So was thinking the other night that i'd like to have a matching pair of exterior mirrors. However i don't like the stock items the way they hang in a droopy fashion looks odd, IMO

So sat down, drank & played with the internet for a while. Dranks some more fell over...
Next day fell off the chair & thought of this.

Remove the stock glass for the side triangle, replace with lexan. Install some of those svelte carbon mirrors. (a la www.SPAtechnique.com) Seems to me that would look cool. Mirrors would be in the right place to actually see something. Negates having to drill holes in bodywork. Removes a chunk of weight.

Anyone done this before? How does the triangle of glass come out? What thickenss is the glass?

If this is for a street car I suggest you think carefully before you do this.

1) Safety glass is there for a reason.

2) ANY plastic scratches a lot easier than glass- it would look like crap in no time in a car that sees regular street use.

Brad

Good point Brad, i'd thought about that & was planning to use some SuperCoat lexan from www.racingshields.com

Its allegedly within .3% of glass for abrasion resistance & significantly stronger 200%+.

If i'm remembering correctly the important things with safety glass is not its strength its how it breaks. Ie side glass will shatter into small crumbs not slivers. Polycarbonateshouldn't shard either, plus it'd take a signifant greater force in a more concentrated area to shatter polycarbonate.

I replaced all my glass with Lexan.

Windshield I had to buy from racingshields. Fit perfect.

I have seen 914's with homemade lexan windshields and they look terrible. You'll never get the compound curves.

All the other windows are easy. Just use the original glass as a template and cut with a fine tooth blade on jigsaw. Use a slower speed so it doesn't melt.

Anyone know if these lexan winshields are legal in California?

How about the weight savings?

There have been earlier discussions about the lexan windshields and I seem to remember people being freaked out about the inflection @ high speed.

Chris

go to racingshields.com

they make a few thicknesses with various coatings.

I got the 1/4" I think with the anti scratch coating. It has been 1.5 years and it is still like new, but the car is garaged 99.9% of the time and I baby the surface.

It is much lighter, maybe by more than 1/2.

The smaller windshields like the one for a 914 do not flex as much as a big one (corvette, etc) I have had the car to 120+ and have not seen any flex, but I was concentrating on the road at the time.

Race cars require mechanical retainers and straps on the inside anyway. I don't think it would be very good on street car unless it was maybe a weekend car only.

Stop by your nearest airport and pick up a bottle of the stuff they use to clean aircraft plexi. I forget the name, but it cleans, shines, and fills scratches.

Trev,

The following web site details how one 914 owner did just what you have in mind:

http://home1.gte.net/nugentmd/914lite.htm