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lexan glass

Posted: January 7th, 2006, 4:06 pm
by mitmaks
I would be interested if someone set up group buy for lexan windows made for our mx3, save lots of weight. Im looking for company that could possibly do it

Posted: January 7th, 2006, 4:23 pm
by fieromx3
i would love that too but isnt it illegal?

Posted: January 7th, 2006, 4:29 pm
by mazdubber
You should consider how crappy lexan will look after a while. It scratches very easily and get's cloudy.

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 1:15 am
by PATDIESEL
Not true, (about the scratching and cloudy)
Lexan is a brand name like Cleanex or Windex. The "plastic" is actually called polycarbonate. It comes in all sorts of grades that have different properties to resist scratches and fading or clouding. Of course the better they ae at resisting scratching and fading the more expensive they get.
I learned quite a bit about ploycarbonate when doing my Hella 90mm projector head-lamps. I wanted a polycarb lense to replace the OEM one. After some research I found several companies that could help make them (didn't pan out due to the minimum required number for a production run), but in the process learned about the product and its properties.

BTW, the number was 10,000. So good luck getting anyone to make windows. Not to bash your idea, but that was the only place that said they would make the mold and produce the lenses for a decent price. There was a retired guy that had a heat-shrink molding machine, but he was unavailable.


You can buy it in a form that promises NEVER to fade or cloud and there are several scratch resistant levels offered. On top of the scratch resistance they sell laminates to cover the polycarb that will protect it from almost anything you can throw at it. The laminates are relatively expensive, but worth the money IMO. I plan on covering the front of my car one day in a protective laminate and estimate its cost at about 300.00 to cover the front bumper and 1/4 of the hood.
Polycarb can be bought in sheets like plywood, but in more varying sizes. The best I can remember the kind of polycarb I wanted was about 200.00 for a 4x8 sheet 1/8 inch thick.

I will one I day make a hatch glass, but it wil be the easiest piece of glass to reproduce since you can heat it and rivit it to the glass as you go along to get a good fit. Doing the any window out of polycarb will make it almost impossible to seal unless the mold is just perfect and the thickness dead on.

It is illegal since it won't break if you hit it. (meaning your head will explode before the poly breaks)

If you use it in the front windsheild you need to brace it like a race car (not pretty) and the side windows will not loose that much weight since they don't weigh too much to begin with.

Just what I know and my .02 about the idea.

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 11:38 am
by SIXPACK
I'm sure racetec here in Denmark will make you some lexan wondows. they got them on their race MX-3.

http://www.racetec.dk/
info@racetec.dk

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 2:22 pm
by reaper of souls
its compleatly illegal to drive a vechical on the street with lexan or non glass windows it's in the highway traffic and saftey act don't meen to break anyones heart about this but if you get caught with lexan windows your looking at a $3000 fine and your car being pulled off the road and deamed unfit for the road untill you replace the windows with glass

so sorry guys
reaper

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 4:48 pm
by mitmaks
ya cops will give me $3000 ticket lmao

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 7:39 pm
by Josh
from my understanding the law is for the windshield only. i know several people with poly windows. most people who have killer sound sysems have to swap over to poly, because they give where the glass will shatter. and i know for sure its not illgal to run with the rear glass as a poly window. so a hatch would be totally legal. iv looked into getting a rear hatch it will cost anywhere from 300 to 500 bucks depending on the company. i just decided it wasent in my best intrest now as i need some weight over the rear end.

Posted: January 8th, 2006, 10:39 pm
by ovendenk
i know they'd be hard to come by, but mazdaspeed produces them.
MX03-07-3001-LX C 1 Rear Window MX3 1992-95 Lexan™ mar-resistant

Posted: January 9th, 2006, 3:29 am
by Marlon
MX03-07-3001-LX C 1 Rear Window MX3 1992-95 Lexan™ mar-resistant
[/quote]

$400 us from mazda motorsports

Posted: January 9th, 2006, 3:32 am
by mitmaks
Marlon wrote:
MX03-07-3001-LX C 1 Rear Window MX3 1992-95 Lexan™ mar-resistant
$400 us from mazda motorsports[/quote]

they already got one for mx3?

Re: lexan glass

Posted: February 7th, 2008, 2:29 am
by fowljesse
I'm reviving this old topic because I'm looking into making a Lexan window for the hatch, and if it's not too much trouble, side windows, too.
I 'd like to know if anyone has used it before.
I assume I can just take out the windows, use them as a template for size, and bend the back one with a propane torch over the original window. I would use 1/4" thick, and reinforce the edges to be the same thickness as the glass, so I can use the original rubber.
Any insight?

Re: lexan glass

Posted: February 7th, 2008, 10:03 am
by Mooneggs
hmm I wonder where Marlon got that info and stock number for the mx-3 lexan hatch??

Re: lexan glass

Posted: February 7th, 2008, 10:07 am
by Custommx3
http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/pdfs/co ... 296_cg.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In their catalog.

Re: lexan glass

Posted: February 7th, 2008, 4:54 pm
by cjthor
What do you think our rear glass weighs in comparison to a lexan rear window?