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  • July 18, 2011 10:10 a.m. XK120 None

    Hi all. I'm hoping that somebody can point me in the right direction. I've got a 53 Jaguar XK120 that is about to undergo some paint and body work. One of the things that I'd like to do is remove the stock windshield (posts and glass) and replace it with a plastic "racing style" piece like you see below. Does anybody have any advice as to where I can get something like this done? Any suggestions on shops in the Denver area that would be up to the task? Many thanks in advance!

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  • 914Driver

    July 18, 2011 11:40 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

    Welcome XK120, and I have no idea where to send you but the rules say you have to post a lot of pictures often.

    You might also aske these folks: http://classicmotorsports.net/

    Little more laid back but knowlegable crowd.

    Dan

  • DuctTape&Bondo

    July 18, 2011 11:42 a.m. DuctTape&Bondo Reader

    I know the HID retrofit guys do vacuum forming plastic to make replacement lenses, but I don't think it's very likely you'd have access to an oven that big.

  • DaveEstey

    July 18, 2011 11:49 a.m. DaveEstey HalfDork

    Plexi and some heat.

  • July 18, 2011 11:59 a.m. kb58 Reader

    Not Plexi... Lexan. Very formable and will not crack, so there's no need to heat-form it. Just make a pattern and mount it so it has a curve in it for strength. It's available with an anti-scratch coating but isn't cheap. Regardless, with a pattern sitting on the shelf you can quickly make a new one any time the old one gets too scratched-up.

  • DaveEstey

    July 18, 2011 12:05 p.m. DaveEstey HalfDork

    my bad, I meant to say lexan but had plexi on the brain

  • Toyman01

    July 18, 2011 12:06 p.m. Toyman01 SuperDork

    Most marine places have someone to do custom plastic windscreens.

    Welcome.

  • Per Schroeder

    July 18, 2011 12:31 p.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

    Yea, that gentle of a curve shouldn't require any heat forming over a buck.

    We just redid the windshield on our LeGrand and it took a heat gun and some chunks of wood to make a straight 60 degree bend on each side.

  • Keith

    July 18, 2011 12:41 p.m. Keith SuperDork

    I've put a couple of polycarbonate (Lexan) windows in, and it bends nicely without any effort. For a bend as shown in the pictures, I don't think you'd even need heat. Now, the bracket at the bottom, that's going to be the hard part. Unless you can reuse the factory part, I don't know how an XK120 windshield looks.

  • July 18, 2011 12:45 p.m. triumph5 Dork

    Don't want to go with a pair of Brookland Screens?

  • July 18, 2011 1:23 p.m. XK120 New Reader

    Thanks for the input everybody! I will try and get in touch with a local Marine shop.

    triumph5 wrote:

    Don't want to go with a pair of Brookland Screens?

    We actually had a pair but have decided to go a different route. I realize that the Brooklands are more "period," but IMO they rupture the clean and classic lines of the 120.

  • July 18, 2011 1:39 p.m. triumph5 Dork

    With the marine industry somewhat more in the toilet than the rest of industry in the US right now, be careful not to get hosed on pricing/labor costs. Do some shopping around. And I'd try a sign-making company also. You won't have the "marine" markup that comes with that territory. Wow from a Chevy Volt to a 120, you certainly span motordom! Last thought, if the 120 is going to be street driven, you might want to check out the legality of running it on the street without wipers, or what constitutes "wipers" in your state. A bored cop, his ticket book, and you're in a car certain to attract attention, a little checking might be prudent.

  • Hasbro

    July 18, 2011 1:58 p.m. Hasbro Dork

    And many states require auto safety glass.

  • July 18, 2011 2:09 p.m. triumph5 Dork

    Hasbro wrote:

    And many states require auto safety glass.

    There are exceptions if the vehicle didn't come with that glass as OE. But good point, since this will not be an OE part, not unless the OP can dig up a listing for the type of windscreen he's looking for that was offered on a 120, or even a limited run of 120s. Like one.

  • Strizzo

    July 18, 2011 2:12 p.m. Strizzo SuperDork

    Hasbro wrote:

    And many states require auto safety glass.

    Texas does not require windshield, but does require wipers.

    /thread derail

  • July 18, 2011 2:17 p.m. triumph5 Dork

    Strizzo wrote:

    Hasbro wrote:

    And many states require auto safety glass.

    Texas does not require windshield, but does require wipers.

    /thread derail

    Gotta watch that wiper fluid switch, then. Although with all that heat down there, maybe not.

 
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