Anybody want a job making a 'Plexi windscreen?

[perry]

I botched a windscreen fabrication job. I cut my windscreen glass short & modded the frame to accommodate. But the resulting frame was not straight enough & the glass cracked during installation. -------------Bummer!

So to heck with it. I'd like to go with a very short, clear Plexiglas or Lexan wind deflector. There's a great one that can be seen by looking up "Ocean's 7 Lotus" on Google Images.

Is there anyone here who would like to earn some money fabricating / installing one like it?

Perry in La Mesa (619) 840-4142

[Doug Liedblad]

There are aeroscreens available for the Seven. I think Caterham sells them. Just do a Google Search.

In my case I use Brooklands.

[perry]

Yes, there's some products available but none I really dig as much as the "ocean's 7 Lotus" type. Which I think is a one-off custom job. However, I have contacted Dick Brink of Texas Motor Works. He's going to email me some options.

[toldfield]

You might try Aircraft Windshields or Shields.

http://www.aircraftwindshield.com/automotive.html


http://racingshields.com/

Aircraft Windshields is a local company, Los Alamitos. There is a good chance that they already have the molds/forms for a 7. I have dealt with them for aircraft windows and they are very good and reliable.

Tom

[JohnCh]

Perry, are you looking for someone to simply cut the screen, or also to fabricate new stantions? If it's just the former, you can make a template out of thin cardboard and take it to a TAP Plastics or equivalent to have it made. I had them do a fairly complex wind wing design for me out of Lexan several years ago that required two bends, and have also used them for a custom turntable dust cover. Reasonable prices and solid work. Also, I'd advise going with Lexan over Plexiglas. It's more expensive, but more scratch resistant, and stronger. My driver's side wind wing took a direct hit from a tire carcass at 70mph without cracking and deflected it from hitting me.

BTW I've been planning a similar project to yours for my car, but do plan to tackle the fabrication myself. A router (a real one or a Dremel with the router attachment) produces a clean cut in plexi (and I hope Lexan) with a nice edge. The cuts are not very complex, so it should be easy to make a jig for the router to follow, thus leaving straight lines. Also, by starting with cheaper Plexi, I can play with different shapes and sizes to see what works best for my car, both aesthetically and to reduce buffeting, before springing for Lexan.

-John

[escondidoron]

You definitely want to go with Lexan. It does not fracture around holes and edges like Plexiglas. And as mentioned previously, it is stronger. Its mechanical properties are pretty close to that of 5000-series aluminum. Plexiglas will crack at any / every stress concentration point in the finished part in a very short time after exposure to any vibration and / or the sun. Lexan is much more tolerant of the general fabrication process and does not develop the internal stress concentrations that naturally occur during fabrication as is the case with Plexiglas.

[perry]

Thanks for all the intel on this. I'll post the results of whatever I end up with.

[GWise]

I had tap make one for me and it came out pretty nice, but I ended up preferring the look of the brooklands.

This one looks similar to the one you've mentioned you liked:

http://www.meteormotorsport.com/shop...ar-aeroscreen/

[escondidoron]

Hi Perry;

I just noticed that you are in La Mesa. I'm up in Escondido.
I've worked with a local company, Ridout Plastics, now on the web at eplastics.com, several times over the years. They have been here in San Diego in the plastics business since something like 1914. I have had very good results with them. They are not cheap. But in my experience they haven't been expensive either, as long as you have good design to hand off to them for fabrication.

I have no affiliation or interest with the company. YMMV.



BTW if you have lived in San Diego for a while you may have heard the name Ridout before. Jack Ridout, the guy that guided this particular company from a small time seller of plastic number cards used in bakeries, delicatessens and any other business where people waiting in line are asked to take a number, is a pretty interesting guy, something of a hero and very fortunate. He was a survivor of history's worst air crash disaster at Tenerife (the collision of two 747 aircraft) where he helped several fellow passengers jump to safety before jumping off himself just before the Pan Am 747 on which he was a passenger was engulfed in flames. Back in the day there was a particularly good article in the SD Reader recounting his actions as well as a TV documentary about the crash. And some people are just lucky. He had a ticket on PSA flight 182 but changed his plans a day earlier missing the flight that was, for a time at least, the worst air crash in US aviation history. As I said, an interesting guy.