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Thanks for the referral to Five Star. Their website shows a thicker 3/16” rear hatch to be only $388.
How is yours installed and do you have pictures? Any feedback on fit & fitment and scratch resistance? Mine will be a street track car.
We use the 1/8" with one central bridge brace inside and down the middle.
'
Yes, it's scratch resistant and there are Lexan products for cleaning and polishing to keep it looking good.
Just make sure you don't get fuel on it and wipe it off quick if you do.
Here's the bridge brace I came up with, it might weigh 4 oz...
And for Cloud, here's what the gutted doors look like, the orange aluminum angle is just a pivot that pulls the door latch open with sweep of a hand forward that lessens time getting out in event of emergency.
BTW, the bar inside the door from the factory is not a "crash bar".
It serves no protection as you can see, it's not mounted to reinforcement, jut the sheet metal which has no real strength as support.
It's only there because the door skin is glued to it to support the sheet metal because it's such a large span.
You can see the factory adhesive in the pics if you look close.
Looks like you have a nice solution for a brace for your lexan hatch window. Do you get any flex, or does your brace take care of that? And I can see how your door weighs a fraction of what a fully dressed door does.
Thanks for the referral to Five Star. Their website shows a thicker 3/16” rear hatch to be only $388.
How is yours installed and do you have pictures? Any feedback on fit & fitment and scratch resistance? Mine will be a street track car.
Originally Posted by 951and944S
Here's the bridge brace I came up with, it might weigh 4 oz...
And for Cloud, here's what the gutted doors look like, the orange aluminum angle is just a pivot that pulls the door latch open with sweep of a hand forward that lessens time getting out in event of emergency.
BTW, the bar inside the door from the factory is not a "crash bar".
It serves no protection as you can see, it's not mounted to reinforcement, jut the sheet metal which has no real strength as support.
It's only there because the door skin is glued to it to support the sheet metal because it's such a large span.
You can see the factory adhesive in the pics if you look close.
T
I used to own a 964 RS. With the car came a small folder that highlighted some of differences compared with the standard 964. One of them was the deletion of the "crashbar" inside the door to save weight so Porsche themselves sees it as such. My - 89 944 Turbo Cup car dont have them either.
If you get hit from the side with the bar inside I would think it would make a big difference compared to without it. Makes no sense to add such a big sturdy bar just to support the sheetmetal. As an example the roof has no such support.
I would think that adhesive is there as an NVH solution between the 2 pieces.
How thick is the lexan in your hatch? Is the support there to be able to use thinner lexan?
I used to own a 964 RS. With the car came a small folder that highlighted some of differences compared with the standard 964. One of them was the deletion of the "crashbar" inside the door to save weight so Porsche themselves sees it as such. My - 89 944 Turbo Cup car dont have them either.
If you get hit from the side with the bar inside I would think it would make a big difference compared to without it. Makes no sense to add such a big sturdy bar just to support the sheetmetal. As an example the roof has no such support.
I would think that adhesive is there as an NVH solution between the 2 pieces.
How thick is the lexan in your hatch? Is the support there to be able to use thinner lexan?
Yeah "crash" as in a shopping buggy crashing into it.
The roof (not sunroof delete) doesn't have apiece of sheet larger than 6" span and even the sunroof delete one is arched just like the 1/4 panel and fender which gives strength.
Door is flat span that needed support.
1/8" (3.1mm) on the Lexan.
It will bow when you press your finger in the middle and you can see it from trackside in the reflection off of it that it's bellowing without the bridge brace.
Gonna bring my scale home and get a weight on one of my doors for comparison.
I have two just like the ones in the pic that go on a sister car of the one I posted (you can see the orange scheme fenders through the lexan deck in one of the pics)...., except with 90 more bhp....
...1/8" (3.1mm) on the Lexan. It will bow when you press your finger in the middle... T
Originally Posted by 951and944S
Fasteners, with a hole 1 size larger than the screws and an o'ring as a compression washer. This allows some movement at the same time as being tight to prevent mounting hole source cracks due to stress under vibration and wind buffeting. T
^^^ That’s good info, thanks for sharing.
T, do you think the 3/16” Lexan hatch would bow much like the 1/8th or would it hold up without flexing/bowing. As someone was asking about street rather than track use, I think avoiding the use of a “brace” would be more aesthetic, if possible.
Gentlemen,
I use the Five Star 3/16" on my track cars without a brace with great success.
I typically use fasteners and urethane adhesive. On a Street and DE car I would highly recommend using the 3/16"
Max
T, do you think the 3/16” Lexan hatch would bow much like the 1/8th or would it hold up without flexing/bowing. As someone was asking about street rather than track use, I think avoiding the use of a “brace” would be more aesthetic, if possible.
Agree that 3/16 would be better for street, they come rolled in a cardboard cylinder but the side bends are already there and that adds strength by itself.
I'd probably add a bead of urethane too on a street car for weatherproofing seal.
The real difference you notice, other than the weight, the Lexan seems even more crystal clear than glass, that and you have to pay close attention when closing, as you already should even with glass, to pull down and push shut in the center of the wing, especially with the factory shocks as you lose some rigidity for lack of a better term.
Gentlemen,
I use the Five Star 3/16" on my track cars without a brace with great success.
I typically use fasteners and urethane adhesive. On a Street and DE car I would highly recommend using the 3/16"
Max
Saw missed call.....was cutting my Mo-in-law's grass.
I get off early on Fridays, pull up in the driveway, look to my right and one of my neighbors is down on his knees with one hand on his running mower.
Drop everything and rush over, by then he is trying to crawl on hands and knees away from running mower to shade......had to call Fire Dept and EMS.
Drug him inside his house in the A/C and put a fan on him, forced water.
When I first got to him, his head was hanging and he was mumbling...., started coming around once cooling off.
EMS said if I hadn't come home when I did, he might have been a goner.
I have only used lexan hatch without bracing with no issues but dont know of its thickness. It is very light though.
The Swedish supplier can make it in clear, smoke tint, and green tint like stock glass.
Its shaped like the stock glass so it is a matter of removing the glass and after that glueing the lexan to the hatch frame. Looks and work like a glass hatch but as T mentioned it is extra important too use both hands when closing.
Saw missed call.....was cutting my Mo-in-law's grass.
I get off early on Fridays, pull up in the driveway, look to my right and one of my neighbors is down on his knees with one hand on his running mower.
Drop everything and rush over, by then he is trying to crawl on hands and knees away from running mower to shade......had to call Fire Dept and EMS.
Drug him inside his house in the A/C and put a fan on him, forced water.
When I first got to him, his head was hanging and he was mumbling...., started coming around once cooling off.
EMS said if I hadn't come home when I did, he might have been a goner.
Crazy stuff,
You get other cams yet..?
T
Wow, crazy stuff indeed. Good thing you got home when you did! It's sweltering here in Austin as well - projected high of 104, with the usual central Texas humidity (I sure miss the Bay Area, where I grew up). Something like 107 is forecast by mid week. I'm taking the day off work to build the brackets for some brake cooling ducts, and am running a fan full blast, and coming inside frequently for breaks.
07-19-2018, 10:18 PM
