Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Show and Tell Gallery

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-02-2010, 12:08 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
Homebuilt Windscreen

I made a one-piece polycarbonate plastic windscreen / wind deflector for the 987. I modeled it after those made by "Zefferus".
They sell windscreens for the BMW Z3 / Z4's, but not for the Boxster.

Total cost for the plastic windscreen and velcro straps was less than $25.00. That's a mere $475.00 savings over the Porsche OEM windscreen

Polycarbonate is the material used in Lexan or Makrolon. Polycarb is much stronger than acrylic / plexiglass, while being much easier to cut
using only a jigsaw and inexpensive blades. The link below illustrates the durabilty difference between the two plastics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsls5ZPCUnE - Polycarbonate (Lexan) vs Acrylic (Plexiglass)

By using PVC / Velcro straps to secure the windscreen, no drilling is required. Attachment or removal take about a minute.

I had it out for a test ride earlier today in 28F (-2C) temps and the difference in wind protection, warmth, and noise vs no windscreen was amazing.

Simple is as simple does

Cheers..... Tom

The 6 Attachment straps ( 12" X 1.5" ) are made of 18oz. PVC with sewn 2" velcro ends. They tighten around the safety bars via narrow slots cut into the windscreen.


The 12" tall X 1/4" thick windcreen as seen from inside. The windscreen rests atop the subwoofer enclosure.


The safety bars outline is traced with a Sharpie onto the 52" X 12" X 1/4" "Makrolon" Polycarb prior to cutting.


A jigsaw with a metal cutting blade is used to cut the safety bars outline, and a 3/16" drill bit and wood cutting blade are used for the 6 strap slots ( not yet marked).

Paper backing on both sides is left on to prevent scratches while cutting the outline and strap slots.


Winterize the Porsche ? .... Never !


A 70lb sandbag and shovel are in the trunk ... just in case.


Slap on a Porsche decal ... and the twisties await !


__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050

Last edited by Werks; 03-05-2010 at 10:20 AM.
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-02-2010, 12:16 PM   #2
Porscheectomy
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Seattle Area
Posts: 3,011
Typically, acrylic has better UV stability than polycarbonate. Polycarb will yellow to a higher degree than acrylic over time and with sunlight exposure. There are UV inhibitors that you can add to the polycarb mixture to improve it's stability though. Hopefully you bought the stabilized stuff.
blue2000s is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-02-2010, 12:52 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
>Typically, acrylic has better UV stability than polycarbonate. Polycarb will yellow
>to a higher degree than acrylic over time and with sunlight exposure.
>There are UV inhibitors that you can add to the polycarb mixture to improve it's
>stability though. Hopefully you bought the stabilized stuff.

Has this been your personal experience with Lexan or other Polycarbonate ?

I made a Polycarb rear window for my pickup shell and it was several years
before it yellowed and then just a little, so I didn't reckon my $10.00 "scrap"
sheet of Polycarb needed any additional help. If severe yellowing occurs down
the road, I'll buy another $10.00 sheet and spend an hour making a new
windscreen

Tom
__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-02-2010, 01:47 PM   #4
Porscheectomy
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Seattle Area
Posts: 3,011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Werks
>Typically, acrylic has better UV stability than polycarbonate. Polycarb will yellow
>to a higher degree than acrylic over time and with sunlight exposure.
>There are UV inhibitors that you can add to the polycarb mixture to improve it's
>stability though. Hopefully you bought the stabilized stuff.

Has this been your personal experience with Lexan or other Polycarbonate ?

I made a Polycarb rear window for my pickup shell and it was several years
before it yellowed and then just a little, so I didn't reckon my $10.00 "scrap"
sheet of Polycarb needed any additional help. If severe yellowing occurs down
the road, I'll buy another $10.00 sheet and spend an hour making a new
windscreen

Tom
I work with plastics in my job.
blue2000s is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-02-2010, 03:40 PM   #5
Porscheectomy
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Seattle Area
Posts: 3,011
I'm in Fort Collins/Loveland.
blue2000s is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2010, 08:48 AM   #6
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: The City
Posts: 1,084
Garage
Looks good. I think this would be the way to go (poly carb) only because since it is the first attempt and getting the right shape size and cut are important and if you make a mistake... well only a few bux was lost.

down the road you can upgrade like BLUE2000S said to something more durable and use the old one as your cutout. no mistakes on the more expensive piece.

(when I say "you" i mean if anyone wanted to try this also not the OP)


but I like it. Nifty and im guessing easy to remove.
Lobo1186 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2010, 10:16 AM   #7
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
Quote:
I think this would be the way to go (poly carb) only because since it is the first attempt and getting the right shape size and
cut are important and if you make a mistake... well only a few bux was lost.
down the road you can upgrade like BLUE2000S
said to something more durable and use the old one as your cutout. no mistakes on the more expensive piece.
--------------------------------------
Thanks for your comments. BLUE2000S commented on possible yellowing over time, not durability and price.

As I mentioned in my original post...Polycarbonate / Lexan is much more durable than any alternative clear plastic.

The following video will illustrate the huge durability difference between Polycarb and Acrylic, and should entertain you will doing so....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsls5ZPCUnE - Polycarbonate vs Acrylic


Polycarbonate is more expensive than Acrylic / Plexiglass for this application. Plus, Polycarb is easy to cut with a saw while Acrylic is not,
which makes "homebuilding" with polycarbonate / Lexan a no brainer.

I was fortunate to find an inexpensive "scrap" piece of this durable plastic at a local plastics shop. I do business with this company
buying High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) that I use in kayak frame construction.

"Zefferus" commercial windscreen for BMW Z3. This was the example used for my Boxster windscreen.


1/2" HDPE plastic that I use for folding kayak construction. It's very durable, but softer than Polycarbonate. HDPE has a "memory" allowing
repeated snapping on / off of aluminum tubes during assembly. Amazing stuff that's easy to saw and drill with wood blades / bits.
__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050

Last edited by Werks; 01-08-2010 at 09:31 AM.
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2010, 04:15 PM   #8
There Is No Substitute.
 
rick3000's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Coast
Posts: 3,253
Garage
I just wanted to chime in and say that I think is a great mod, regardless of what material you use. It's cheap, easy, looks good, and solves a common problem. Every now and again someone will post that their windscreen broke, or they didn't get one with their car, and this a simple fix. I would image this could easily be done to a 986 as well.
__________________
1999 Ocean Blue Metallic Boxster - blueboxster.com
rick3000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2010, 08:54 AM   #9
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
>I just wanted to chime in and say that I think is a great mod, regardless of what material you use. It's cheap, easy, looks good, and solves a common problem.

Thanks....My only issue with Acrylic is the difficulty in cutting it with a jigsaw vs Polycarb. Scoring and breaking Acrylic is likely the better
option for DIY.... though you still need to cut out the 6 strap openings.

Yesterday I rode a couple of hours from my home ( 8,700ft) to Denver ( 5,300ft) and back in temps as low as 35f and I felt no
discomfort at speeds up to 75mph. The only time I closed the top was when it started snowing ....Tom ( 2 pics below)

Last week.... Sunny and cold


Then again, I'm used to cold weather riding....
__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050

Last edited by Werks; 01-21-2010 at 05:32 AM.
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2010, 04:02 PM   #10
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,033
Cool, props to you for making that and making it well. It amazes me Porsche could charge so much for the factory windscreen and there are people actually willing to pay it.
__________________
'03 3.2L GuardsRed/Blk/Blk---6Spd
Options: Litronics, 18" Carrera lights, Bose sound, Painted to match roll bars.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...Mautocross.jpg
Adam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2010, 05:57 AM   #11
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
> It amazes me Porsche could charge so much for the factory windscreen and there are people actually willing to pay it.

That was the motivation for making my own. That and the fact it's a pretty simple project. The OEM windscreen was about $600.00
installed and that seemed excessive to me . Plus, The one piece plastic windscreen is quieter than the OEM 3-piece.

Thanks for your comments.... Tom
__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-24-2012, 10:47 AM   #12
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NJ
Posts: 11
Thanks Tom!

Here are pictures of the Windscreen I built after following Tom's great directions and after he was so helpful in answering so many of my questions. Background: I bought a 2008 CPO's Silver Boxster with 1300 miles on it. Sad story behind so few miles, but the dealer was happy to sell it to me, and it was very cheap compared to new (oh wait, it is new

The car has every feature I wanted, including beautiful 19" carrera wheels, grey top and interior, which looks great with the silver, xenon, etc. But no windscreen. I like what Tom did, followed his directions, got grey vinyl straps from Seattle Fabrics (and velcro) and bought 1/4" lexan online. If doing this again, I might buy 1/8 or 3/16", but it worked out great.

Thanks Tom!!!

Mark
Attached Images
   
msk914 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2012, 05:45 AM   #13
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 25
Hi Mark,

I hope you gets lots of use from the windscreen / deflector.

Regards, Tom

Don't leave home without it

__________________
Porsche 987
BMW 335xi
Aprilia SL-1000R
Triumph Sprint 1050

Last edited by Werks; 02-25-2012 at 05:56 AM.
Werks is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:47 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page