Has anybody ever made a clear bonnet out of lexan or perspex, can it be done, thinking of having a go

thought about it a few times myself
wanted to do it over the back of mine. i still might, should be easy enough, but reckon it'll scratch a bit too easily

It could be done quite easily. I'd use polycarbonate over perspex as the perspex I'm using is quite brittle. Polycarbonate does scratch more easily though. Car headlight lenses are polycarbonate but are spray coated with a hard coat after forming to make them more durable. Find someone who can do that for you and you're away.

Return edges can be solvent welded on (glued) and would probably add a bit of stiffness to the bonnet.

On the down side, your engine will have to be spotless. Any slight oil or coolant leak will make a real mess. Road spray will coat everything and will need to be washed regularly.

There's an old ford hot rod type thing Ive seen around the Gold Coast that has half a bonnet out of some sort of clear material, leaving the bottom of each side open, looks pretty cool.

You mean like this one

It is probably possible but think you may find it sags a bit around the turbo area, a lot of our machines at work have formed lexan guards but it tends to crack anywhere there is vibration or cleaning chemicals.
Paul.

seen quite a few of these on vw beetles, look rather smart and I think they are vacuum formed due to the complex shape




[Edited on 18/11/08 by Mr Whippy]