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Lexan windshield

cbernhardt

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2005
Messages
192
Location
Lexington, NC
Corvette
62 Conversion Car, Pewter 98, 59 Project
Just wondering if anyone has had any experience working with Lexan. I know that making a flat windscreen should be rather simple, but I am thinking about a windshield for a C1, with major curves on the ends. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Charles
 
cbernhardt said:
Just wondering if anyone has had any experience working with Lexan. I know that making a flat windscreen should be rather simple, but I am thinking about a windshield for a C1, with major curves on the ends. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Charles
are you building a race car because the only advantage to lexax is weight savings and will not stand up to the wiper action.
 
be aware it scratches REAL easily.
We used it a lot when I was involved in another industry and designed and helped build very high-end car audio systems for competetions and manufacturers demo cars.
for the thickness you would need for a windshield I think the curves you would need to make would be very difficult to do if at all possible without needing to heat the lexan so much that you will distort it and the vision thru it.

on the other hand, it's bulletproof so if you want to use the car for bank hold-ups it could be perfect
;LOL
 
motorman said:
are you building a race car because the only advantage to lexax is weight savings and will not stand up to the wiper action.

Well yes, sort of. At any rate I'm not concerned about windshield wipers, just need to know if anyone can help me with advice on forming it to match the C1 shape.

Charles
 
cbernhardt said:
just need to know if anyone can help me with advice on forming it to match the C1 shape.

Charles

if you still have an original windshield from the car, you can make a jig or mold from that. Than lay the lexan over the jig and as you heat it up carefully bend the lexan into the shape following the curve of the jig.
you will want to use the same thickness lexan as the original glass or it probably won't fit into the frame.
i've never tried doing it this way but when I was using lexan we rarely had to bend it and when we did they were usually very simple bends as opposed to a more complex curve such as on a windshield.

The key to bending the lexan is to heat it slowly and carefully! Too hot and it will distort and too low of a heat will take too long and cause it to get brittle and possibly crack as you are trying to bend it.
i'd practice a few times on smaller peices of the same thickness before doing the big piece for the windshield. This way you will get a feel for the amount of heat required to bend it properly.

Once you get it heated and bent into the proper shape on the jig or the mold, let it sit there and cool down first before moving it! if you don't, the curve can bend some more from the weight of itself if the lexan is still hot and soft.

hope this helps a little

good luck!
 
We use lexon in our race cars. Iys 1/8"....Pieces we use are over sized for fitting to the opening . They also are molded with a curvature to them. The Lexon we use for the front is called MR10 , its highly scratch resistant to normal everyday use. Regular lexon is not resistant to scratching.

The one cocern i would have would be how you are going to attach it . It doesnt lay like glass. We use rivets to atach it and I also use about 6 button head 1/4 ' bolts and nuts attach it at the corners . My suggestion would be to contact someone like DRM or those that build the racing vettes . They use lexon for all there windows.
 
BarryK said:
if you still have an original windshield from the car, you can make a jig or mold from that. Than lay the lexan over the jig and as you heat it up carefully bend the lexan into the shape following the curve of the jig.
I was thinking the same thing as far as using an old windshield as a form. What did you heat the Lexan with and what temperature is enough to get it to start bending?

maxrevs85 said:
The one cocern i would have would be how you are going to attach it . It doesnt lay like glass.
Not sure what you mean by "doesn't lay like glass", but this would be in a C1 windshield frame so I was assuming that the weatherstripping that held the original glass would also hold Lexan.

Charles
 
cbernhardt said:
I was thinking the same thing as far as using an old windshield as a form. What did you heat the Lexan with and what temperature is enough to get it to start bending?
Charles

Charles, we used thickness's up to 3/4 inch, so depending on how thick you are using for the windshield (sorry, i have no clue how thick windshields usually are but I'm sure they are nowhere as thick as 3/4") will be a determing factor on how to heat it. if it's not too thick a heat gun works but as you get thicker you need to go to a torch. We used a handheld propolene torch.
in a way it's a lot like heating up metal pipe to bend it. Make sure to keep the heat moving and not concentrate in one spot.
Don't force the lexan when bending it and try to get the bend done in a nice smooth movement. Having two people will be handy for you as one person can keep the heat moving on the entire surface area being formed while the other is bending the lexan onto the jig.
Don't try to do both sides at once as it will be too much surface area to try to heat and keep heated. Get one side (say the left side) formed in the jig and than clamp that side down to the jig for proper positioning. than heat up and do the next side.
 
What I mean is , the wieght of the glass its self helps it sit right and the original glass is formed for an exact fit. The lexon , even with the heating will be hard to fit because you are dealing with more then one shape or curvature and I dont believe the weather stripping will do the job to hold it as it did for the glass. Lexon is for race cars especially on the front. The MR10 is expensive also . Regular lexon would be a poor choice for the front.
 

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