Does anyone know a source? I saw one on a '31 Ford at the Columbus OH Goodguys show a number of years back. Had a center piano hinge. No side panels. Just had the clear see-thru hood with a nice clean engine underneath protected from rain. anyone know how to Bend plexiglass to Make one? Mike Acworth, GA mikeungermd@gmail.com
Build a big fire. Seriously, you need to build a wooden form, could also be metal, like the original hood. Place the Plexiglas on the hood and have at it with a heat gun. just keep the heat gun moving and do not leave it in one place. This isn't rocket science.
There was a local 'blue coloured' 32 roadster quite a few years ago at the local hot rod show with a well dressed flathead V8. The owner had fabricated a clear prespex hood, impressive; similar appearance to below. I've no idea what happened to the car and haven't seen it for a long time. A well fabricated buck and some suitable material and you'd be on your way. I've no idea how'd it'd hold up long term to UV light exposure and heat.
Lexan (polycarbonate) would be a better choice. It forms easily- we bent machine covers on a regular press brake. With UV stabilizers, it wont yellow and crack like Plexi will. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Anyone that builds real Race Cars knows how to work Lexan and can help you with advice. Find your Local guy and talk to him for a little hands on help. I think I'd start with the Stock hood as my Buck and once there do the final tune up by hand. It isn't that difficult. I'd stay away from Plexiglass.
Build a frame around your Lexan. Take a friend and your buck and the Lexan to your local powder coat facility and ask them if you can hang the Lexan in their oven for a minute. When the Lexan gets hot, you and your friend grab the frame and lay it over the buck. Let her cool and cut to fit. Works well on ABS also for forming interior panels.
400 degrees works. We needed curved side glass for a late model chopped custom and put the pieces in a 400 degree oven then lay them over the original glass. You can bend it in a brake press but you get the model a hood curve you would need to make dies. For a backyard type of a build (on off?) get a buck (even a piece of pipe with the proper radius would work) and a heat gun (you can rent 'em) then bend it and cut to fit.
I knew someone would chime in! Thanks, because I could not remember LEXAN and just said Plexiglas. Besides, Lexan is bulletproof.
LOL 1/8" will stop a 30 caliber slug (or would have they use pretty extreme stuff now). I have some Lexan in the shop now. Saving it incase we ever go all Road Warriors. LOL
Yes Sir. It will unless using API. Armor Piercing Incendiary. Then you need 1/4" for .30 Cal and greater than 1/2" for a .50. Even then I don't want to be behind it with API rounds flying at you supersonic with DU (Depleted Uranium) tips. Either will punch through $hit and mess up what is hiding on the other side.
Saw an episode of "Full Custom Garage" where Ian built a form over a big wooden box, with a burner from a gas BBQ grill for heat. After tweaking it a bit, it worked great. (Love that show, by the way...)
Has nothing to do with forming your hood. I looked at a 42 GMC pickup project in rural Missouri with a !' thick clear plexiglass bed floor. I'm sure it helped that it was about a mile from a plastic factory. 1942 anything is few and far between especially with clear bed floor option.
Couldn't you use the model A hood as the buck ? You live in Ohio, get out your torpedo heater and get things cooking !
Well, it looks like everybody has pretty well covered it. The only thing that I could add, would be that I had to make a rear window for my chopped (1978) El Comino, severely curved glass. I have a little "shorty" propane heater. I lifted up the garage door to the right height, and hung that heater from it. I positioned the plexi underneath it on top of the original window, lots of heat in a hurry. When that plexi gets just about molten it will do anything you tell it to do, get your shape and let it cool down, "walla".
I did some side windows on drag cars decades ago using a acc/oxy torch. I don't know if there were even heat guns back then. If there was I would not have had the cash to buy one.
Just remember Lexan ( polycarbonate)is hydroscopic. That means it absorbs moisture. If you heat it too quickly the moisture boils within the sheet and ruins it. It needs to be dried out . I would lay it in hot sun for the whole day prior to attempting to heat it. I made skylights for a living for 35 years. Moulding polycarbonate was the trickiest and the most expensive. After drying you might get lucky with a heat gun and indirect flame but anything thicker than 1/8 you will struggle. We used to dry polycarbonate in our big oven for 24 hours. And then heat the oven to 170 c . But even then you only have about 10 seconds of forming time before it goes hard again. I think in this instance your best bet is 1/4 acrylic and a localised heat in the bend area and form it over the side of your gas bottle. Scratches in polycarbonate are very hard to remove. Acrylic can be buffed to crystal clear. I would suggest you contact a sign shop that specialises in plastic forming. You can do it but it won’t be as easy as you think.
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