I just got a new crx project and am thinkin about doin some homemade lexan windows in it. What thickness would I need for this? If someone could post up some how to pics about installation and what not, that would help me out. Thanks in advance.


Yager-

 

i think around 1/8 inch..

 

I work a a glass shop in ohio and we do auto glass all the time. You will want 1/4 inch clear lexan. You can get bronze or grey to if you want a tinted look. Your going to need to get a pattern of you windows or just use the window as a pattern. It isn't to hard to get the glass out just take off the inside door pannal. And figure it out from there

I wouldn't recamend you doing it yourself unless you have experince cutting lexan. Cause i do it daily and it is a pain in the ***. (you have to score it like 20 times befor you try and break it.)

Good luck.

 

yeah scoring lexan sucks, could you cut it with a band saw?

 

I heard about cutting it with a band saw.


Yager-

 

yes. hack saw for cutting metal is a lil better b/c of its fine teeth, less prone to cracking


[Modified by TorteX, 10:49 PM 8/19/2002]

 

good point

 

make sure it's taped off on both sides of the cut.

 

1/4 inch is a good thickness....anything thinner will wobble like crazy

 

Hey dude, since you work at a glass shop, you might be able to help me out...how hard would it be to have a shop fit a piece of lexan to where my sunroof used to be, and then get it in there so it won't come out? Any recommendations? Oh, and is the tinted lexan easy to find? Cause that's what I want...pretty dark tint, since I won't have anything on the underside.

Thanks -

Alex

 

does lexan need to be bolted down or can it just be put up like my regular windows?? if you cut it with a saw wouldn't/might melt?? the edges

 

1/8" for side and rear
3/16" for windshield

 

I used 1/4" for everything - the rear hatch and vertical panel, the two quarter windows and the door windows. You will spend about $80 at Home Depot. I cut mine with an air powered die grinder. The edges melt slightly but are easy to sand. I installed mine with urethane glue - works great. You will need to figure out a way to push the window into the glue as it dries. Don't forget to paint a band of black on the inside of the window - this will look good on the outside after mounting and hides the metal edge you have glued to. I cut myself pretty good trying to remove the glass panels but wound up breaking most of them anyway - I reccommend you tape garbage bags inside the glass and just smash them - it's more fun, easier and you catch all the pieces because you are prepared.

 

Any idea on the weight saved by going to lexan windows???

 

I was wondering the same thing.

 

$80? Are you ******* kidding me? Did you get REAL Lexan, or some other flexible acrylic sheets (Durashield for Flexan, or something like that)? A sheet of lexan big enough to do the hatch alone would cost close to $80..

I paid about $250 for enough lexan for my entire car (except vertical panel in hatch).

I cut my lexan with a jigsaw. then sanded the edges for fine fitting. It worked well. I can't imagine trying to score the stuff..

to Quik89Si: Here's a picture of what I did with my hatch: http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndah...k/DSCF0223.JPG
I had to weld a lip onto the inside of the rim of the hatch hole, then weather sealed it ( http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0074.JPG ). then painted it, and drilled out holes to have the thread inserts put in. This sunroof is actually removable, if you have a screwdriver. It's completely weather sealed as well.

 

Hey Quick89si I don't know know about the sunroof think we have never done anything like that. But if you ask around you might be able to find someone to do i don't think it would be to hard. We carry stock sheets of tinted lexan at my shop so it probly won't be to hard to find.

b16a4me you save quit a lot of weight going with lexan. Glass is a ton hevier then lexan

 

k keep in mind if you throw a lexan windshield on you can NOT drive your car on the street. NOT dot approved and the cops will kill you about that. you can mount the lexan in the doors (drill holes for window arms) and roll em up, everything else will need to be rivited on

 

Are you sure this is what you want to do? I'm hoping this is for a race car, not to be used on the street.

A few things everyone should know about Lexan
1) It will scratch.
2) It will most likely leak. We have tried a few weather sealing methods, and we'll see how they work in practice--however we don't intend on having this car sit outside for any length of time. Realize this if your project doesn't have a gutted interior.
3) It aint cheap. Like Martini said, it cost about $250 for the Lexan sheets alone.
4) End up needing about 6 cans of testors to paint the inside edges.
5) You'll need quite a few rivets to do it. I think about $20 worth. You're also going to want to invest in a air-powered rivet gun from like Grizzly Industrial. Can't imagine hand installing all the rivets.
6) You're going to need to build a brace for the front window to keep the curvature.
7) To flush-mount the sunroof, you're pretty much going to need to weld in a little hoop like we did. Especially if you want it removable or weather-sealed.
8) It takes some time. I'd say if you did it start to finish (not including removing the old windows and cleaning off the tar crap that they leave behind) for the first time, it would take a solid weekend to do it right.
9) If you're doing the door windows, you won't be able to roll them down anymore, plus you'll need to do some extra fabrication to mount them properly. We're looking at engineering a sliding window dohicky so you can atleast get some air, and pick up timeslips without opening the doors.

Some tips on how to install
1) Spend time developing your templates. The closer the templates the less fine tuning with the sander.
2) Scoring lexan is an insane idea. Use a jigsaw with fine teeth. Most likely will need to set it up on a big table and clamp down near where you're going to cut.
3) Keep the film on until you're ready to install. Use the film as a mask for painting the black edges.
4) Go get a radius scoring device to help with the scoring... alows you to make a nice even score in the film relative to the edges. THen use a swivel exacto knife and various round shaped things to make the tight radiuses like the corners of the window, etc.
5) Peel the film from the edges after scoring and paint with testors model paint (it is designed to work well with plastics, such as Lexan. Paint the inside of the windows, not the outside.
6) Predrill the rivet holes. Drill BEFORE you paint.
7) If you are test fitting the lexan, use ALUMINUM rivets, they are much, much easier to remove then stainless, etc.
8) To make nice clean edges, use trim edging u-channel stuff that you'd get from like a auto-body place. You'll need quite a bit to do it however, cost you about $60.
9) To build the flush mount ring for the sunroof, go get a air-nibbler and like some 16 gauge sheet metal. Build a template and cut the initial shape with the air nibbler (watch out for the nibbles that fall to the ground--pick those sharp ******* up they will get stuck in your shoes, tires, etc.). Test fit. Get a round peice of wood or plastic with the radius of width of ring, and drill it out so you can use it as a guide for the air nibbler. Drill out a starter hole for the inside part of the hoop, put in the nibbler and use the round wood peice as a guide to make a nice even ring that matches the curve of the existing sunroof hole. Weld in place, use seam sealer to seal the edges, then install rivets or threadserts (about $.35 + the screw) if you want it removable. If there is enough demand, I wouldn't be suprised if martini and I can make a bunch of these rings. Once you know how to make them they are pretty easy.
10) If you do the side windows (driver and passenger door windows that is), you pretty much need to add a lip on the bottom, grind down the big bumps on the back edges and install a spacer in the u-track that the old window sealed against. We build custom door panels that solved the bottom lip problem--now we have plenty to rivet to. As to the top u-channel bit we installed this lightweight plastic called UHMW (check eBay or your local hardware store). Cut to fit, bend it so it fits, then drill out an indentation for a rivet, and rivet into the door frame. THis will give you a nice solid place to rivet the side windows.


Pictures = 1000 Words.

Drivers Door, with the UHMW and the ground down "bumps" plus you can see the trim on the rear quarter window.
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0064.JPG
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0028.JPG

Painting the rear quarters
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0023.JPG

The underside of the sunroof 'ring'
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0074.JPG
Blurry, but smaller picture of the topside
http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/~ndahl/crx/DSCF0029.JPG

UHMW on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1758585370

Perhaps we'll do the defacto how-to on this stuff at some point.


[Modified by rotten, 10:39 PM 8/20/2002]

 

You'll need to rivet it in.

 

I'm not so sure. The state of washington says it must be made out of a material that is less shatter prone then sheet glass. Lexan qualifies. I'm not sure about the fedeal laws or the laws in your state.

Weather it is legal is entirely different the it being practical. We tested a sample peice with some old windshield wipers, and it would certainly haze over pretty quick if you used windshield wipers on lexan--especially if you were trying to get dirt/crap off the window with the squirters.

And rolling them up and down will put nasty scratches in it all the time, plus you'll have to push and prod it to fit the upper sill properly. And it is flexible enough to where someone could likely pull it back with a coat hanger and rip it right back and open your door.

To be honest, I think that if anyone is considering this for a street car, it isn't going to be that great. Race car (I'd only do the front on a car that is mostly used for drag racing) its perfect, but for the street there are a lot of disadvantages.

-k

 

Thanks for all the tips guys. I am not going to do my windshield. I want it to be mostly street legal because I wanna be able to drive it on the street. Anyone know how much weight have all the windows but the front windshield will save? I am not too worried about it leaking and what not. Thanks.


Yager-

 

Doing the front windshield will save about 20 pounds. The best way is to get one that is pre-formed from a place like http://www.racingshields.com

Ben