Safety film source?

[saltfever]

8 mils seems a bit unnecessary but if it is good enough for a Lear Jet or twin Beech why not use it. Proably have distortion out the back window but hopefully I won't be looking through it.  

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/8672.php

Then again, once you see the cost of the 6" wide material you might want to consider Lexan.

[oldracer19]

As the guy WHO STARTED this thread, I would like to respond to JR529 who stated
"It seems to me that you wish the Rules committee had not made Safety Film an option and just stuck with the Lexan requirement for cars over 200 MPH."   

 NOT TRUE!!!  I was only asking the question for one extremely simple reason:  I want to buy the right material, properly install it, and pass tech because I constructed my car according to the rules.  Thats IT. No complaining, just want to know what to use so that it passes tech. I don't think that is too much to ask.  I do think the rule itself is a much better alternative to forcing all cars to go to lexan, as I'm sure there are some guys who would have to park cars because no lexan was available, and I fully understand the reason behind it.

I know it is difficult to write the rules.  I think that most of us just want the rules to be as clearly stated as possible, so everyone understands how to meet them.  If we have to buy it, tell us what you suggest will me the rule.  If we have to build it, give us a specs and drawings, or at minimum clear language.

The reason we all get so uptight on this subject, is the consequences of misinterpreting a rule.  Many of us have a limited number of opportunities to race.  Arriving to find that our car is illegal, is an unacceptable option. 

[Bob Drury]

  You need to change your name to "Older and Wiser Racer".  That was a great, simple explanation of the crux of the matter.  Thank's for starting and hopefully ending the thread.                Bob

[JR529]

As the guy WHO STARTED this thread, I would like to respond to JR529 who stated
"It seems to me that you wish the Rules committee had not made Safety Film an option and just stuck with the Lexan requirement for cars over 200 MPH."  

 NOT TRUE!!!  I was only asking the question for one extremely simple reason:  I want to buy the right material, properly install it, and pass tech because I constructed my car according to the rules.

No worries Oldracer19. This topic is a good one as the identification and sourcing of a suitable safety film is high on the to-do list of many people, including the tech officials at the SCTA.

Right now there is no official list of "approved" or "recommended" safety film products but I suspect that further direction will be forthcoming in the reasonably near future. But if anyone demands a 100% certified answer right now then it's spelled L-E-X-A-N.

[Bob Drury]

  JR, if it comes down to that, I hope the commitee is made aware of what I posted earlier about cars with laminated rear glass.  Most of us would have to remove the body to get the rear windows out and back in which is not a overnight deal.   Thanx, Bob

[revolutionary]

Hope this isn't another can opening up, but has anyone taken a dozen junkyard side windows, put different laminates on both sides then whacked them with a hammer to see which ones contained the breakage best???

[Billy @ AHG]

I keep waiting for a product recomendation , as everyone is i'm sure.  However , after the film is applied, how do we prove the the product is the correct one ?   Save the reciept ?  Keep it in the log book ?     I  mean how does someone look at clear plastic film on a piece of window glass and tell what it is ?   

[dw230]

"Keep the reciept?" - yes
"Keep it in the log book?" - yes

DW

[MAZDA1807]

  JR, if it comes down to that, I hope the commitee is made aware of what I posted earlier about cars with laminated rear glass.  Most of us would have to remove the body to get the rear windows out and back in which is not a overnight deal.   Thanx, Bob

let me help clear this up a little. The rule states: "all non-laminated glass". The tempered glass is the problem, not the laminated saftyglass. Peter.

[saltfever]

Has anybody on this thread actually formed Lexan before? My side windows have a very subtile bulge or slight curve. Replacing them with flat Lexan will look ugly and most likely give up some aero. I would like to use the glass as a form to bend the Lexan over. Not sure how . . .was thinking of making a crude wooden oven or something. Heat it up till the Lexan droops over the glass? What temps are needed to do this? Any other suggestions?

[Peter Jack]

Don't forget to preheat it first for the required time at the required temperature or it will bubble and be of no use. Unless you're using really heavy Lexan it should hold the shape of the frame it's held in and thus as long as it's in the window frame it should take the slight curve.

Pete

[Billy @ AHG]

As far as "forming"   Lexan , here's what we did , a few years ago we built a windshield for a hot rod, by cutting down a boat windshield frame, then cut a pattern, and transferred that to the Lexan, then we just manhandled it cold into the frame, the top of the frame bolted on separately which made the task easier, but we were amazed how much abuse  the material would take without cracking or deforming, it is still together and other than the tendency to scratch easily the stuff was very user friendly !

[saltfever]

Thanks for the tips. On unibody cars there is nothing you could call a frame (except driver and pax window). Mostly there is a sheet metal lip as part of the body and the glass is glued in just like the windshield. I was just going to drill the lip and Lexan with oversized bolt holes and just bolt in. However, the flat Lexan will have to have a permanent bulge before I do that.

[Steve Walters]

I have found that the Lexan will form to what ever it lays on.  If you lay it on your existing window and lay a few sand bags on it it will take that shape after a few days, if you want to hurry up the process enclose the area and heat it up.  But not a lot of heat, make sure the ambient temperature is around 90 to 100 degrees F, the whole area needs to be heated , so a heat gun isn't the best.  When you bolt it oversize the holes, and put a tygon tube around the bolt or screw so that the Lexan can expand and contract with temperature.  On windshields and rear windows' the install kits are great, the rubber gasket material lets the Lexan move enough to keep it from stress cracking.

Steve     

[saltfever]

Thanks, Steve. I didn't realize the Lexan would deform that way without "spring-back". Since the Lexan will be so thin I was just going to drill oversize enough to fit a o-ring around the fastener. I have seen a white washer-like insert in holes on aircraft windshields. Probably, Aircraft Spruce could help on that deal.