Wasaabi
Sprinter Westfalia #133
The Seitz passenger window is acrylic, which means normal tinting films don't work on it. Knowing this, I went to a specialist who installed a "blister-free" clean film on the window. After that dries for around a week, you put regular tinting on top. I had that done, but it didn't work out. Within a month everything blistered horribly. Fortunately I was able to peel it off without any permanent damage to the window.
Back to the drawing board, I found forums talking about using "peel and cling" window film for acrylic windows. I still had a template made from window film from my tinting guy (because we ended up not using that sheet). So I went and bought Gila "Black Privacy Window Film" peel and cling type from Home Depot, SKU # 481130, $17. I also bought the Gila kit for installation, although you can substitute your own stuff too.
I cut the Gila film a couple inches larger than the window. Then I grabbed a flat glass screen door insert I had and cleaned it. I sprayed the "solution" (which is some sort of soap) onto it and attached the Gila film backwards (liner facing up). You are not supposed to get the liner wet but I did spray it lightly so that I could put the film template I had over it and have it stay on.
Then I used the knife from the kit to trace the film cutout so I had the exact right size.
For installation, I first removed the two rubber plugs at the center of the window at each side. Note that these windows are intended to "breathe" unlike sealed thermopane. I heavily sprayed the Westy window, peeled off the liner (a bit at a time, otherwise it gets hard to deal with), and attached the cling film. I moved it into position, and used the plastic tool to flatten out the bubbles. Then I reinstalled the two plugs.
It is almost perfect and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It seems to be sticking very well to the Westy window, and can be peeled off at any point since there is no adhesive. It is dark enough that you cannot really see in at all, day or night. With the shade pulled down, you cannot see that the shade is pulled down from the outside.
The one downside is that this film is not as optically clear as regular tint. So there is some distortion when you look through it from inside. I can live with that.
There is also a peel and cling Gila film available for automotive applications. You can get 5% (really dark) or 20% (like most SUVs). I don't know how well it would work because I used their "home" line, but if I have to replace this at some point I will try that one.
One caution: do not use a blade to cut the film to size on the acrylic window--it will scratch. Instead, if you don't have a template like I did, I think the thing to do is cut it an inch longer on all sides, and temporarily attach it to the outside of the window, with the liner facing out. Then use a sharpie to mark the lever cutouts and borders on the liner, and cut these out on a suitable surface before installing the film.
Back to the drawing board, I found forums talking about using "peel and cling" window film for acrylic windows. I still had a template made from window film from my tinting guy (because we ended up not using that sheet). So I went and bought Gila "Black Privacy Window Film" peel and cling type from Home Depot, SKU # 481130, $17. I also bought the Gila kit for installation, although you can substitute your own stuff too.
I cut the Gila film a couple inches larger than the window. Then I grabbed a flat glass screen door insert I had and cleaned it. I sprayed the "solution" (which is some sort of soap) onto it and attached the Gila film backwards (liner facing up). You are not supposed to get the liner wet but I did spray it lightly so that I could put the film template I had over it and have it stay on.
Then I used the knife from the kit to trace the film cutout so I had the exact right size.
For installation, I first removed the two rubber plugs at the center of the window at each side. Note that these windows are intended to "breathe" unlike sealed thermopane. I heavily sprayed the Westy window, peeled off the liner (a bit at a time, otherwise it gets hard to deal with), and attached the cling film. I moved it into position, and used the plastic tool to flatten out the bubbles. Then I reinstalled the two plugs.
It is almost perfect and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It seems to be sticking very well to the Westy window, and can be peeled off at any point since there is no adhesive. It is dark enough that you cannot really see in at all, day or night. With the shade pulled down, you cannot see that the shade is pulled down from the outside.
The one downside is that this film is not as optically clear as regular tint. So there is some distortion when you look through it from inside. I can live with that.
There is also a peel and cling Gila film available for automotive applications. You can get 5% (really dark) or 20% (like most SUVs). I don't know how well it would work because I used their "home" line, but if I have to replace this at some point I will try that one.
One caution: do not use a blade to cut the film to size on the acrylic window--it will scratch. Instead, if you don't have a template like I did, I think the thing to do is cut it an inch longer on all sides, and temporarily attach it to the outside of the window, with the liner facing out. Then use a sharpie to mark the lever cutouts and borders on the liner, and cut these out on a suitable surface before installing the film.
