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Posted by: cali914 Jan 2 2019, 10:41 PM

Anyone using Lexan Front Window on the street? What is the visibility factor? and how long do they last? Is there a company that makes them or just go to tap plastics? Thanks

Posted by: 73-914 Jan 2 2019, 10:50 PM

Not legal for street use

Posted by: wndsrfr Jan 3 2019, 07:27 AM

Don't do it...wipers will scratch the hell out of them in short order as will even careful cleaning. Electrostatic nature picks up dust & makes cleaning more frequently necessary, then microscopic scratches pick up sunlight & make bothersome glare. I've got it on the track car & can tolerate it as I'm supercharged with fear & stuff in my field of vision sort of disappears....

Posted by: burton73 Jan 3 2019, 05:28 PM

Why would you want to do that?

Bob B

Posted by: cali914 Jan 4 2019, 12:21 AM

Weight savings . I appreciate the suggestions . Thanks guys. I'm at 1900lbs now just looking at other ways of losing weight. I have already cut out meat from my diet LOL.

Posted by: horizontally-opposed Jan 4 2019, 12:32 AM

Crazy Harry. Love it. So you're at 1900 lbs with a water-cooled V6. Not bad at all. You still have steel lids and bumpers? What battery are you running? After that, the next 10, 20, 40, etc pounds are gonna get costly…

But the car has to be a beast. Who needs a V8?

Posted by: sithot Jan 4 2019, 04:37 AM

Rest of the glass is ok to swap out. A friend did this to his 911 auto-x car back in the late 70’s in search of weight savings. He changed all glass except the windshield The back window as made in an oven using the original to acquire the curve.
FWIW: He had FTD in sight at the Porsche Parade in ‘81. Duncan Powers quelled that hope with his 908.

Good luck!

Posted by: horizontally-opposed Jan 4 2019, 10:17 AM

^ Yep. Been wondering what the weight savings would be if the 914's four door windows and flat rear window might be if rendered in Gorilla Glass. That stuff seems to avoid the downsides of Lexan, which is of course lighter but super scratch prone.

Posted by: campbellcj Jan 5 2019, 08:27 AM

I may become really interested in a slick lightweight door-window solution soon, as I am contemplating putting my car (back) into a more streetable hotrod configuration. Right now it has a stock glass windshield but lexan rear and completely gutted doors; no glass, lifts, handles, pockets, etc. A simple sliding lexan or gorilla glass setup giving a semblance of weather and sound insulation would be neat and if nothing is commercially out there, I may give it a go. I have all the original door/window bits in storage to work with.

Posted by: ConeDodger Jan 5 2019, 09:43 AM

I keep finding myself saying this, but I think Mark Whitesell told me they were making a 5 window Lexan kit. 914rubber.com
Is this the Honda mini van motored 914 I saw at EASY?

@http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=3348

Posted by: cali914 Jan 6 2019, 12:26 AM

Yes but it is getting a new ❤️. The new heart is a 2.4 liter GM ecotec turbo engine.

Posted by: Mikey914 Jan 6 2019, 12:32 AM

We can easily make the flat version, and can make a formed one, but it’s a matter of demand. I’ve been more focused on the parts that are more in demand. I’ve got about a dozen new parts that we just need to launch. Hopefully I’ll be wrapping up the training the 20th.

To be clear the Lexan is NOT the way to go for a street rod.

Posted by: ConeDodger Jan 6 2019, 01:24 PM

Love your outside the box thinking!

Posted by: mlmgm Jan 6 2019, 01:27 PM

For my street/track project I purchased a Lexan windshield from Five Star Race Car Bodies:

http://www.fivestarbodies.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=793

For the four side glass pieces, I got them from Plastics 4 Performance out of the UK:

https://www.plastics4performance.com/window-kits-windscreens.html?brand=149&model=427

I bought the rear window from our friends at 914rubber:

https://900designs-container.zoeysite.com/914-rear-window-light-weight-polycarbonate-replacement-1970-1976

I was thinking of applying a windshield tearoff for some longevity.

Posted by: 914 Ranch Jan 6 2019, 02:04 PM

Or um, no glass. Probably not an option.



Hope this comes out ok.
1600 pounds...

Posted by: Mikey914 Jan 6 2019, 09:42 PM

Well in that configuration you don’t have too many other options

Posted by: cali914 Jan 7 2019, 12:19 AM

Thanks that looks really good. What is the longevity you think?

Posted by: Dave_Darling Jan 7 2019, 10:02 AM

About one cycle of the windshield wipers...

--DD

Posted by: GregAmy Jan 7 2019, 10:59 AM

Yep.

I've used them on a race-only car, and it's not worth it for the street: poor visibility, easily scratched, not as safe as safety glass*, and , bottom line, illegal for street use. The compromises just aren't worth the minimal weight savings (this is a street car, after all).

Greg

* I took one HELL of a hit to the windshield of my GTI just this last week. Not quite sure what it was, as it was dark, but something came off the roofing truck I was passing and bounced right at my face. Was about the size of a 4 pound sledge hammer and left a fist-sized divot in the safety glass.

And when I mean "right at my face", I mean right at my face; it's right in the middle of my line of sight looking forward. I would not have wanted a 1/4" piece of polycarbonate in front of me last week...