My Kammback'ed VX

[TomO]

So this past weekend a buddy and I had a chance to try making a Kammback for my 94 VX. I wanted to make it out of Plexiglas so as to not restrict rearward vision.

I'm no expert when it comes to working with Polycarbonate glass, so don't expect a miracle product on the first run, lol.

Here is the profile shot:


Here is the profile from the rear:


Please excuse the Cell phone pictures for now. I haven't had the time to take a proper picture of my work.

A loose how-to:

1. Lay down cardboard and trim to desired shape on the car
2. Transfer cardboard shape over to the piece of plexi
3. Use a straight edge or a guide that follows your trace and score the plexi with a sharp razor knife over and over
4. Lay the groove on the edge of a table and place a square tube or two-by-four on the edge and clamp the two-by-four to the table
5. Gently start to rock the plexi downward in order to get the groove to crack (it helps to have two people for the this part if it's a long piece. You could even take two more two-by-fours and place them on top and bottom close to the groove to assist in breaking the plexi cleanly)
6. Once you've snapped the shape out of the plexi, center and attach the piece to the top of the car
7. I then used two pieces of flat metal stock and clamped them along the area that I wanted to shape to the curve of the car (coming off of the hatch area to behind the car)
8. Use a heat gun (best) or a propane torch (careful to not melt the plexi) to warm up the plexi and soften it
9. Once it is soft, form it to the angle that you desire and temporarily tape it in place
10. Repeat for the other side
11. Use screws or industrial adhesive to attach the plexi along the rear spoiler
12. Attach the sides in a fashion that you see fit. I am using Gaffer's Tape for a temporary time

I am holding the sides tight to the car with Gaffers' tape at the moment as I still need to fab up some nice aluminum brackets that mount the the lift shocks on the hatch glass to hold the sides tight.

The tape is holding amazingly well after already going through rain, both at city street speeds and highway speeds up to 70MPH.

Constructive criticism and comments are welcome. I'm already hearing from my wife and friend's wife that it looks funny and they wouldn't want to ride in the car now, lol.

Thanks

[i_am_socket]

Nice job

You wouldn't want them in the car anyway, all that extra weight...

[SVOboy]

Looks pretty sweeeeeet,

[tasdrouille]

Good job. Keep on modding!

[cfg83]

TomO -

WOW! I really like this one. Practical and pretty. What is the thickness of the Polycarbonate glass?!?!?!?!

CarloSW2

[SuperTrooper]

Very niiiiiice! The plexi gives it a more "stock" look. My only suggestion would be to trim the bottom edge horizontal.

[Tango Charlie]

Very, very nice, TomO.
Why are you the first to use plexi? Everyone should be using this for kammbacks!
It looks like the top follows the same angle as the roof of the car. Would it be better if it tapered down just a bit, keeping within that notorious 15 degrees?

p.s. Your wife is way too picky. It looks AWESOME.

[FunkSkunk]

The tape actually makes it blend in with the rest of the windows on the VX because of the black border it creates. Nice job! Where did you purchase the Plexi? Oh and if you can take an entire car pic when you get a second so we can get the whole effect.

[Daox]

Pretty nice. Let us know how it works out!

[Johnny Mullet]

Good job on that! It actually looks pretty good.