Race car door windows

[bbh03]

What to do about door windows in a car destined for GT class racing? I pulled out the insides today and the regulator arms are rusted to death. That and I plan on the cage door bars encroaching into the door skin. What's the best solution to keep the rain out when the car is on the trailer or otherwise not being driven besides reinstalling the heavy glass and mechanism?

[thinkfloyd14]

Hi Brian,

My friend has polycarbonate windows for his full-race 912. He bought from five star bodies. Here's a link to their products.

http://www.fivestarbodies.com/translator.php?url=catalogrest.cgi&task=showrs2cat&rs2catid=306

I have yet to see them installed on his car, but looks solid to me.

-Sammy

[Shawn 357]

My brother and I made some windows out of leftover lexan for a 944 race car. They slide right into the old window seals, but to keep harsh weather out you would have to throw a piece of tape on the outside along the bottom. Sorry I don't have any pics of it.

[cstreit]

Originally posted by bbh03
What to do about door windows in a car destined for GT class racing? I pulled out the insides today and the regulator arms are rusted to death. That and I plan on the cage door bars encroaching into the door skin. What's the best solution to keep the rain out when the car is on the trailer or otherwise not being driven besides reinstalling the heavy glass and mechanism?

The best solution? Eliminate them entirely because you're eventually going to want lightweight door shells and NASCAR bars...

Failing that the usual mode is buy lexan sheet and cut it to the same size as your existing glass. Use straps to pull them up and hold them... (or get an enclosed trailer).

[bbh03]

Thanks!

[earlyapex]

I second Chris' comments. GT class car = no door window mechanism or glass.

[bbh03]

Then do you even bother with the frame piece that extends into the door skin and serves as a slide, or is it customary to leave that off entirely?

[t6dpilot]

Brian,
I just picked up an RGruppe style car yesterday that has the lexan door windows. It is not my favorite setup since they are kind of a pain in the a$$ to pull up and down. They also tend to not seal at the top because the holes in the leather strap need to have play so you can hook and unhook them. All this said, they are pretty trick and work well. I drove the car home through 4 hours of rain and even though they were down about 1/2 inch, did not leak water.

[bbh03]

Scott, sounds like that is the solution I will end up with. If the door bars interfere with the window frame slides inside the door, then I will have no windows at all. Hopefully that wont be the case.

[Jeff Alton]

Scott, can you post a pic of the strap arrangement?

Cheers

[Zeke]

The window guides occupy the door space about center, so if you want your bars in the door cavity (recommended that they be as far from your seat as possible, then the glass/plastic won't slide down. Why not make some window pieces for transportation only that snap in, or attach with Dzus fasteners? I wouldn't want any tabs with the Dzus receiver in the window where they could hurt your arm, so you'll have to be clever. If you're running a window net (I assume you would), then the temporay window on the driver's side could utilize some of the net hardware for an attachment point.

A small u channel in tho top of the door would hold the entire length of the window pattern. It's sorta recommended that you cover the interior sharp edge anyway (might be mandatory for some organizations). If you want your doors to open and close halfway decently, leave the perimeter portion of the inner frame and roll the edges for safety.

[bbh03]

If the window frame is removed completely, you mean? Or just remove some of the metal inside the door int he way of the cage and still have that seal made by the frame towards the top of the door opening?

[t6dpilot]

catca, I don't have any photos here, but will post a strap shot later this evening.

[t6dpilot]

bbh03, I have a bunch of photos of my car posted here under the tech forum. Look for a post entitled something like, "My New Car - Safely Tucked Away..." or something like that. It should be on one of the first pages and is posted by t6dpilot. There are tons of photos of the car and has some of the windows. Let me know if you need anything else.

[bbh03]

Found it, Scott. Thanks!