Hello from Mr Haney Cleveland Ohio, I need some info on where i can get colored plexiglass cut for my coupe. i have the temps cut outa cardboard ready .would like some thick stuff 1/4 inch or thicker no flimsy crap . I would like a nicotine stain lookin gold color if possible. Thanks Russ
Most plastics suppliers have it. I get it from one down the street from me. You may have to buy a sheet of that color if it's not something they normally carry.
Look in your local yellow pages. We have several plastics houses here in Pa. It comes with a paper covering, trace it, cut it with a jigsaw.
Check plastics in your yellow pages for a local industrial plastics supplier. If you can cut out a pattern, you can cut the plexiglass.
We used lexan as it comes in tons of colors. Dirt track race suppliers like Performance Bodies and similar places carry it. Kinda pricey but it's the real deal >>>>.
I found it on the net, did a search for colored lexan. They had it in several different colors, thickness, and sizes. http://www.estreetplastics.com/Colored_Plexiglass_Sheets_s/109.htm I have used it in several Gasser cars we have built, etc. Never had any problems, and they ship fast. Good luck
It is easy to cut, on thin 1/8" you can use a scoring knife, I did that on 1/4' for my windshield, then used a bench sander to get the edges perfect, If you have acess to a band saw that would be better than a hand held saw. If you use the score knife, just do lots of scoring passes and try to do staight lines and sand down to the final shape.
lexan, (polycarbonate) can also be bent in a brake. It's much more forgiving than plexi. (I can't drill plexi without breaking it!)
Lexan = polycarbonate, which is the stuff they make face shields, safety glasses, and vandalism resistant windows out of. If you smash something like a flying brick into it, the brick just bounces off or leaves a little gouge in it. You can cut it, drill it, no problem if you have good sharp blades. Plexiglass = acrylic, which cracks easily. Acrylic holds up to the sun fairly well, but since it cracks into sharp jagged corners that could cut you up, I don't think I'd want to use it as a window on a car.
There was a thread a while ago about using a dye to color it yourself, with good results. Great way to be sure you get the color you want. I think it was Rit-dye.
Slightly off thread... I've been trying to find amber Lexan that is the VERY SAME formula as the amber used in helmet shields and sunglasses - ie more optically pure in color. I've emaile a lot of plastic places, helmet makers, sunglass makers, with no results. Bummer. Wouldn't it be cool to have side and back amber windows that were actually sunglasses, too?!??!? Gary