Side Screens

[Guest outtolunch]

Looking at replacing the clear plastic on the screens and picked up a leaflet to find that there are may types available in polycarbonate and acrylic plus a few odd ones I've never heard off PETG and Darvic, has anyone had any experience with these plastics and can recommend the most suitable replacement.

The Amari website recommends acrylic for marine use but has no selection for automotive uses.

 

thanks chris

[Redspec]

Hi, Chris

Polycarbonate is the 'strongest' and less likley to crack, Acrylic is cheaper but is very prone to cracking at fixing points, PETG is in between the above & Darvic is a type of pvc that will also be prone to cracking.

My My personel choice would be Polycarb or PETG.

What thickness are you going to use and how do you intend to fix it?

 

Steve

[steve in stockport]

polycarbonate for me - I lost one of my doors on the motorway in france at 80mph, it just blew off when the wind got under it, stopped the car ran back up the hard shoulder like Forrest Gump til I was level with the door then dashed out to retrieve it from in front of the oncoming artic lorry that I had previously overtaken.

 

only damage was a bit of scuffing on the corner it landed on and part of the metal frame was bent

 

Steve

[Guest salty_monk]

Polycarb is best, most scratch resistant out of the lot too & should resist UV & colouring/cracking the best as well.

 

Dan

[Guest outtolunch]

Hi, Chris

Polycarbonate is the 'strongest' and less likley to crack, Acrylic is cheaper but is very prone to cracking at fixing points, PETG is in between the above & Darvic is a type of pvc that will also be prone to cracking.

My My personel choice would be Polycarb or PETG.

What thickness are you going to use and how do you intend to fix it?

 

Steve

 

 

thanks everboby

 

shall stick with the polycarbonate the only choice now is between the longlife plus which has the better UV resistance or the hard which has the better abrasion resistance.

 

the present screens are 3 mm thick and are the folding style where the lower screen is glued ( coming unglued at the moment ) and the hinge is bolted to the polycarbonate.

[Guest timswait]

Polycarbonate, no real choice. I got some from this company. They also sell on EBay. The only downside is that no clear plastic is very UV resistant (polycarb included) in it's normal state. You can however get it with a coating which does make it UV resistant, however that coating may only be on one side. The stuff I used for my side screen is only UV coated on the outside, and with it being a sidescreen it will get the sun hitting it from both sides, so I don't know how long it will last, but I suppose I'll find out. Actually I doubt it will be too much of an issue as it spends a large proportion of it's time under a cover, it's not like an outdoor application where it's exposed all day every day all year through.

[Redspec]

Hi Chris

 

I would go for the abrasion resistant, it has got UV resistance just not the 10 year life of the longlife plus. If the car was always fitted with the side screens, left exposed to uv 365 days of the year i think i might consider longlife plus, but hey what state is your gel coat going to be in by then?

Also if you go to amari dont go to the trade counter first, if you can go and see the guy in charge of the warehouse and see if he has any off cuts, you will be suprised at how large a pieces they throw out (if you are fitting split doors you will only need 4 small pieces).

 

Now Prices

 

If you had to get full sheets:-

 

Scratch resistant 3mm x 2000mm x 1500mm £125 Booohooo

Bog standard 3mm x 2440mm x 1200mm £50

UV resistant 3mm x 2440mm x 1200mm £55

 

These are the prices Amari would charge to the public so you may be able to get a little cheeper!

 

Go for the off cuts if you can and donate to the tea fund?

 

 

Steve