TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rear Corner Plexiglas windows on Barndoor-23's

Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:21 pm

A few questions for the OG Barndoor sages . .
1- Is the Plexiglas insignia burned into the inside or outside of the window?
http://www.barndoor.dk/ pic shows pass. side rear corner window only
2- Is the insignia in the upper left corner on both corner window? (making them interchangable from side to side)
3- Is anyone repro'ing the plexi corners w/the correct insignia stamping?
Thanks !

Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:49 pm

Burned on the outside.

Left and right hand are interchangeable.

Yes, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the best repops that exist.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:49 pm

They are real easy to make just get some plexy and heat it with a propane torch and bend.
My freind made one for his 23 and it only took less than a hour from tracing to install,I think he bent it around a log.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:08 pm

Was that log made out of Limba, Jim?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:03 pm

NAES wrote: Burned on the outside.

Left and right hand are interchangeable.

Yes, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the best repops that exist.

Now "burned on" I'm guessing you would be meaning recessed into the window, correct? I am almost positive that they are RAISED up on the outside of the window.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:57 pm

I think they are etched on the outside.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:14 am

campingbox wrote: I think they are etched on the outside.

I could be wrong but I still say RAISED on the outside.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:03 am

They are raised on the outside, because the logo appears to have been 'branded' into the perspex, sorry Plexiglas
Mark L has some great repro's

Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:32 am

i imagine there is sme "raising" but like simon said, they are "branded" into the plexi, i mean perspex

Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:55 am

So are the OG ones made of glass or perspex?

Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:25 am

barndoor corner windows are plexi, later buses are glass.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:23 pm

Dang, I didn't even know Plexiglass was that old.
I always thought that it originated in the '80's

Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:31 pm

i don't know for sure but i think it's military technology from WW2 brought to the general public

Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:52 pm

UZI wrote: i don't know for sure but i think it's military technology from WW2 brought to the general public

Your right, look at the canopies on planes like a P-51 Mustang.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:04 pm

Wow, so that was some cutting edge shit when it came out on Barndoors, huh?

Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:10 pm

UZI wrote: barndoor corner windows are plexi, later buses are glass.

Actually, I think that they may very well have continued on into some of the early post Barndoor Wolfsburg Deluxes. I had a 1956 23 many years ago that had a pair of Plexiglas corner windows on it although I'm not positive that it should have.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:18 pm

In Mr Eccles spec book it says it changed from plastic to glass while the buses were still barndoors, chassis 117--- or something like that, the day after mine was made, i dont have the book with me but it was sometime in mid February
Need Lind to confirm with his 'factory changes' book, my bus has one glass, one plexi, the glass was large logo sekurit. Obviously not OG

Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:24 pm

tonny's www.barndoor.dk says
'All De-Luxe busses had "Plexiglas" rear corner windows until
ch. number 20-116 471'

logo is always on top left of perspex, whether LH or RH piece
gerson lists repros too, i believe ($300)

Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:44 pm

The "Plexiglas" logo is branded into the outside of the window. The material is displaced a bit so it feels like it is raised.

Plexiglas is the tradename, but the material is acrylic. It was invented by a German pharmacist by the name of Otto Rohm in the early 1930's. "Lucite" is the tradename for acrylic material made by Dupont. The acrylic materials Lucite and Plexiglas are about 8 times more clear than glass. Lexan is a polycarbonate often mistaken for Plexiglas, but it is much softer, and lacks the clarity of Plexiglas, although it is clearer than glass too.

Plexiglas is a thermoplastic elastomer which means that it can be formed by heating it. The logo imprint in the reproductions that Mark L. sold were made by using a wood burning type of branding iron made in the mirror image of the logo. It is difficult to get a nice impression on the curved surface. You will notice on original BD windows that the logo is often incomplete, missing the "as" or part of the "l". Mark worked-out a nice technique to get a complete impression that looks better than most originals.

Plexiglas windows were used widely on 50's cars as the cost of the material was down after WWII. Here is a link that shows the Porsche window. Notice in this reproduction the "Plexiglas" logo is distorted and hazy...it doesn't look like the original stamp.

http://community-2.webtv.net/porschebill/doc/

Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:02 pm

Check out the interesting items near the mobil sign at the bottom of that page:
http://community-2.webtv.net/porschebill/doc/