Tinted Windows

DeLoreans have sharply sloped glass, small power windows, dark interiors and are covered in stainless steel. This means that A/C is required for a summer drive to be at all tolerable. But on hot days, even the A/C can only do so much.

Something I only realized recently is that modern car windows are coated to block some IR light. They have a protection layer bonded between two layers of glass, which results in a perfect tint that can’t be scratched or otherwise damaged.

Creating completely new glass is simply not practical for a retrofit into an old car, so the best we can do is tint the window. Modern window tinting blocks both UV and IR light. Not all of it, but easily enough to make a difference.

While I do a lot of work on my car myself, tinting windows is a relatively specialized skill, not terribly expensive, and it’s not hard to find a good tinting shop to do the work. I had my windows tinted at Auto Tint Plus in South Easton, MA. It took a couple of hours to install. I went with the legal limit, which is the lightest tint they do. It still looks reasonably dark to me. The bonus is privacy, which isn’t as interesting to me but Zoe certainly appreciates it.

I’m quite happy with the final installation. So far it seems to be doing what I wanted: reducing the amount of heat in the cabin. Before tinting, there was little difference between having the window open or closed with regard to how much sunlight you felt. Now the heat through the glass is notably reduced. There’s still some heat transfer, because the window isn’t completely opaque, but it’s much better and should keep the car cooler until I can figure out how I’m fixing the A/C.

Tinted windows after a year. They definitely keep the car cooler.

Freshly applied tint from Auto Tint Plus.

Another view showing the tint from the front.