Cutting Down Windshield on a 42 Lightning
 

This is the first thing I knew I wanted to do to my boat, I think the high windshield doesn't match the lines of the boat - which in my opinion are some of the nicest lines of any boat. Plus I want to paint it black and needed to repair the dash of the boat so the windshield had to come off anyways.

So I did my research, searched the forum for all the threads explaining how to do it - didn't find any lol.

Then I asked a friend of a friend and fellow OSOr who's done it - he strongly advised me not to do it.

And then I found a local guy who has some experience with boat windshields who is going to tackle it.

Hopefully everything will work out! lol

Just did the measuring and setting up today. Went down roughly 6" on the front middle piece. This height seemed to make the most sense so that when I'm sitting I can see through and standing see over and still leaves a fair amount of windshield to deflect as much air while still not looking like a high top shoe. The angles all change and it take a lot of back and forth to make sure that things are level both ways. The angles on the side braces will need to be redone and the rear where it curves up to meet the top bar will have to be cut as well. Also we will either have to find new top rails or make an extension piece about 6" long. I will be getting new lightly tinted lexan as well.

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I'll post as many pics of the process as I can.

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cant wait to see this!

looks nice . Are you going to be able to re use the front part of the glass.

Thanks Bruce. I likely could but I've been told that you can get sheets of lexan at a reasonable price. Since he's going to be cutting it anyways I figure its worth a little bit more cost to get fresh lexan, going to go with a little bit of tint too.

looks better already! when is she heading to Mitcher T?

dropped her off yesterday, I'll post up a final rendering soon, pretty damn excited

Were you directly involved with cutting the frame and lexan down? If so, share the gory details!

Mine needs to be painted - if I'm going to disassemble for paint, might as well cut it down. But I've heard horror stories of reassembling the windshield - I guess its a major pain in the a$$??

Finally started re-installing it back on the boat last night.

It definitely is not an easy job to get the curved piece back in the frame, lots of elbow grease, dish-soap, and swearing. But we got it in eventually and the other side will go smoother after doing it once.

The bad news - we cut the lexan for the side pieces to short - doh! have to laugh at it its so stupid lol. Now I have to drive 3 hours to get another 4x8 sheet. The lexan is super easy to work with and cuts with a jig saw no problem. It also doesn't matter if the cuts are straight or exact - once its in the frame you can't tell what the edge looks like and there is a good 1-1.5" of frame.

I am lucky that I know a guy who has some experience with windshields. The tricky part is in mocking it all up and getting the angles right and cutting everything right. If you move one piece up a quarter inch it can throw the whole thing off, it has to be level and straight on two different axises and there are like 5 pivot points.

I'm not done yet but seeing it with the frame black and cut down back on I feel like it will be worth all the headaches in the end.

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That looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

looking good! You must be itchin to get the beast on the water :boat:

Looks great. What are the wheels on the trailer? They are sexy as well.

Looks nice!

I'm about a day or two from committing to a date to get mine done. We're heading to FL in mid-July, so that is likely the timing.

Looks fantastic, congrats!

Nice work

I would normally be itching but that expression doesn't quite do it justice - I literally can't stop thinking about it

Thanks everyone for the positivity!

4bus - those are just stock hub caps lol

Really? My stock myco wheels are starting to look a little dull. Do you know where I could get hub caps like these?

No but I need some for another trailer, if I find them I'll let you know

Looks good!

How did you make the bend on the lexan and what thickness did you use?

.177" polycarbonate

It's super flexible, really easy to bend and doesn't crease.

Templated it with vapor barrier plastic , some masking tape and a sharpie

Hey Lally221 - Did you extend the top rail or get new? Do you know who makes the Fountain windshields? Thanks!

I extended the top rails. Had a local guy who works with aluminum do it, turned out ok, ended up breaking one at the weld installing it and had to re-do it but they've been fine now.

not sure who makes the windshield

[QUOTE=MN25CITATION;4408619]Hey Lally221

When I did mine I used Lexan. .177 bends easily. Turned out pretty good. Cut with a fine tool jigsaw.

Were you able to use scraps from the old rails or did he have something to match? This is my next project on my 42

He had to make them out of a hunk of aluminum, not exactly diy

Thanks for the info guys. I have a really good specialty welding shop close to me so I'm confident they make a one time weld. Hopefully I can source some matching rail material from Fountain or Taylor.

Let me know I have some top rail left over from when I did mine. I'm sure we could work something out.

I found someone (on OSO) that had some spare frame.

Maybe a stupid question - does the gunwale grab handle that ties into the w/s frame change any when you cut everything down?

Yes - at least mine did. They have to be cut and rewelded - just about in the middle. I painted windshield frame, all grab handles, seat bolster frames, and cupholders same color to tie it all together. Now the dash looks odd, with red accents - that will be a future project.
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Lally221 Can I get shop information? I need my windshield chopped.