In a racing situation, weight is just as important as engine power in getting to the finish line first. A 6000-pound brick won’t run 9s even with an 800-horse big-block. But put that engine in a 2600-pound featherweight and watch the Chrondeks blaze. Taking weight out of a car is not an easy deal, however. The first 200 pounds is a cinch—throw away the interior and every part that doesn’t contribute to speed—but after that it’s an ounce here and an ounce there that separates the real efforts from the wannabes. Want to know an easy way to remove another 100 pounds or so without completely killing the car’s streetability? Replace all that heavy glass with Lexan®.
Lexan windows not only cut a considerable amount off the scale reading, but they have exceptionally high impact strength so they won’t shatter like glass. And they can look race-car trick or stock, depending on how you go about the installation. We followed along as the pros at 4 Wheel Racing Enterprises in North Hills, California, installed a Harwood Lexan kit into a Pro Street ’67 Camaro. The kit features Harwood’s MR-5000 Mar-guard coating, which offers greater scratch resistance than standard Lexan, is UV-light protected and is fuel and chemical resistant. Harwood offers both stock and flush kits. Stock window kits are sized to match the stock windows, and flush kits are oversize and have to be mounted to the outside of the window frames. We used the stock kit, which retains the car’s chrome window trim.
Pro Glass also markets Lexan windows. The company is unique in that it can mold Lexan to fit any complex glass curves, such as in a ’55-’57 Chevy windshield or a ’93 Camaro back window. Pro Glass can also make door windows with stock curvatures so that the window regulators can be re-installed and the windows can roll up and down. This is the same company that makes fully enclosed canopies for dragsters (remember Garlits’ Swamp Rat 30?) and drag boats.
Fixed windows aren’t exactly the hot ticket for a daily driver (door windows that don’t roll down will become a real pain after two or three trips to the drive-thru), but they definitely give the car a quarter-mile attitude and shaved a hefty 85 pounds off of the Camaro we used for this article. The price for this top-of-the-line Harwood kit is $461 ($288 without the Mar-guard coating), which isn’t bad if your thoughts are consumed with losing weight.
