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Things are finally starting to line up.
My wife was out of town so I had some time with the mistress this weekend.
I aligned the doors and rear hatch. Installed and adjusted side windows, regulators actuators and speakers. Installed and wired Amp Crossovers and Sub woofer. It sounds awesome even if it is playing into a tin can without a windshield. Can't wait to hear it once the interior is in. The doors close great but I still have some work to do on the door seals.
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I cheated. It's a poly window.
I worked on and drove the car for about a year and put on about a 1000 miles before pulling it apart for paint. So I'm pretty confident we'll be happy with the long term durability of this window. And if it does get beat up I'm only into it about $200. I'll replace it with a fresh one. I have a great pattern. I knew a long time ago that the back glass that came with the kit was never going to make me happy. It's the one area I really have a problem with. Body fitment is just one of those things that can make me feel really good if it's right and ruin my day if it's off. Once I figured I was never going to have a fit with the stock glass I decided to go with a polycarbonate window. I went down to the local hardware store, bought a 4X4 piece of 1/8" Lexan, laid it over the stock window as a pattern. Cut it out with a jigsaw, filed and sanded until I got the shape right and temporarily glued it in place for a year to see what engine temp and normal wear and tear would do. I also did some work to the rear hatch to make it match the shape of the body - 3/16" (final glass thickness). I'm sorry I don't have some better pictures, but look at the upper edge of the hatch and see how I had to add almost 1/2" to the center of the area that is closest to the body. If you can build up the hatch to match the body shape when you install the poly window it will take that perfect body shape. I think its important that you block and finish the new FG work because if it's wavy you're poly window will take that shape and you'll have waves in your glass.
After I painted the car I ordered a piece of polycarbonate 3/16" Hard faced on both sides from Mc Master Carr. I used the old window as a template and cut, filed and polished the edges of the new window. Then I cut the black out mask and found out how hard the hard facing really is. I wanted to sand the area I was going to spray black but it was too hard to sand. I wound up using a sanding sponge and even that did not do a great job. A light glass bead blasting would probably be best. I just sanded it as best I could and sprayed it black on the inside. Then on the first 105 degree day I put the window in the sun to soften it while I applied a liberal bead of window adhesive to the hatch. After the window was good and hot I put it in place and Gorilla taped the side edges down and let it sit over night. Next day pulled of the mask and Gorilla tape and cleaned the window with Liquid glass and a Microfiber wiping towel. The hard faced Polycarbonate is what they make safety glasses out of so it's extremely scratch resistant and I can vouch for that. I don't think I would try cleaning it with newspaper, but I have no problem rubbing it with a clean Microfiber towel. The 3/16 thickness and the natural curve make the window very strong and yes if you push hard enough in the middle you can deflect it. But it is crystal clear without any distortion. It's not like the headlight covers.
One other thing I did was reinforce the window frame because I suspect the stock glass is uses as a stiffener. I wont be able to use the stock lifting shocks because between the wing and rear louvers the hatch is pretty heavy.
Mike,
this is something you could do to your car without having to do any repaint work. Then after a couple years and a few thousand miles of road rash you could always pull this window out and have your body reshaped to the stock glass and then repaint. The problem is I didn't think I could make the stock glass fit the body and look right for for our car period. And I'm not afraid of a little body work. :)
And finally Polycarbonate is what they make bullet proof glass from so you are safe from bullets from the rear! :D
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Originally Posted by
kabacj
Steve. Did you grind down the hatch glass? How did you do it?
Thanks.
John
