Custom lexan windows??

[synolimit]

I saw some lexan windows done here. Fitment could be better since the OEM window is curved and the lexan was forced which comes flat. Do you think this idea would work??

Remove windows and lay flat on a table. Lay the lexan sheet over the OEM windows and pop in a walk in powder coat oven. The heat at xxx temp for xxx time could let the lexan get soft and gravity could pull the lexan around the curves of the window. Even if its not perfect the fitment should be ten times better.

Just not sure if lexan melts. Not sure if melting changes the properties of the lexan and makes it weaker. I know on myth busters they use that suction mold thing all the time to make plastic parts for heads and stuff.

What do you think?

[phunk]

I think if it is a street car and you do more than the hatch you will serious regret it. Even the hatch is annoying at times... lexan is not stiff and it like pulses in/out with air pressure. Had lexan in the back of my 350z, which is my only experience with it. At highway speeds it often made a ton of noise.

It scratches like crazy if even look at it wrong too.

But for race car use... I think its cool... and I have no useful answers to your questions. Maybe a heat gun with careful use would do the trick.

[Shamu]

Originally Posted by phunk

I think if it is a street car and you do more than the hatch you will serious regret it. Even the hatch is annoying at times... lexan is not stiff and it like pulses in/out with air pressure. Had lexan in the back of my 350z, which is my only experience with it. At highway speeds it often made a ton of noise.

It scratches like crazy if even look at it wrong too.

But for race car use... I think its cool... and I have no useful answers to your questions. Maybe a heat gun with careful use would do the trick.

Agreed it would be a pain for a street car. Stick with glass side windows and just do hatch.

[XiP]

be a pioneer and try it!
if it works then others will follow your footsteps

[Mike]

my oven is only 3x3x3, so we can't try it in mine ;(

[synolimit]

Originally Posted by phunk

I think if it is a street car and you do more than the hatch you will serious regret it. Even the hatch is annoying at times... lexan is not stiff and it like pulses in/out with air pressure. Had lexan in the back of my 350z, which is my only experience with it. At highway speeds it often made a ton of noise.

It scratches like crazy if even look at it wrong too.

But for race car use... I think its cool... and I have no useful answers to your questions. Maybe a heat gun with careful use would do the trick.

Did you have bars running down the window to reenforce it in the middle?

As for scratching I was thinking 100% window tint on both sides. When its used up pull it off the lexan to save it maybe.

[gomer_110]

What you're suggesting should work but from what I've read you need to "dry" the lexan beforehand to prevent small moisture bubbles from forming creating a translucent effect. Here's a link that might be useful:
Forming Lexan Sheet

[phunk]

Originally Posted by synolimit

Did you have bars running down the window to reenforce it in the middle?

As for scratching I was thinking 100% window tint on both sides. When its used up pull it off the lexan to save it maybe.

I purchased aluminum T-bar to rivet to it, but I ended up not using it. Didnt want to deal with leaks and I had concerns about a possibly "scrappy" race car looking window that may not match the rest of the totally normal clean street car theme. I could tell that it was going to take some serious thickness material to completely fix it. I just dealt with it, as my friend who bought the car does to this day. So in short... it wasnt for me.

The window tint is a good idea... thinking about that, you probably wouldnt ever have to replace it.

[synolimit]

Originally Posted by gomer_110

What you're suggesting should work but from what I've read you need to "dry" the lexan beforehand to prevent small moisture bubbles from forming creating a translucent effect. Here's a link that might be useful:
Forming Lexan Sheet

I'll check it out. Found this too. Might be the same info.

[synolimit]

Originally Posted by phunk

I purchased aluminum T-bar to rivet to it, but I ended up not using it. Didnt want to deal with leaks and I had concerns about a possibly "scrappy" race car looking window that may not match the rest of the totally normal clean street car theme. I could tell that it was going to take some serious thickness material to completely fix it. I just dealt with it, as my friend who bought the car does to this day. So in short... it wasnt for me.

The window tint is a good idea... thinking about that, you probably wouldnt ever have to replace it.

On the front maybe if you use the wipers for DD.

[Shamu]

Other thing is weight of our glass verses lexan isn't as much of a savings as I had hoped. Just doesn't seem worth hassle to save a few lbs and end up with inferior window that will be prone to warping etc.

[Sh0velMan]

Originally Posted by Shamu

Other thing is weight of our glass verses lexan isn't as much of a savings as I had hoped. Just doesn't seem worth hassle to save a few lbs and end up with inferior window that will be prone to warping etc.

This was kinda what I was thinking as well.

Lexan (Polycarbonate) in the kinds of thicknesses you need to be rigid/safe is going to weigh enough that the savings won't be that dramatic.

For me, the only windows left are Windshield, Hatch and the tiny quarter glass.

The Windshield, once the car is trailered everywhere, will probably get done as it is seriously heavy, even compared to thick polycarb.

The hatch, I probably won't mess with unless I get a carbon/fiberglass rear hatch.

And as Mike was hinting, you need a precisely controlled oven to form polycarbonate sheet, a heat gun will not produce very good results, and usually the stuff will spring back after it cools.