Art & Inspiration Plexiglass windows

I'd defy you to break the Lexan windows in my 48 with a 2 lb hammer. That stuff is so clouded from sitting out in the weather it is useless now.
These have been in the cars since the early 90's and I had plain plexiglass from Lowes before that. The Lexan is 1/4 inch thick. and look like hell warmed over now.


As far as plastic windows on a street car I am having to believe that the regs are Windshield has to to be laminated safety glass.
The RCW here reads=
RCW 46.37.410
Windshields required, exception—Must be unobstructed and equipped with wipers.
(1) All motor vehicles operated on the public highways of this state shall be equipped with a front windshield manufactured of safety glazing materials for use in motor vehicles in accordance with RCW 46.37.430, except, however, on such vehicles not so equipped or where windshields are not in use, the operators of such vehicles shall wear glasses, goggles, or face shields pursuant to RCW 46.37.530(1)(b).
(2) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, side wings, or side or rear windows of such vehicle which obstructs the driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway.
(3) The windshield on every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a device for cleaning rain, snow, or other moisture from the windshield, which device shall be so constructed as to be controlled or operated by the driver of the vehicle. After January 1, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person to operate a new motor vehicle first sold or delivered after that date which is not equipped with such device or devices in good working order capable of cleaning the windshield thereof over two separate arcs, one each on the left and right side of the windshield, each capable of cleaning a surface of not less than one hundred twenty square inches, or other device or devices capable of accomplishing substantially the same result.
(4) Every windshield wiper upon a motor vehicle shall be maintained in good working order.
[ 1977 ex.s. c 355 § 35; 1961 c 12 § 46.37.410. Prior: 1955 c 269 § 41; prior: (i) 1937 c 189 § 38; RRS § 6


A gent I know had this A with orange plexiglass windows for years. It sat outside at his house most of the time and never seemed to have anything happen to it.

 

When I bought my '55 F100 (1972) it was without eng./trans/wheels/and glass.
I was married to the miserly witch from Yamisee, so a used windshield and 'backlight' were installed from my $100 parts truck. Wing windows and both door glass were cut from sheet plexiglass, and remained in there 'til '77, after the witch flew off.
350 SBC and P/G were gifted me by customers. (Hey, I had to be able to move the truck around!)
Young wife Joey installed the door glass, channels, wings. What a difference! "There oughta be a law" Actually. there is

 

I know that in order to get my RPU registered and licensed for street use once I finished the build,
I had to have a laminated safety glass windshield in place for the inspection.

Otherwise no registration and no license plate and no driving fun

 

Makrolon is another plastic sheet that is the same in properties as Lexan. They have more flex than Plexiglas. You can hit it with a hammer and it won't break. They scratch more easier than glass and turn yellow with prolonged exposure to sunlight.

 

No such flaming hoops to jump through down here in Arizona, now. Just pay the money, get your tag, and have fun!

 

Wow! Way more responses than I expected.
Yall brought up some good points.
Lexan sounds like the best choice.
Trust me this hot rod is not a show car or a race car. It is what used to be called a beater. All the work I have done myself except for the driveshaft.
I have always liked that color tinted look of the 60s cars.

 

Depending on what you choose to believe from the internet plexiglass (acrylic) has 10 times the impact resistance of Glass and polycarbonate has 150 times the impact resistance of glass. There are lower numbers and higher numbers. From a practical point neither acrylic or polycarbonate have the scratch resistance of glass due to its hardness. I wouldn’t want a plastic windshield in my daily driver because of the extra care it requires but it is acceptable to me for a car driven on weekends or to shows, etc.

I use a product called Plexus for cleaning my polycarbonate windshield. It cleans, seals the surface and fills in very small scratches and abrasions. When the car is in the garage I have a towel I throw over the windshield just to cut down on the dust, grinding dust etc. or cover the car with a full car cover. Your mileage may vary.

 

Can you drill plexiglass with out it cracking?
I need to make mounting holes in a large flat piece.
Thanks

 

Just a note...if you do get something other then glass, don't get it till you are ready to use it. I got a good deal on some Lexan for my '40, at a shop that was moving, they ordered some green for a job and had enough left to do mine. Two years later I tried to use it and could NOT get the paper off! Gene.

 

Polycarbonate can easily be bent in a sheet metal brake. Question? What's the best way to remove small surface scratches from lexan/polycarbonate?

 

While it is true that some localities enforce the law differently, ALL States are required to adopt Federal safety laws. Feds glass regulations are : As 1 specified for all windshields. Specified minimum thickness of safety, laminated glass with no more than 18% tint. As 2, Laminated or tempered with no more than 18% tint to be used adjacent to driver or the rest of the vehicle. As 3, can be laminated or tempered with any tint to be used only behind the driver. I learned this after being ticketed 3 times in two weeks by the same a hole cop.
p.s. I beat the tickets in court because Oregon law stated : any material upon the glass that caused it to be too tinted. My glass was manufactured with the tint and could not be scraped off. The judge was not up to knowledge of the Federal As regulations. The Oregon law has been rewritten twice since then .

 

Thank you for this. I will refer to it when time comes to do tinted Lexan side windows on the Attic Anglia.

That looks good. Another problem using Plexiglas / acrylic is a shoe polished dial-in will stain, and repeated changing of the dial-in by wiping it off will mar the surface.
Nice car BTW. My bud just finished a nearly similar one.

 

In Pa . , you must have the proper safety glass for the windshield. We have one of the most strict inspections in the country. I am a Pa. inspector, and do not totally agree with the strict regiments. But oh well!

 

Same.

For all of the bashing that California gets, I have built cars that don't even have windshields for customers.

Nobody notices or cares.

 

Yeah, it can get pretty bad when you go racing a lot. Some of them just don't want to come off.

 

Not much room to run plastic windscreens or side glass Down Under. Legislation is state based, but normally mandates a bunch of Australian Standards that refer only to "glass".

The state laws do sometimes allow compliance to American National Standard ANSI Z26.1-1980 Safety Code for Safety Glazing Materials for Glazing Motor Vehicles Operating on Land Highway.

Haven't read a copy of that one yet, so not sure if it is a glass-only document or if the words "safety glazing" allows the use of plastics. If anyone can point me to a copy of that standard it would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Auto headlight lenses are polycarbonate. I have cleaned up some that were rough as a cob from weathering and road rash by wet sanding with 2000 and then 3000 grit paper followed by buffing with the finest grade of 3M compound. They come back crystal clear. One set, on a Mercedes my dad owns, were totally opaque and the surface felt like it had been bead blasted. They came back clear and slick with a lot less effort than I expected. I use a palm type air DA to do the sanding.

 

Thanks, I’ll give it a try.

 

Plexi scratches easily and while it can be drilled, will usually crack if you do. Wouldn't use it for a windshield unless it was a shorty below eye level like on some roadsters. Fixed rear side glass it might be ok, but lexan would be a better, if more expensive choice.

 

If you heat up the drill bit it reduces the chances of it cracking. My buddies and I have been using lexan side and rear windows on out street/strip cars since the 70s. Not 1 single ticket between all of us. Never even heard of a ticket like that, and with my ElCamino I had every fixit ticket known to modern man.

 

In CA, no red, amber or blue tinted glass allowed. You can go with as dark a tint as you want on rear windows and side windows aft of the driver but if you do a side view mirror is required on passenger side.
No tinted or colored headlights; must be white or yellowish white. Front facing lighting must be white or amber. Rear facing ; red or amber. The Jeep, tuner and challenger guys frequently get sighted for red, blue, green running lights and colored halo headlights.
CHP can be anywhere from passive to anal (with some carrying tint light meters).
One things for sure everywhere; if you're driving like an idiot or at extreme speed (especially in a resi area), you'll get stopped. Then the vehicle infractions might get piled on (equipment, cat bypass, etc) depending on how the chemistry of you and the cop mixes.
Lucky for us, old enthusiast car drivers have an excellent rep, and cops generally aren't too concerned with what we're running.

 

yup. When we were young hoodlums, equipment violations were a great excuse for them to hassle us. Now that we're responsible old geezers, they don't give a damn about our equipment violations. Gotta love profiling.

 

http://www.citsa.com.mx/images/Normas/Z-26.pdf

not the newest version.

There are 26 different tests for safety glass, tempered glass, and "plastics" in over 20 groups ( based on location in the vehicle)

Section 5.5.3 is the impact test requirement for windshields.
A half pound steel ball is dropped in the center of the 12" X 12" test panel from 10 feet !!
5.5.3 Interpretation of Results. Not more than two of the twelve test specimens shall crack or break as a result of this test.

5.7 is for plastics. For plastic, the height varies with the thickness

TABLE 2 HEIGHT OF DROP FOR BALL IMPACT TESTS OF PLASTIC SPECIMENS*
0.125" or less 6 feet.
.250"or more 18 feet​

5.7..3 Interpretation of Results for plastics
Details for limits on several kinds of allowable damage.
Basically the ball can't pass completely through within 5 seconds after impact.

 

ANSI Z26. vs Lexan

https://ff.sabic.eu/uploads/resourc...ANSPORTATION-DOT-GUIDE-Final-October-2016.pdf

The last 5 or pages has some good charts.
The "best" product is AS 4.
AS 4 - Safety glazing materials for use in motor vehicles only in the following specific locations::

Windows and doors in motor homes, except for the windshields and windows to the immediate right or left of the driver.​

 

Lol….
I see a lot of eyeglass commercials advertising polycarbonate lenses to sit on your face while driving around with your plexiglass windows? I’m thinking polycarbonate.

 

I wear a full face helmet with a polycarbonate (I think) cover over the front of it, when I race. It's the street driving that you have to worry about, anything can happen out there

 

Thankyou Dan - very much appreciated.

I'm building a sedan version of my avatar mainly for track use, but still keeping street registration. HAMB-friendly inline 6, mechanical injection, vane supercharger, dry sump, 3-speed with an inline yo-yo shifter, banjo rear, traction bars. Probably 14 second quarter miles (expensive way to go fast slowly). It will be horrible to drive on the street, but I reckon I will be grinning so much that the occasional drive will be worth it.

It has been a challenge working out what the local registration laws will allow me to do. I was itching for green tinted polycarbonate side windows, but all the local standards refer only to "glass". The American Standard in your link allows for "plastics". This opens the door for my project. Lots of reading to do, but excited to see that door open a crack.

Thanks again - just made my day.

Cheers,
Harv