Put your car on a diet.

[zen]

i got mine from a window store.

[njv]

hi
id love to but one german winter scratching away in the morning and they would be buggered !!! i suppose i could find my old winter cover out and start putting that on .

anybody know how it stands up to de-icer /isoproponol alcohol i just imagined my car all iced up i spray it with de-icer rather than scratch and my windows melt that would be a windy morning to work.

all im seeing over here in our diy sorta departments is what we call perspex is this your plexiglass or the other stuff?

perspex here is a bit of a pain to work you need a special blade for the jigsaw so it doesnt just melt the plastic and you have to go real real slow to drill holes in it or you will get cracks comeing out of it

it stikes me we all might be talking about the same stuff its just trade names there is a real tough plastic that is used for makeing riot sheilds and such public order eqipment perhaps this is what you call lexan oh i dont know and i dont seem to be helping much do i .

[Racelook]

Originally posted by njv
perspex here is a bit of a pain to work you need a special blade for the jigsaw so it doesnt just melt the plastic

You can saw plexiglas (perspex) with a normal blade (for steel) in your jigsaw.. the only "trick" that you have to do: is that you have to use painttape (crepetape) exactly over the line where you want to saw it.. than the tape "catch" the melded plexiglas up so it don't meld back together after your saw..

ANd I also want to know what you'r meaning with lexan.. is this acrylplates.. (acrylplates are just like plexiglas only then scratchresistender and it can't brake by freeze)

I know ..i'm not so good in english :silly:

greetings Wiebrand

[njv]

hi
cheers for the tape tip id used tape under the foot of the jigsaw to stop it scratching the perspex as you cut it i will just use a wider strip next time i cut some.

as for lexan well im not sure what i mean either i have thought of another name we called our riot sheilds when i was over in northern ireland the name was macrolon almost indistructable it was and obviously flame proof as well a thin version of whatever this stuff is must be better for car windows as i know perspex can shatter into nasty size pointy bits if its hit with force!!!

back to an earlier post a window or glazing place is probably better than your local diy place they may not be too happy about you putting plastic windows in a car but im sure if your insistant about doing it with them they will supply the correct stuff for the job.

as a child the front door to my house was at the bottom of our stairs it got smashed several times by toys of one discription or another going down the stairs eventually the landlord fitted a special plastic window that spoilt the fun but put an end to some pretty draughty times

[craazy Cooter]

lexan is made by General Electric. A jig saw won't melt it if you use a slower speed and concentrate.

[boygenius]

My friend was cleaning out his warehouse and found some lexan or plexi-glass in the corner. He also found some 4' x 8' aluminium sheets. I'll see if its any good. Lightweight and darn near free.


I'll use the aluminium for the fire wall.

[njv]

HI
i use aluminium as much as i can im a twat for stealing wayward bits of it that are left around at work

[boygenius]

I work at a motorcycle shop so I'm always taking little bits of this or that home from work.

[vennard]

Dont want to bum everyone out and sound like an MOT tester but most if not all of the lightening answeres you have come up with also weaken the car. Just thought Id point it out. Guilty of most of them myself but its something you should know before you proceed with anything structual.

Sorry

Karl

[miller]

Yes but the act of lightening means less stress in general. I agree think before you decide to make something out of aluminum. Maybe their is a reason why that panel is 16 gauge and not 22. As long as you take the proper precautions then going through your car and swapping out materials for lighter ones is definetly a good idea for performance and reliability.

Old thread I know, but anyway. Just wanted to clarify a coupl eo fthings:

Perspex=plexiglass=cast acrylic=PMMA=polymethylmethacrilate
PMMA is more scratch resistant than Lexan, but is very brittle. It also tends to break into large stabbing shards that tend to ruin ones day.

Lexan=HyZod=PC=polycarbonate
PC is very tough and impact resistance, but it scratched easily. You can actually fold a piece of PC over onto itself and the crease just turns white. It doesn't break. PC is used in F1 for the facemasks of the drivers.