Failed MD inspection

Frank Berger

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Oct 26, 2012, 10:34:11 AM10/26/12

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1. Rear window is tinted - that's against MD law. Have to have the tint
removed.
2. Car is too low. I assume (hope) putting pack the 17" wheels will make
it legal.
3. Right tail light is missing. Not burned out, housing is missing. Never
noticed that.

Grrr.

charlie

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Oct 27, 2012, 1:57:02 AM10/27/12

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In Georgia, the rear window tint will often result in a ticket.
The tail light bit is understandable.
Ride height too low? I haven't heard of that one!
We've got a bunch of red necks/swamp rats that jack pickups up several
feet, beyond what I always thought was allowable, and I've not heard of
that causing tickets.

The state I grew up in, Illinois, used to have a law that the license
plates had to be a minimum distance from the ground. The front plate on
a Miata passed if the stock mount was used, and might not if it was
moved down from the mouth.

How can the housing be missing? What attaches the tail light lens to the
body?

charlie

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Oct 27, 2012, 2:17:31 AM10/27/12

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You can remove the tint yourself if you have something that creates
steam. Warm/to hot very moist air starts the process, and makes removal
much easier. Dish washing soap and water, with something like Windex, or
a very small amount of ammonia added to the dish washing solution also
helps, and should be repeatedly sprayed on the film. Patience is the
word. Don't scrape any heating grid elements. Generally, you would get a
corner of the film to lift, then spray the warm/solution on followed by
steam, then, after a bit, gently pull on the corner until you feel a
change. Spray some more solution on, add more steam, wait, and as the
film loosens, gently pull again. Once the film is off, there may be some
of the glue remaining. The same process can be used to remove it. You
can also score the film with a razor blade to help the solution/steam
penetrate, but it's easy to scratch the glass or the heat grid elements.

If you have a plastic window, test the solution on a small unimportant
area first. Ammonia can cause problems with some plastics and fabrics.
With the plastic windows, and high heat areas like Texas, some plastic
films can
be a real problem to remove, and cause window replacement to be necessary.

Frank Berger

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Oct 27, 2012, 9:16:31 PM10/27/12

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Maryland says from the center of the headlight to the ground can't be less
than 24".

Re: the light: there is no lens. I don't know what happened to it. There's
just a hole. I bought the car used in CA a couple of years ago. For all I
know, it was never there. Though I would think the Texas inspections would
have caught that.

Frank Berger

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Oct 27, 2012, 9:18:22 PM10/27/12

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This is a glass window on a 2004 MSM. The car was bought new in CA. Don't
know if the tint was aftermarket or what. Thanks for the guide to removing
it, but I think I'll leave this one to a pro. First we have to get
through the hurricane.

charlie

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Oct 28, 2012, 4:58:41 AM10/28/12

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So you are saying that there has been a tail light sided hole on the
Miata since you bought it two years or so ago, and YOU DIDN'T NOTICE?
Sheesh!

Frank Berger

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Oct 28, 2012, 8:28:58 AM10/28/12

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/charlie wrote:/

I'm saying it's possible.

Frank Berger

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Nov 12, 2012, 9:12:53 AM11/12/12

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Saga of getting the MSM inspected in MD continues. Only one dealer, not too
close, had a tail light assembly in stock. Made 7:30 AM appointment with
him to get light and have him remove tint fromback window. Got there at
7:15, found out the detail guy doesn't come to work until 9:30. The hell
with that. Picked up tail light and went home. Turns out, as per a youtube
video, it was trivially easy to remove the tint with a razor blade and a
hair blower.

Then I started changing my 16" Enkei RPF1's back to the OEM 17" Racing
Harts. I don't know if this will really raise the car the necessary 1" or
not, but the guy at Mr. Tire said he would pass me if I put on the OEM
wheels. The Mazda guy said he never heard of an non-lowered car failing
inspection, but the fact remains it *is* 1" too low as per the law. Anyway,
on the second wheel the Mcgard spline drive broke. Now waiting for another
one to ship from Goodwin Racing.

Hopefully the Toyota will go smoother.

tesl...@gmail.com

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Oct 13, 2013, 2:57:00 AM10/13/13

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Go through with the top down? lol

Ron

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Oct 25, 2013, 9:08:40 AM10/25/13

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I've never heard of anyone tinting a plastic backglass....and I have
never even tried to tint one. With that said, the easiest way to get the
film off is to park the car in the sun. The hotter the glass gets the
better. Spray the inside of the glass with ammonia then place a black
garbage bag to the inside of the glass and smooth it out as much as
possible by hand. Leave the bag on for about 20 minutes. Remove the bag
and starting in a corner peel the film off. If done correctly it should
come off in one piece. Clean up remaining residue with ammonia, paper
towels, and single edge razors being careful not to nick the heating
elements if equipped with a rear window defogger. Depending on how long
the tint has been on, just peeling off the tint can ruin the defogger
heating elements anyway.

Here's a video on how it's done.

You can ignore most of part one all he is doing is cutting the bag so
it will fit the glass perfectly. Skip up to the 3:20 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxu516xRPs8

Part two shows how it's done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJAhpgs7b4g