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So - Today I was thinking about lexan... I was planning on purchasing both the rear and 3/4 windows from them. Before I pulled the trigger, I called them to see if the 1/4 windows included the factory style mounting pins and receptacle that are on the stock 1/4's... they said no. I believe they come painted, but... for the money I thought the lack of mounting stuff was kind of a bummer.
That led me to today, the lexan I bought for the door windows was big enough to let me make a door window AND a 1/4 window from one sheet, meaning, I did not have to buy any additional material. So, I figured I would take a whack at getting the factory mounting provisions off the stock windows... after blasting them with heat I was able to pry them off very much intact, step one done.
Next, I traced out the factory glass on the lexan sheet and very carefully cut out with a body saw. Once that was done, I gave a test fit and was really happy with the results.
With the test fit out of the way, it was time to get the portion of the window that will be blacked out ready for paint. I basically mimic'd what the factory shape looked like.
Finally, some paint and a visual of where I will epoxy the factory mounts on the window. The window is painted from the back side which should help to keep it from getting scratched once installed - as long as I can get it installed without scratching it. Factory on the left, zbomb special on the right
After getting this done, it gave me the confidence to go ahead and order the raw material for the rear window, I save over $200 deciding to make it myself vs. buying from five star.
I have spoke to Joel at GT Racing a couple times asking questions on parts and he has always been super helpful (even though I never ended up going with their stuff) so I think they will treat you right.
I had questioned when I actually felt the stock 1/4's and rear glass if it was really worth the savings, the parts feel very lightweight in hand, if it was going to be worth the expense, but, after getting 5LBS from the 1/4's, I'm thinking the rear may be good for 10... 15 LBS off the rear is tough to find. Plus, it defers other 15 LBS of cage and brake weight.
Lexan windows have been full of ups and downs. After curing the paint on them, I noticed that light was still shining through the blacked out portions... But, I had removed the masked portion so as to not have the paint stick and peel during the initial de-mask. No biggie, I'll just mask the clear area and give it another couple coats, works great until you do a crappy job masking and some paint makes its way onto the clear window portion... Oh well, need to remake one, thats a this weekend problem. I took the opportunity to see what the ruined one looks like on the car, also to give me an idea how concerned I should be about scratching or damaging the paint when I install for reals... I am stoked, they are going to look pretty OEM... and, they are easy and relatively inexpensive to make so when they do get scratched, which I know they will, I can just swap em out. Now, the rear glass will not be something I just want to swap out so hoping the higher quality lexan I bought from the internet holds up OK... the 1/4 windows are made up of home depot lexan.
12-31-2021, 12:11 PM
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