oldyota

im looking to add a roof wing and tint to the rear so its gotta go

anyone done it?
any issues?
what did you do with the wire?


refernce pic




thanks

Kansas

Both the inside and outside parts of the antenna are probably attached with adhesive. Try heating them up with a hair dryer and then pealing them off with a screw driver or putty knife. Be careful not to scratch the glass - maybe apply masking tape around it first.

Tuck the cable above the headliner or just cut it or rip it out. Looking at your photo, your phone antenna doesn't look like the type that would have been installed by a Lexus dealer for a Lexus phone system.

I will never again have tint put on the back window of a vehicle ... only the side windows.

Largefarva

I agree with heating it up, but I'd use a paint scraper and slowly work it off, dont twist the scraper, work it forward sliding back and forth, soak the area with WD-40 first, it will help the scraper slide and will also loosen the adhesive. I disagree about not tinting the rear though-tinted windows with the rear untinted is just wrong, all or nothing is the only way.

dc893

I removed mine and it was just held on with adhesive, then cut the wire so it was short enough to tuck back under the headliner.

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

An alternative (and probably more paint/glass friendly) method would be using fishing line and just moving it back, and forth, under the antenna while heating around it with a heatgun/hairdryer.

oldyota

thanks guys ill give it a shot today.

just trying to make sure it was nothing crazy.
ill post pics if I can.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Why what problems have you had with tint on the rear window?

Kansas

"Just wrong?" Tell that to owners of new Mercedes S-class and BMW 7-series cars I see with only the side windows tinted. Most if not all of those had a retractable back window shade which is the main reason didn't tint the back window of the 1990 LS400 I bought new. Not a single person ever said anything about the back window of my 90 LS not being tinted. It certainly made the car easier to back up at night.

I seem to post a photo of my old 90 LS once a year so here it is again with its tinted side windows (35%), clear untinted back window and its rare optional retractable back window shade. Photo taken in 2003 - looks pretty good for a car I drove 13 1/2 years from new to 183,500 miles. Not a single dent or ding.

I wish I didn't have the back window of my 2000 LS400 tinted - expensive "life-time guarantee" tint doesn't last 10+years. Life-time doesn't mean a person's life but instead means the manufacturers view of how long a product should last. I've already had the tint on the two of the side windows replaced due to failure. The back window tint is fading but the tint shop we have been using doubts that the tint can be removed without damaging the heater grid and recommends not removing it.

And the back window tint affected the automatic dimming of the interior and exterior mirrors - didn't realize that was a common complaint. And the reflections off the thick heater grid wires caused at night by the headlights of cars behind me - tolerable but I don't like it.

So ... not going to tint another back window. Didn't tint the back window of the new car we bought last year. Learned a lesson.

Largefarva

To each his own, but to me a car looks unfinished if the rear window is left bare, all or nothing IMO. I've had a few tinted over the years but have never owned a car more than 4 years so I can't say how long it lasted, but I'd rather replace my back window every 10 years than have it untinted.

Gene01

Hi, Kansas. What is the badge just in back of the front wheel wells (where the "sport" emblem is on later cars?
Or is it a side marker light?

Kansas

They are the side turn signal units that were standard on the gen 1 LS400 and most other Toyota and Lexus vehicles of that era in the UK, Europe and much of the rest of the world. I bought them from a UK Lexus dealer shortly after I bought the car in 1990 and had them installed - except for the wiring - by a local body shop. I was so enthused about the car during the test drive that I bought it without noticing that other drivers couldn't see the front turn signals when they were driving beside me - a big deal back when I could barely pass the vision test to get a drivers license.

Here is another photo from 2003 that shows the side turn signals on the 90 - parked by the 2000 LS400 I'm still driving. I wouldn't have bought the 2000 if its front turn signals couldn't be seen from the side.

Gene01

Very cool! Thanks for the information.