossible to see through.
This was one of the considered risks I took when buying UGU, I didn't know how hard this would be to remove, or if it was even possible to remove. Worst case I thought a new window might have been required.
UGU. Notice the back window is impossible to see through clearly
UGU. Note the dark window tint on the quarter-light window but not on any other windows
I needed to get UGU's back window fixed as soon as possible, as it made using the rear view mirror pointless, and with only a door mirror on the drivers side I was very conscious of not being able to see what was going on around me, so decided it was to dangerous to drive her until fixed.
A friend of mine has a window film company, so I spoke to him about the problem and he recommended I speak to a auto tinting expert, and gave me the details Steve Gale of Excel Window Tinting.
As UGU has no air-conditioning she gets very hot in summer, so I had already decided that I wanted to get her re-tinted after the old stuff was removed. Window tinting film cuts out 99% of UV rays, and reduces the amount of light able to penetrate the windows which keeps the car cooler and the occupants safe from the harmful UV rays. It also has the added benefit of laminating the glass so security of the vehicle is increased.
I wanted to keep UGU looking relatively standard so decided not to go for the darkest legal tint, instead I wanted to choose something more aesthetically pleasing to a car of UGU's age.
I called Steve and asked about my options. He was able to post me some samples, and with my preference selected (a film with a brown hue to match the interior), he ordered the material and we booked in a day for the installation. One of the beauties of Steve's business is that it is a mobile service, so he can come to you as long as you have a suitable place to work in.
I will say at this point, Steve did an amazing job and was very particularly about his work, the end product was flawless.
As Steve set to work scraping the glue and old tinting from the back window, I helped by removing all of the side door and window trims ensuring that as much of the glass as possible was exposed. Just as it did when I installed the replacement check straps, the trim all unclipped and unscrewed perfectly, happy days!
UGU. Rear passenger side trim removed to expose the glass.
In this picture you can see the outline of the old film which had been installed with the window in the closed position, therefore the edges had not been done which was pretty poor. You will also note this window is not sitting straight as it had come out of its runner. This has since been resolved.
With the old film removed and the glass cleaned, Steve set to work shaping the film for the back window. He did this by laying the material on the outside of the glass and then heating it with a heat gun to get the desired shape.
New film is shaped on the outside of the glass before being installed on the inside
Following several hours work, the job was done
I was delighted with the job Steve did, which I might add was very reasonably priced and comes with a lifetime warranty!
I have happily recommended Steve to my friends and family, and he has recently tinted my mother-in-laws new VW Golf to the same excellent standard.
Should you need you car tinted and live in the Perth Metro Area, give Steve a call and tell him you read about him on Tyrobenz.
Steve Gale
Excel Window Tinting
Tel: 0437 730 006
Ph: 08 9409 6164
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