Polycarbonate rear windows

[Corranga]

So I need a new rear window. What's the disadvantage of getting one of the polycarbonate ones from Elise parts?

I think i'd prefer a glass one as I figure it would look better / make the car warmer in the winter..

Chris

[robin]

It'll make very little difference to temperature provided it actually fits (glass is no better an insulator than polycarbonate).

Is it S1 or S2? S2 is much more grief as the glass is bonded in. I'm assuming you're talking S1 ...

S1 is just a slot in job. You can cut your own polycarbonate screen to fit; the biggest problem with the PC screens is whether or not they fit snuggly into the slot where the glass fits.

A proper glass screen will fit best, I suspect.

Cheers,
Robin

[Corranga]

Ah yeah sorry Robin, it's an S1.

Having trouble tracking down a glass one and the polycarbonate one from EP is 60 quid (i'd imagine a glass window would be more...)

Will go and look for somewhere to buy sheets of polycarbonate and if I go that route, maybe an inevitable "can I meet someone with an S1 to make a template of their rear window" thread will appear

Car is off the road until early feb ish anyway.

Chris

[Sanjøy]

For those that work in IT / Data Centres I can recommend taking the door off a rack, laying your glass screen on it, chalking it out and then jigsawing yourself a nice perforated steel window.

Roasty toasty.

[Jacobite]

I got 2 X 6mm polycarbonate rear screens from easter road plastic in Edinburgh last year for £47.00
aparantly 5 mm flexes a little, although fitted I havent managed to stop the reflection of the view through the windscreen bouncing of the rear screen as its not possable to angle a flat screen enough to do it without major work making a steped surround
The later S1 plastic rear screen surround would solve this~so if you've got one with broken glass and get the polycarbonate cut to fit the recess your onto a winner

I've tried advertising for one a couple of times on SELOC without lucK and Douglas breakers were unable to track one ~I don't imagine they'd hang onto a late S1 rear screen when the glass is broken

[robin]

I would avoid running with Sanjoy's perforated screen approach - I remember driving with the rear glass out for a while and I noticed that I got loads of fumes sucked back into the cabin when the roof was on and the driver's window was open a bit.

In fact, if you still have the offset frame of the later S1, you could also heat-form a polycarbonate sheet around it - polycarbonate goes soft at pretty low temperatures, so it is practical to do in your shed/garage with a heat gun. Of course for your own use, bonding a sheet of PC to the frame (having chiseled off all the old mastic/glass) will be perfect. But for Jacobite, a heat formed screen is the way to go ...

Cheers,
Robin

[Sanjøy]

Sniff petrol. Com

[BiggestNizzy]

How much cash is in one of the formed screens ? I know a bloke who could copy one but he is really slow but should be able to do one with the right cash incentive (he may need to run a few)

[Corranga]

My car is an early s1 so no offset frame one (I assume that's the thing they used to stop the reflections from erm... reflecting

Chris

[Victor Meldrew]

I would avoid running with Sanjoy's perforated screen approach - I remember driving with the rear glass out for a while and I noticed that I got loads of fumes sucked back into the cabin when the roof was on and the driver's window was open a bit.

In fact, if you still have the offset frame of the later S1, you could also heat-form a polycarbonate sheet around it - polycarbonate goes soft at pretty low temperatures, so it is practical to do in your shed/garage with a heat gun. Of course for your own use, bonding a sheet of PC to the frame (having chiseled off all the old mastic/glass) will be perfect. But for Jacobite, a heat formed screen is the way to go ...

Cheers,
Robin

I am with Robin on this one. In the event of an engine fire... uncommon but it does happen, you would have no protection from the flame, a glass or polycarb window gives you a little bit of time to get out of the car...

[Matelotman]

I cut some poly and used normal window rubber surround that I nabbed from Tut (the stone from his tyre did smash my glass one afterall), worked a treat.

[offshorematt]

Could try Geary at Eliseparts for a secondhand screen?

He used to have second hand bits and pieces lying around. I bought some roof bows off him a few years ago...