At 12:33 AM 8/11/98 -0400, you wrote:
>In a message dated 98-08-10 15:33:40 EDT, you write:
>
><<
> Lets start something - Yes LEXAN is used in MODERN race cars but does it
> fit the spirit of Vintage racing?
>
> Chris Harwood
> >>
> ARE YOU POSING THE QUESTION: Would it be sporting to replace the shatterable
>plastic on an old formula or sports racer with NON shatterable stuff or are
>you referring to the glass on an MGA coupe'? Most roadsters remove all their
>glass.
>Regards;
>Michael*
>
Good point, Michael. I think that the original idea (or at least one of the
possible permutations) was to replace the laminated safety glass in a
production car with plexiglass, this being a questionable idea. An
excellent point (to me, at least) is that original windscreens are getting
hard to find for many cars, so why not put Lexan in. Better than
plexiglass, I guess, but on the slippery slope towards nascar-dom ("I know -
I've got twenty six Mini windshields in the barn, plus the car's still in
production anyway, but lets put in 1/16" lexan to save 4.5 pounds, and
really rock the joint! And were did I put that rocker arm rear suspension
kit, anyway?")
Sports racers and formula cars tend to have plexglass (mine's made of
Acrylite, whatever that is) because it's very easy to form. But it tends
to crack at a sideways glance, and react badly to some common solvents, as
does lexan, BTW. The next windshield I get formed I'll try very hard to get
a lexan one done, just to save cracks.
I tend to go for as much passive safety as I can possibly get. To me that
includes shatter proof windshields. But I don't think that replacing
laminated glass with lexan should be encouraged, if the original glass is
still available. On the other hand, it shouldn't be banned either.
Does anybody know if lexan can be sucessfully slumped into a large complex
curve shape? Does anybody know of lexan than doesn't react instantly to
brake cleaner spray? (if you want to be vindictive some day, just spray some
brake cleaner onto the windshield of your friendly competitor with a lexan
windshield as he goes to the mock grid - you'd be amazed at the results.
You can say "but I use this stuff to clean my GLASS windows all the time!
works great on those stubborn bugs...")
On originality - the '61 Midget that I built and ran till last year, still
has the original rear shocks on. And they still work! 'Course they have
STP in them now, but they still get the job done...
Brian
|