Does anyone have hatch cover DXFs (laser files) for E30+ 1984 hatch acrylic?

[light24bulbs]

Welp, my hatches are crazed. Not a serious problem but it's going to bug the perfectionism in me.

I've spent enough time using laser cutters to know just how cheap and easy it is to cut a replacement piece of acrylic. As in, $20.

I'll do the DXFs myself if needed, it's easy for me with a tape measure and AutoDesk Fusion 360, but I thought I would ask if anyone already has the files sitting in their Google drive.

I recall Christian Williams mentioned the part number of the nicely grey tinted acrylic sheet in one of his videos. I'll have to find it again and write it down this time. It's not expensive.

"...if it costs way more and takes way longer than I expect, I just won't tell anyone" - Williams

 

[Christian Williams]

Acrylic color code was gray 2064. More here.

I just take the old lenses to a local plastic shop and say "copy these."

They may have stock scrap in your dimension, color and so on, which saves price of 4x8 sheet. They're good at copying, and mistakes are on them.

 

[light24bulbs]

Acrylic color code was gray 2064. More here.

I just take the old lenses to a local plastic shop and say "copy these."

They may have stock scrap in your dimension, color and so on, which saves price of 4x8 sheet. They're good at copying, and mistakes are on them.

Great and thank you for the material name! I can buy it in the appropriate sizes quite inexpensively.

I have a good amount of laser experience and I like to save money, which is why I'm trying to get a little more hands on with this repair. Might as well use the skills I have.

Sounds like plastic expert Craig has the DXFs

 

[Tin Kicker]

I found it easy to simply trace, cut, sand the edges, then drill for the hole positions. The only trick was to FIRST make an initial tracing of the hole positions before taking the old plastic out of the frame. The reason is that the new lenses can seat in the frame slightly off from where the old ones were because you want space for the sealant. This means pre-installed holes can be slightly off in relation to the catches once re-installed.

In the photo below the lens was held to the frame with butyl tape, I'd just used the initial tracing to make the new holes, and was about to open the holes to the right diameter, then use DOW 795 sealant around the edges.

 

[light24bulbs]

I found it easy to simply trace, cut, sand the edges, then drill for the hole positions. The only trick was to FIRST make an initial tracing of the hole positions before taking the old plastic out of the frame. The reason is that the new lenses can seat in the frame slightly off from where the old ones were because you want space for the sealant. This means pre-installed holes can be slightly off in relation to the catches once re-installed.

In the photo below the lens was held to the frame with butyl tape, I'd just used the initial tracing to make the new holes, and was about to open the holes to the right diameter, then use DOW 795 sealant around the edges.

Got it.

Yeah, I suppose there is always ye olde jig saw.

I just have a LOT of experience with lasers (in addition to the jig saw) and it's such a clean solution, you know? Acrylic also seems to like to crack sometimes during shaping and drilling compared to something like lexan (polycarbonate), while simultaneously being probably the easiest material to laser cut.

If nobody comes forward with DXFs and I make my own, I'll post them here. Those could be sent to any laser shop who will remotely make and send you the parts, probably fairly inexpensively. We could get an on-demand supply of these things going easily if we just share the files.

 

[jjacobs37]

Got it.

Yeah, I suppose there is always ye olde jig saw.

I just have a LOT of experience with lasers (in addition to the jig saw) and it's such a clean solution, you know? Acrylic also seems to like to crack sometimes during shaping and drilling compared to something like lexan (polycarbonate), while simultaneously being probably the easiest material to laser cut.

If nobody comes forward with DXFs and I make my own, I'll post them here. Those could be sent to any laser shop who will remotely make and send you the parts, probably fairly inexpensively. We could get an on-demand supply of these things going easily if we just share the files.

Hi. I have a 1981 30+ with the original hatches, also very crazed. Did you ever finish this project and, if so, can you please share the DXFs or other info that I could share with the shop other than bringing in the hatch itself? Many thanks, Jon

 

[light24bulbs]

Hi. I have a 1981 30+ with the original hatches, also very crazed. Did you ever finish this project and, if so, can you please share the DXFs or other info that I could share with the shop other than bringing in the hatch itself? Many thanks, Jon

I'm afraid I haven't made any progress on it and so I haven't drawn DXFs. I'm trying to prioritize projects and there are still a couple of others in front. That said, I think it would be pretty easy to draw DXFs with a tape measure and calipers, so if any of us does we should certainly share them here. Likewise, if anyone takes their old lenses to a shop, this is exactly what the shop will do, and so that person could simply ask the shop to email them the files and then they could post them here, helping all of us! If anyone has had a laser house already do theirs, it's pretty likely they still have the files on hand and would be willing to share.