Lexan attachment

Ron McCall

Supporter
I had a chance to view Sfair chaiis #1137 yesterday.
The lexan covers were all held in place by nylon screws with holes tapped right into the fiberglass.
Is this typical? The windows were also sealed with black RTV.
This seems to work well as the car has been drived VERY hard at numerous track events over the past few years with no problems.
What other methods are there for attachment?
 

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Bill - I was supplied with a roll of rubber weather seal (1/2 inch x 3/16th inch thick) for my door windows, spot and headlight covers, basically a gasket to keep out water. The screws are s/s and are 1/4 inch long.

Chris
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Bill, The border is in fact painted on the reverse side of the plastic. The plastic screws are countersunk into the plastic. On the headlamp and driving lamp covers there is a non adhesive gasket material but the driver and passenger windows are held in with black silicone / rtv? Adams McAll had a safir in their workshop which was damaged at the N-ring and Kerry Adams allowed me to borrow the door to see how Safir had finished it off. I got a few photos at the time and went ahead and did mine the same. The plastic screws are probably 2mm x 20mm c/s (I've still got some left over) so I'll dig them out and be more specific next week. I was directed to a screw retailer in Farnborough here in England to buy them, but I guess they are available almost anywhere.
 

Sandy

Gulf GT40
Lifetime Supporter
I just met a fellow that gave me his GT40 build cart, he just finished off a RF40, very nicely done as well. I asked what he did for the windows and mentioned that I was thinking of using nutserts. He said he didn't have good luck with them into the fibreglass. He had the same nutsert kit as I did. But I think you need different nutserts for fibreglass as they show in the catalog. What he did was simply use a helicoil into the fibreglass and it worked out great.

Sandy
 
Thanks Chris and David. I thought the headlamp/driving light covers were held in place by rivets. Guess I was wrong. Thanks for elightening me on the details.
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Hi again,
I forgot to mention the nut side /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif- I did use thin sheet rivnuts, not pulled too tight and araldite to make sure they didn't spin. Helicoils with hindsight would have been better but there are various things that could have done it just as well. Its quite labour intensive which ever way.
but the end result looks quite good. The plastic screws are available in black as well.
 

Ron McCall

Supporter
David,
Any additional info on the black fasteners would be appreciated.
Bill: As David said,the border is painted black on the reverse side.
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
Safir P1116 did not have the side perspex glued in with RTV. The black border is painted or screened onto the inboard side but all of the plexi/Lexan/perspex pieces were held in with the countersunk nylon screws (I know as I removed several pieces to clean ad detail.) The windscreen IS held in with an RTV type adheasive.

Very easy to crack the plex when thighteninmg the screws, I did crack one of the headlamp covers snugging it down. You could use self adheasive foam tape applied to the black painted portion to seal the plex to the body. Remember, you WILL get some dirty water in the heaadlamp area that wuill dry dirty and coat the lens and lamp so you need to be able to access it to clean.

Rick /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twocents.gif
 

Ron McCall

Supporter
1137 had the front windscreen glued in with something stiffer than RTV.(butyl maybe) The head and fog light covers were NOT glued and fastened with nylon screws.
The side and reat windows are sealed with black RTV and fastened with the same nylon screws.
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Ron,
email me an address on [email protected] and I'll send you
a few samples. If you can't get them and want some (I'm sure you probably can)let me know and I'll bring a box over to Indianapolis and post it from there.
Dave M
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
I found that with sufficient screw intervals and a backing gasket the lexan (or what ever it is) did not have a tendancy to wrinkl or warp. Mine came out like this:
 

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David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
I still think they are M2 /20mm countersunk but I'll let you know this week.
Radio Spares have something similar but not quite it.


Priced as: 1 bag of 100



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RS Stock no Technical
Info. Price (£) Order
Qty
1+ 6+ 25+ 50+
Nylon 6.6 slotted csk head screw,M2x6mm
RS Stock no: 291-284
In Stock £3.59 £3.38 £3.24 £3.09
October 2005 catalogue book 3 - 123
= Complies with requirements of RoHS Directive



Technical specification
type Machine Screws - Countersunk
Manufacturer's part number 6040387
Thread Metric
Size M2
Length (mm) 6
Material Nylon 6·6

Metric Thread - Nylon 6·6

To BS4183
High mechanical strength
Ideal for use where good insulation and corrosion resistance is required
Suitable for use in high voltage assemblies
Moulded from ivory coloured Nylon 6·6

Dave M
 

Sandy

Gulf GT40
Lifetime Supporter
McMaster Carr has them in white and black in many different size thread combos. I think they are around 6 bucks for box 100. Do a search on "nylon machine screws" and you will find them. Great place for this type of hardware, extreemly fast shipping.

Sandy
 
[ QUOTE ]
Interesting Ron. Any idea what the black border is made of around the light covers

[/ QUOTE ]
The purpose of the painted border (on some cars it's the same color as the rest of the car) is to hide the sealant underneath the lexan.
 
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