i wanna re-tint my back widow, i think it looks silly w/ tint cut out for the brake light. my 01 cl is black and the tan interior is to noticeable. CAN anyone help me get that light off so the window tinter won't say he has to cut around it... i would imagine i go through the trunk, obviously, but then what?

 

Yea, I know what you mean.
My 2001 CL-S had the tan interior and the tint guy cut that out and it looked like HELL.
To avoid this you need to remove the back seat and the rear parcel shelf to get the light housing out of the way.
Do a search for “back seat removal” or similar topics as this has been discussed many times before.

Some tint places will go behind there without removing the housing, but can’t guarantee how it will come out since there’s no way to squeegee out the air bubbles.

FYI…. Depending on your state’s laws it may be illegal to cover the light, even if you have on in the spoiler.

Shawn S

 

Here YA go: http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...highlight=tint


Back seat removal:

First you need to remove the two bottom cushions. They just pull right up and out with a good tug.
Next you need to remove the center storage compartment and rear seatback bolts.
(Turny Clicky Thing required)
There are TWO bolts at the front of the console and four across the bottom of the seatback.
Remove the center storage compartment.
With your two feet where the cushions were, lift the rear seatback up out of the guide rails (about SIX inches) and tilt forward.
I didn’t actually take the seatback out, but you need to get it out of the way somewhat to get at the rear parcel shelf.
Once the rear seatback is loose, you can get to the TWO plastic fasteners that hold the parcel shelf in.
Pull those out carefully with a flat blade screwdriver watching that they don’t break.
Next you need to pull off the TWO rear pillar covers that the seatbelt goes through.
No fittings to remove, just a good tug and they will come off.
They don’t need to come completely off, just far enough to allow room for the parcel shelf to fit out.
Pull the parcel shelf out, take it out of car and snap the pillar covers back in place.
There are TWO nuts UNDER the parcel shelf that hold the brake light in place.
Remove those from the trunk side and it lifts right out.

To reassemble, hold these directions up to the nearest mirror and read backwards.

Shawn S

 

Thats what my tinter did

He slid the tint in between the light and window then he used a very smooth looking type of thin cardboard to slide in there and get the bubbles out and it looks perfect to this day. Ive had it almost a year

 

mine has the ebony interior, and the first tint was cut out and look pretty good. Now its all covered, but I think I still like the previous tint.

DO you have any pics?

 

I took out my back seat, shelf, 3rd brake light.

Also a good time to put some in soundproofing and clean & condition the rear seat.

Be careful not to over tighten the light when you put is back, I broke mine.

 

I have the Ebony interior too with the tint cut out around the brake light and it doesn't look that bad. It's not that noticeable.

 

Here is a pic of mine. ShawnS has his rear a little darker and maybe he can post a pic of that.

 

Here’s my 2001 with the parchment interior and the light cut out:



Here’s the 2003 done the RIGHT way.
I have a Comptech Sport” sticker over where the lens would be.

 

I've got the ebony interior and they didn't go over my rear light as well. Getting it done again and this time it'll be covered.

 

:sneaky: bastards. :cop: got me for havin this done, but only gave me a warning. I'll think I'm gonna keep on rollin with it.

 

Shawn, you are right. It looks like crap with the parchment interior. With the ebony interior all you really see is the red diffuser.

 

I took my third brake light out for the tint guy.