I did mine with perspex 15 years ago and all ok so far, no distortion or clouding at all. :-)
Looks nice... But by the looks of the main photo you haven't got a filter in? How much of the filter can you see if and when it's in place? Does it look as cool?
You could run a remote filter or 2 just like the Countach, then the airbox will be lovely and clear. All the best Bell
As an alternate you could use laminated glass (as safety glass in windows) and have it cut to shape, drilled and edges polished. I first thought about using tempered glass, but with a sharp impact this could shatter and I'd hate to see the internal damage that pieces of glass sucked down the throats of the Webers would cause.
Re plastic: Acrylic is the name for "plexiglass"; "lexan" is polycarbonate plastic, also used in "shatterproof" lenses (glasses) and bulletproofing stuff. Much tougher but both respond to enough heat. BTW "ABS"- commonly used in plumbing piping (black) is AcrylicButylStyrene. ABS is also used in lots of stuff like switch housings, often found in electronics, car switches and so on. Such as on my 328. Easily repaired with ABS cement, found in hardware/plumbing stores. Acrylic cement also common, it's generally sold as a liquid. Both plexiglass and lexan can be heated (carefully) and molded, or vacuum or positive pressure molded using a frame rather than a mold. I did this years ago to make substitute headlight lenses for my then- Jaguar E-Type aster someone stole the original ones (glass). They were eventually replaced. Hope this helps. Cheers, Rich
Here's a really bad pic of my Countach engine...Webbers under perspex.... No problems at all ;-) Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just got a PM today saying that these are available. A bit expensive at $500 IMHO, but I went ahead and bit the bullet anyway. This lets me keep my original top if I ever decide I want to get the original look again. #10688 just got a nice birthday present! I'll post pics when I get it.
My only concern would be clearance to the carb throats. The stock lid had a raised area to allow air to make that turn into the throats. This appears to be flat, losing that 1/2" or so of clearance. Does not sound like much but I know from my experience on big and small block Chevy's that it can make a lot of difference. If it followed the stock contours of the lid, I would be interested.
This appears to have a domed center section similar to the OEM top. I did something similar to this years ago using a flat piece of plexiglass which I thought looked pretty good. It didn't seem to be a problem with air flow or capacity and the car ran just as good as with the OEM top. This looks a little more professional but for the price I don't think I would do this. I don't know what type of molding process but I imagine that is where the cost is.
mine just arrived product looks great )packaged well and quick shipping) Ill post some pics after I install it.....
I know everyone's talking about the aesthetic attributes, but I'm more sold on the stat from their sales Web site that the bubble dome affords 20% more air volume over stock.