Jacques Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Windshield in my 1987 Seven kit car, originally exported to Holland, is badly scratched. Sunlight, headlights...virtually any direct light creates bad glare. I'm looking for suggestions on replacement plexi. Note, I'm not sure how this was certified when it came to Canada as I think it should be a stickered safety glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Westfield Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 I just used 1/4' Lexan for my Westfield. Any good auto glass shop should be able to cut you a piece of flat laminated glass, or tell you who can. Where did that mirror come from? I want a set. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 14, 2023 Author Share Posted April 14, 2023 Charlie - I'll check out a glass shop. I just don't see how it could be a 'legal' windshield but that's a rabbit hole I stay away from anyway. As for the mirrors, there's absolutely no markings on them so I don't know their origin. Maybe check out the UK 7 sites or Caterham themselves. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Ditto on "safety" glass which is two layers of standard residential glass bonded with a sheet of vinyl. You must request the glass be cut with the marking (in what will be a lower corner) or risk having no marking. They may fit it to the frame for you. I suggest bicycle inner tube as a gasket for the channel, then trim the excess with a razor blade after assembly. They should sand the corners but it can still cut you. "Plexi" is acrylic; cheaper and more scratch resistant than "lexan" (polycarbonate) but can also shatter. Motorcycle windscreens and helmet face shields are acrylic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Another 👍 for safety/laminated green glass. I had mine replaced with this material. The trick is finding a competent/independent glass shop that will cut a piece to fit the frame & put it all back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toldfield Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 5 hours ago, 7Westfield said: I just used 1/4' Lexan for my Westfield. Any good auto glass shop should be able to cut you a piece of flat laminated glass, or tell you who can. Where did that mirror come from? I want a set. Charlie I got mine from Demon Tweeks. Look for Pitking Mirrors. tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Westfield Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 19 minutes ago, toldfield said: I got mine from Demon Tweeks. Look for Pitking Mirrors. tom thanks I ordered a set wish they were convex, but still prob better than what I have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 15, 2023 Author Share Posted April 15, 2023 Update - I'm in a smallish town 150-km up the coast from Vancouver. Local glass shop said today they can give me 6 ml laminated safety glass installed for under $100 CDN. That's a slam dunk. I wish they could do the same thing with Webers. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbcollier Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 What's up with your Webers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 15, 2023 Author Share Posted April 15, 2023 JB Collier/McDavid - Oilers fan i suppose - Haven't done much with them at all this winter - car runs with a sporadic pop back thru the carb. Likewise on exhaust; headers are an unusual design....short, on-line owners think they're a problem and I agree. BC Lotus Club member a ferry drive away will be giving his opinion shortly. Could be any number of issues going on....everybody has those stories. Love your team; love the Habs first but you're more entertaining. The few times I've been to Edmonton, I was stunned by the cracked up roads. I imagine you have specific routes for your blats. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbcollier Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 My wife is the Oiler's fan -- though I must admit they are playing very well this season. When we go to a game, not often, I wear a Maurice Richard jersey. Edmonton is frankly a stupid place to build a city. Bedrock is a 100 feet down. Our soufflé-like soil heaves and bucks every winter like Trigger with a burr under his saddle. Tough on roads to be sure. That's why my Lotuses have stock springs, stock (skinny) tires, and 80/70 series sidewalls. Love the place though. Grew up in the mountain valleys of south-eastern BC, sunrise at 9:30-10 and sunset by 4. No proper sunset/rises unless you climbed a mountain. Nice to visit back home but I wouldn't want to live there. Generally a leaner mix will give popping in the intake/exhaust. Combustion chamber design, compression and cam overlap are all factors as well. These days we're lucky to have A/F ratio gauges readily available. Weld a bung in your exhaust collector and then no more guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 15, 2023 Author Share Posted April 15, 2023 I've never thought of an A/F gauge. Car guys consider my headers to be way too short so that's one factor. My Alfaholic buddy helps tune the Webers but the situation persists. It has a Cosworth engine so it's been suggested it may be harder to smooth out. I live up the coast so some distance from Lotus Club members in the city who could likely assist in this regard. We had a hockey tournament in Montreal years ago and Henri Richard came to our banquet. Marvelous guy; still at game weight. As they say, he won 11-Stanley Cups. If he wanted to wear all his Cup rings, he had to take his clothes off. I'll look into the A/F gauge idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 If weight reduction is really important and you want to upgrade on safety from impacts, then polycarbonate is a good bet and outperforms acrylic ( Plexiglass). There are scratch resistant coatings and you can cut it yourself. I just looked again at the McMaster Carr info and it looks fairly expensive. Glass is approximately 2.5X more dense ( heavier) and polycarbonate ( Lexan trade name) is used for bullet proof structures like bank teller screens. But the laminated safety glass works fine since the polyvinylbutyral film between the sheets does a good job but it is not a do it yourself option- at least not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 Christopher - just put windshield back on the car. Local shop used a laminated safety glass which I figure will be much less prone to scratching. The old plexi was probably original and badly scarred. Being a flat piece (like the one on your car I assume) it was only $107 incl. tax. The installer scribed the glass which, as I understand it, would meet a safety requirement if the car was ever registered in another province. I'm not a massive stickler on weight reduction. Long before I was able to afford a Lotus/Caterham I remember watching a vintage racer at the Mission River's Edge track in BC. He ran a RHD Lotus 7 he imported from the UK. As stripped down as it was, he kept the spare tire mounted at the back because he thought the car looked better that way. Another topic for you - how well does your car brake? My Caterham has basic 2-pot Spitfire discs up front with rear drums and I consider them quite poor performers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbcollier Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 These people make upgrade kits that bolt on and fit under the stock wheels. https://britishclassiccarparts.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 I had a friend with a Triumph GT6 and learned those front brakes would be a bolt on. So I did that with racing pads.Not sure how much better than a Spitfire set-up but sure do the job. Designed for a much heavier car with higher top speed and he is doing well in vintage racing. I really have not pushed that hard however as my car is getting pretty old and so am I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 Looks like a reasonable product. Surprised they don't put the weight in specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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