Hello all. I'm new to the site and am in the process of getting signed up as an installer.

i think your name is funny...reminds me of "mini me"

hi

welcome the good half

welcome. what part of nc are you in?

Thanks for the replys. Any idea on how long it takes to have your credentials reviewed? I always try to stay in the good half, the bad half only pops out when I'm dumping the trashcan and see so much film in it. Carolinatinter, I'm right here in your neck of the woods.

i take it i know you then.

Welcome to da club

It usually only takes a few months for your credentials to be reviewed

I think I know who this is....
WAsup dood, when are you goig to stop in???

whats up bro

hello

I'm not sure if we have or not.

any guesses? I'll stop in if you tell me where.

I would like to say thanks to those responsible for letting me in. I did not come accross this site in my searching of the web. It was given to me by the instructor at Cp films in Martinsville last month. It's nice not to have to wade through the muck of braggarts to gleen some useful information. Thanks again.

OK, maybe it's not who I think it is...

What city???

I doubt that we have. I'm new to tinting, but not to auto glass. I have been in the auto glass business for the last 22 years here in Wilmington. I wanted to add the tinting as an add-on to fill in when I wasn't putting in glass. I now have a new found respect for tinters. I, like most thought it was going to be easy....yeah right. I trained in Martinsville last month, and am currently practicing on family and friends autos. I simply want to augment my income with tint, I have no plans to do anything else. I will stay first and foremost an auto glass replacement shop. However, it won't be long when someone else asks me if I tint windows that I will be able to answer , yes.

Good.

Hang around.

I like your avatar.

damn. another shop in wilmington.

im guessing someone from triumph or registers.

any recomendation on where i can take some glass classes? mainly for removing/installing. thanks

Welcome aboard 333.

Thanks, I didn't know what an avatar was yesterday.

What would lead you to guess those two? For the record I'm from neither, so you can be honest. I'm not sure about the classes but I will see if I can find something. Hey, there are 3 times as many glass shops as there are tint shops, and a new one in the bellsouth book called "poor mans auto glass".

i wasnt being a smart ass about the classes. i had posted something about it a month or 2 ago.

I didn't take it any way except straight up. I don't know of any classes, but I get a magazine called AGR something. It's a quarterly publication that lists a new car/truck and explains how to install every piece of glass (I don't subscribe they just send them). I'm trying to see if I can find it on the web and if they have an archive.

man, I can't remember. One mag is agrrmag.com, another is iga.org. You'll see stuff about certification classes on the iga site, that's all about technique, like not installing w/s's with peanut butter on your fingers. one place that has a forum sort of like this is glassbytes.com. It lists a board down on the left side of the site. When I get another one of magazines that spells out how to do stuff I'll save it. What is it exactly you are wanting to know, how to remove urethaned in stuff, or more like pulling panel kind of stuff.

removing and re-installing windshields and back windows. i can already break down about any car as far as panels go and taking out side windows isnt too much. basically urethaned stuff.

Sounds like a tint man gone glass man. r/r-ing (removing and re-installing) a windshield is very difficult because they are laminated. Backglasses and quarterglasses aren't so bad b/c they are tempered. Proper tools are the trick. Check out www.equalizer.com they have the most comprehensive catalog for auto glass tools and accesories. The trick is not tearing up moldings, encapsulated parts and the defroster leads. Trying to find a place to learn that might be hard to do. I suspect it is like tinting, someone can show you the basics, but every vehicle has it's own set of special characteristics that you have to work through on your own and remember and apply to future situations. Most of what I do is normal stuff, if you have a specfic question about something I might be of some assistance. But if they trend to high end foreign stuff I don't have much to offer

how much could you do a windshield on a 96 accord for me? i would be paying out and it would need to be removed and reinstalled. i go out west and work with the movie studios on larger projects tinting and they always need an extra hand on the installation side of glass so just trying to knock down a couple extra ducks.

a 96 Accord 4 door cash price is $175. With respect to the movie deal you would want to put the w/s in with a butyl kit. It would hold it for a while and then you could just push it out. I would never reccommend that for a normal install. When they were through the filming(movie) you would install with urethane so the car would be road worthy again.

Robert's Auto Glass on Castle Skreet!!??

Why does your IP address say you're in Virginia???




You are correct though, there are many more glass shops in town than tint shops...
Seems everyone saw the profit margin after working for someone else and jumped on the wagon....

Not the same with tint , it is sooo much more labor intensive than glass...
Profit made measured against time spent is not near as good as half the other things we do, but for some unknown reason, I seem to like doing it...

Si Senior, I've got a friend from high school and an old racing buddy making me a new sign. The one I have is in serious need of replacin. It will read Roberts Auto Glass and Window Tint. That will be the only advertising that I do to the public at all. I've gotten everything set up now except proper lighting and what to do about the shop floor. I want to stress to you and to carolinatinter that my goal is to treat the tinting industry with respect and to become a reputable shop doing high quality work that furthers the industry. I will not be a lowball hack, which is perhaps why I've suffered some with the auto glass. I don't play that price cutting nonsense that so many of the other guys do. I also don't bribe, cheat,lie and steal to get work. My greatgrandfather started this business in 1918 as mechanic, body, and glass shop. The mechanic work was the first to go, and then the body work ceased in the 70's. It has been a glass shop only since then. We haven't survived this long by treating people poorly. My name is on the the sign and I take that seriously. I hope that we can all work together.
How did you guess? And to whom am I speaking?
And you are so right about glass shops, we have all trained our competition. All you need to do glass work is a handful of tools and a truck. My suppliers are tripping over each other to set up an account for ANYONE who wants. Installing glass is a simple mechanical procedure, where film is so much more of an art.

You sound like you just might fit in this little corner of the net. You seem to share the same attitude toward business as most, if not all in here. I do most of my automotive tinting out of a glass shop, and the founder of this board also does some glass work with tinting, so there are a few in here who know the good/bad about the glass biz too. Basically, what I know is....INSURANCE COMPANIES SUCK!.

Thanks for the response. I hope my locals concur. This blogging or posting or whatever we call it is a first for me. Yesterday,I responded to my own response. The auto glass business has gone through some drastic changes in the last decade. Between NAGS,and the insurance companys subbing out to third party vendors things have gone south. Earlier this week I got news that glass prices were going up, NAGS will probably stay flat, and insurance will drop rates. Blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, don't get me started.

Your race buddy must be Wild Child i.e. Chris P.????
I know him by reputation only..
I do a lot of graphics and signage too...

All I ask of you as a competitor, is that you keep your prices UP and keep your tinting LEGAL...


Is Robinson Alignment still next to you???

I didn't guess where you were, they don't call me Sherlock for nuthin'....
I knew you were coming before you got here....

I'm Alan, my wife and I own Kelly's Automotive Repair & Restyle and The Leak Detective on Market St...
Wilmington is my home town too, I trained under Butch Parlatore @ CFCC
in the late 80's, that's were I got my start in the Automotive Industry....

Wild child it is. The Princes have spent alot of money with us in the past, so I was happy to sling it back their way for a change. I've been reading through the threads on this site, and really haven't given much thought as to how much signage and lettering is out there. I am by no means an artist so I will leave the viynl to you guys.

You have no worries with respect to pricing, I am not the cheapest in glass, I won't be the cheapest in film. I'll be down here tinting 90's model caprice classics and town cars. I'm going to stick with good film and stay legal. I'm amazed at how many dark tint jobs there are on cars around town.

My dad and Butch go way back, I know him mostly from the gun side. He tricked out a remington 700 in 25-06 for me. It's my most accurate rifle.

Was it the ole Kiester that sold me out early.

welcome its a cool place

Thanks,