The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Plexi vs Lexan
Our Camaro has some sort of plastic windshield in it. That brings up two questions.
Is Lexan legal for the windshield?
What's the best way to tell if we have Lexan or plexiglass?
Richard Newton
http://www.racecars360.com/Intervention_Motorsports/Intervention_Home/Intervention_Home.html
lexan is soft and scratches easy...plexiglass is hard and brittle...lexan is legal...plexiglass is not
Lexan is trade name for polycarbonate. Likewise, Plexiglas is a trade name for acrylic. Polycarbonate is what you want due to its impact resistance. One way to tell if it's polycarbonate or acrylic is to cut a peice off and burn it. Here's a chart that has burn test results. http://www.boedeker.com/burntest.htm
Percy's Speedglass (at Jeg's or Summit or who knows where else) is a coated Lexan that doesn't scratch as easily as uncoated Lexan. Either buy your windshield Lexan coated or get tear-offs to prevent it from scratching up. I bought a flat sheet of Speedglass for our Houston car and it cuts easily to a template to fit the windshield area if Percy's doesn't make a windshield molded to the shape of your crapcan LeMonster. Cheers.
Usually you'll need to put verticle bracing in atleast two spots to keep the windshield from bowing in under the air pressure. Especially for less aerodynamic cars.
Percy's Speedglass (at Jeg's or Summit or who knows where else) is a coated Lexan that doesn't scratch as easily as uncoated Lexan. Either buy your windshield Lexan coated or get tear-offs to prevent it from scratching up. I bought a flat sheet of Speedglass for our Houston car and it cuts easily to a template to fit the windshield area if Percy's doesn't make a windshield molded to the shape of your crapcan LeMonster. Cheers.
try your local plastic supply shop for scratch resistant 1/4" lexan.
i've been running that as a windshield on a street car for a few years.
if the windshield has a full frame and has a resonable bow to it (and isn't 11-ty feet tall) it probably won't need a brace.
this windshield has been unbraced in two different roadsters for the better part of a decade and it's still quite clear:
it's thicker than anything used as a bike windscreen, and i keep a piece of it in the car to let cops test.
they can dent it, they can scratch it, they can even craze it, but they can't break it, they can't crack it, and they can't penetrate it.
I took my key yesterday and was able to put a nice scratch in the windshield. I must have Lexan. I'm sure this will be an issue during tech. In that case we'll just take it our and replace it with chicken wire.
Intervention Motorsports
I took my key yesterday and was able to put a nice scratch in the windshield. I must have Lexan. I'm sure this will be an issue during tech. In that case we'll just take it our and replace it with chicken wire.
Intervention Motorsports
You should be able to find a layer of scratch resistance plastics to stick on there. Goes on like window tint but works like glass
I know that Lefthander Chassis sells tear offs that are big enough that they should work on nearly any car. Plenty of other circle track outfitters will have that stuff.
If you have Lexan, it shouldn't be an issue at tech. They don't care if your windshield is easily scratched, just that it won't shatter into a gajillion pointy pieces like Plexi would.
Hit it with a hammer. If it doesn't break, it's Lexan. If it does, you're good. I'd think tech would do this, no?
When I was a kid, I worked at a small hifi shop. The competing chain would put a rock through our plexi street sign almost every weekend. I got very tired of gluing it back together with the special solvent, and the little shards were sharp and pointy.
Hit it with a hammer. If it doesn't break, it's Lexan. If it does, you're good. I'd think tech would do this, no?
When I was a kid, I worked at a small hifi shop. The competing chain would put a rock through our plexi street sign almost every weekend. I got very tired of gluing it back together with the special solvent, and the little shards were sharp and pointy.
Hrmm... My reply to their vandalism.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Plexi vs Lexan