Bratwurst Glazing

Project: Bratwurst
Sunroof, Mirrors & Sunroof

As you've probably already guessed, the plan is to replace all the glass with lighter perspex. The only glass to remain is the windscreen. The electric mirrors are to be replaced with light weight manual items and the suprisingly heavy metal sunroof panel will also be replaced with perspex.

Door Glass

The door glass is being replaced with a fixed sheet of 4mm perspex. First a cardboard template was made. The template was then used to cut the new glazing from the 4mm perspex sheet.
Next step is to bond the perspex to the frame with sealant and add some screws to help restrain it. Just wish I'd taken a photo of it!

Cardboard template.

Template covers extremities of the frame.

Perspex replacement.

Perspex slots behind edge of outer door skin.

Rear Screen

The rear screen is a large heavy item in itself so it too will be replaced with perspex. The rear screen is bonded in as with many modern cars but preferably needs to be removed in one piece to aid in making a template for the replacement.
Of course, in true tradition I have no photos of the finished article. It was secured in place with lots of self tapping screws into the frame and load spreading strips. I don't want this blowing out on the drag strip.

Plastic trim removed.

Using a scraper to cut through the bonding sealant. This took blumin ages!

Finally it is out and in one piece.

Making the card template.

All of the old sealant needed removing.

The bottom corners of the screen were spaced out with rubber blocks on fitment of the new perspex panel as the original glass curves inwards here where as the perspex was just going to crack.

Mirrors

The electric door mirrors were ditched during the strip down of the front doors with the intention of replacing them with light weight manual affairs. I was going to buy some simple plastic items from a kit car supplier I found on the internet for about £18 delivered but then, whilst browsing through the auto-jumble at a local car show I found these for £10.
I wouldn't know about the M5 bit but they definitely don't have an indicator built in. Unless that's what the mirror bit is, to indicate if there's anything coming past you! They are black though. Not that any of this matters, they are light and do the job. The glass area isn't quite as big as I would have liked but for £10 I'm not going to get too worried about it.
However, they never actually got fitted.

SunRoof

The headlining has already been removed in the Cabin section leaving just the sunroof mechanism. As can be seen, the sunroof mechanism is held in a reinforced plastic tray. This is bolted to the roof and comes out as a complete unit.
The resulting hole was covered with a piece of rigid plastic sheet, a load of pop-rivets and a generous squidge of sealant.

Mobirise

The contents of this website are purely a reflection of my own experiences and knowledge gained whilst working on my various projects. Anything you do based on what you have read here is done so entirely at your own risk.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone like me with a lawn mower! You have been warned! Flapper-bat!

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