Just wonderring. Was at Home Depot today getting some shingles and noticed that fiberglass sheets were like 60 bucks and you could probably do the rear 3 windows easily with it

Seems a lot cheaper than Lexan, lightweight (dont know the dif between it and lexan)

Just wonderring why people dont use it instead of Lexan?

 

Can you see through fiberglass like a window?

 

Lexan you can see through.. fiberglass you cant..

 

****!

I meant plexiglass

 

Cause plexiglass scratches and probably cracks with time.

 

Lexan scratches really easy as well

Just be careful

 

From what I was reading earlier is that lexan doesn't scratch. I dunno.

 

I bought a few sheets of plexi a while back. The guy at the store seemed to know his stuff. He said the lexan yellows over time (UV rays from the sun make it tint yellow). The plexi doesn't do that and is less prone to scratching than the lexan. Lexan is stronger though.

 

From what I've seen both materials are available with scratch resistant coatings

 

How would you "mold" it to lets say the rear hatch on a rex?

 

Funny, this thread pop'd up right as i was hanging up the phone.
I was disscussing using polycarbonate on my windows. It's super light,durable, and almost as scratch resistant as glass.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by C-RICKS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Funny, this thread pop'd up right as i was hanging up the phone.
I was disscussing using polycarbonate on my windows. It's super light,durable, and almost as scratch resistant as glass. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Pics?

 

Ok - I did my engineering research for the day.

Lexan is polycarbonate. Lexan is GE's trade name for polycarbonate just like Mortin is the trade name for generic Ibuprofin.

Plexiglass is acrylic. Acrylic is more brittle than polycarbonate.

Without any hardcoating on the polycarbonate it can be attacked very easily by solvents like acetone and stuff - plexiglass/actrylic has more tolerance to that stuff.

Scratch resistance depends on the hardcoating.

 

Gonna seriously consider doing this to my hatch now

I think Ill just use some caulking and some screws

Gonna be quite the weight saver

 

can you use window adhesive without screws to hold the lexan on the car?

 

I probably wouldnt trust just that, just get some black screws

Thieves could just pry your windows off as well I suppose

I dunno, seems like a cool cheap idea

 

Ahh!! Again with the Lexan scratches, Lexan yellows, etc etc. It does nothing of the sort. And as far as thieves are concerned it is better than the normal glass in our cars. I can break a glass window in a millisecond.

I dare you to try and break my rear Lexan window out. Because it is flexible it is going to take a huge amount of force and the force must be exerted almost al the way to the floor of the rear hatch. So technically it *could* be done. But with a millisecond time frame to take out the glass in the door why would you do it?

The Lexan I bought does have a coating. There are different types of Lexan available. I will edit this post later with the exact manufacture, type and coating of what I bought. The stuff is awesome AND DOES NOT SCRATCH OR YELLOW! It is also cheaper than regular glass.

 

good luck cutting/drilling plexiglass.. tried that.. it shatters.. plus in a crash it is very brittle and would probably break into sharp pieces.. not too safe.

 

I know for a fact I can easily cut plexiglass

I had to make a large piece for my friends stereo setup, just used the schools bandsaw, it moves so fast that the cuts were very clean but a little rough, nothing a fine file didnt take care of

 

So how thick would you use? I know for the front windshield SCCA requires .125 in a Prepared car, would you use that all the way around or can you go thinner for the sides? Any good sources? Thanks!

 

Good point

 

A solution for easily-scratched surfaces: Why not tint the lexan or plexi? That should protect it from scratches.

 

tint goes on the inside of the window for starters.. and second.. it doesn't stick to either material.

 

Home Depot sells Lucite Safety Glass it is not the same as Lexan.


Lexan is more flexable and forgiving when cut and drilled.

Lucite scratches easily and cracks easily.

Lucite doesn't yellow unless I would guess if its many years old, after all they will not sell a product like that to home users if it yellows after a month. I had my rear windows made of Lucite and they never yellowed after a year.

Lucite is pretty strong when hit on its face but its edges are very brittle.

Lucite is cheaper then lexan in price.

Save your money & buy Lexan as its a better product.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dmoto &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good luck cutting/drilling plexiglass.. tried that.. it shatters.. plus in a crash it is very brittle and would probably break into sharp pieces.. not too safe.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its easy to cut plexi...you can use a jigsaw you don't even need a bandsaw.

Just make sure you have a blade made for plastic or metal

Go slow and take it easy and let the blade do the work don't push the saw...if the sheet starts to flap, stop and back off the cut and start again. Its when the sheet starts to move and flap that is when it will crack.

Also don't remove the protective sticky sheet until you cut out your shapes that way if you do crack anything it will stay with the protective sheet.