Perspex engine lid

[welly_59]

Anyone else thought that this might look pretty cool on a clean engine?

Only problem i've thought of is that maybe the engine heat might melt or distort the plastic, any thoughts on this?

[superchargedsam]

I was looking at getting moulds of the raised bits on my SC lid done then have them remade in clear perspex, shouldnt be an issue with ehat dependeing what material as the SC lids are a plastic mix of some sort AFAIK as they are defo not metal ! Rekon it would look ok if you have some nice shiney parts under there ! Be good to see the tubby glowing red hot at night under there !

[welly_59]

yeah would be something to look at for sure! Thats the only problem i can think of though, with the heat being generated i wouldnt want the perspex to become burnt/singed/melted in anyway and am not sure if its possible!

[superchargedsam]

am sure we have some material experts on here that will confirm if this can be done for us !

[Goldy]

I'm pretty sure it would be ok to be honest.... air isn't a very good conductor of heat i'm pretty sure that a gap of a few inches would be ok and the cold air on the outside would keep it cool.

The only problem is you would have to clean it inside and out all the time... and keep your engine spotless!!! Could look cool though :cool:

[Driftin_AW]

the temp might actually be a problem, it's quite possible the lid would sag over time. small amounts of fibreglass reinforcing can stiffen it up well, without ruining the transparency, and some plastics will be better under the heat than others. if possible you want a thermosetting type (epoxy, polyester etc), but I'm not sure of any truely transparent ones. Wayne, aka vvega the guy doing the v8 over here, did a transparent lid a while ago, but I never saw it, next time I talk to him I'll find out what material he used

[Paff]

I was actually thinking of doing this, someone I know has done it in the past and is willing to give it a go, I have a spare engine lid as well so might try it sometime. Its a shame to have spent all my time cleaning the engine and polishing things just to hide it back away under a lid.

[welly_59]

was thinking of two ways of doing it. either cutting a window in a engine lid and attaching a perspex sheet to it. or a fully perspex lid attached with pins. I think the window would look neater but still think there'll be problem with the heat etc

[Paff]

The window method is the one I was gonna try, got 2 spare engine lids so I can try a couple of methods out if I ever have time. If it fails it fails, but it has to be tried and tested before you will really know

[welly_59]

defo sounds nice, cut out a nice hole, use some kind of rubber seal to hide the metal edges and attach a sheet from underneath

[djdna2000]

Make a frame out of ally angle, chrome it and screw the perspex to the frame. Wouldn't sag, would look cool :)

[Goldy]

If you are going to do it... get it done properly!!! None of this cutting holes in the lid!!! As above if you can make your own frame and put perspex over it, that would look awesome!:twisted:

[welly_59]

tbh though i think it would look better with a hole cut in the lid as long as its done properly

[adamh]

as long as you dont hit it with heat it'll be fine, i guess your just going to use a flat sheet?.. perspex will do at-least 5mm thick. if you hit it with heat direct..flame.. it bubbles from the inside out.. and the flame will leave a black film on the plastic too.. but engine bay heat.. as long as its not directly above the turbo manifld.. i couldnt see it changing colour/form at-all.

I use transparent polycabonate which only changes form once.. i bend it about to make machine gaurds and stuff.. altho i use it for its toughness property and i do apply heat to polycarb to form it into bends and stuff
otherwise i would use perspex as its 'harder' and more scratch resistant than polycarb. i'd say perspex is good for engine bay window.. as opposed to transparent polycarb... which is the closest alternative cheaply available. nice idea mate . about 45 quid per square meter for 5mm thick transparent polycarb.. not bought perspex so i couldnt say.

[welly_59]

i've been in touch with a plastics company and they reccomended to use 4mm Makrolon Polycarbonate. they say its resistant up to 115c. anyone else agree with this?

yep will be a straight sheet. I think it'd look cool with the i/c mounted to it with a fan attached, would be able to see the whole thing working then!

[Marksman]

My god it'll look like one of those "designer" PC cases. Just need a couple of neon strips under the IC fan and you're away... :wink:

Oops maybe I shouldn't piss this chap off just an the moment...

Cheers,

Owen.

[adamh]

i'd say perspex mate preferably.. but if you go polycarb let me know how much you need, i got some spare left over from jobs, there might be enough for a cut.. 5mil transparent sheet.. made by the same company in sweeden arlaplast and the brand is makroclear :lol;


i've been in touch with a plastics company and they reccomended to use 4mm Makrolon Polycarbonate. they say its resistant up to 115c. anyone else agree with this?

yep will be a straight sheet. I think it'd look cool with the i/c mounted to it with a fan attached, would be able to see the whole thing working then!

[Goldy]

115c is fine mate.... when was the last time you fried eggs on the inside of your engine lid ? :-\"

[podge]

^^^^ thisafternoon ^^^^^ well i could have hehehe