The Judge

[BusyKiwi]

Is the owner of The Judge a member here ? if so any chances I could get some photos of how the windscreen was dropped down, or anyone with photos of the bottom of the windscreen section please.

I want to get my custom van finished but being a broke ass I can't part with 4 grand for a new windscreen so am thinking about using standard screen and dropping it down, but don't want a tilt front.
I notice The Judge has suicide half doors and am wondering if it was partly because of the screen going into the hinge area?

[obsession]

James (mystic fantasy) owned the judge for a time and has plenty photos off how it was done ill shoot him a txt on f/b

[Zeeman]

Doesn't look as good , in my opinion.. also quite a bit of panel work would be involved.

Couldn't you cut down a standard screen? What are the glass standards in NZ?

When I looked at chopping my LWB, the quotes for a screen were quite a bit less than that.. (around $1500)

[obsession]

could improve it with a dotted black out along the bottom of the screen.

[vanner065]

Hi guys,

When i bought the Judge i was very curious as to how the screen was lowered because i was thinking of putting it back to standard. It was a very shitty job that was done.  The full screen is obviously still used so the fire wall was cut and about 4 to 5 inches taken out, the roof of coarse was cut to where it was to be lowered and that whole section welded back into place. If done correctly it would be rather simple to do but would be a must to get it engineered. The gull wing part of the doors are cut down to size, better thought could of gone into how that was finished off though. The biggest problem you will have with registration is the window opening. You can only do sliding windows if the door is chopped and it will only give you 6 or so inches of opening. Using full length gull wing you could still use a wind down but probably only have half the opening. But if it is looks you are after it is a real talking point.
The current owner as far as i know does not have a computer so he is not on here.   Hope this helps

cheers

James

ps... I would like to buy it back

[BusyKiwi]

Cheers all,

Zeeman, most screens are only toughened glass which can't be cut, maybe thats only in NZ (the toughened glass), you can buy laminated screens for about $300 NZ but as it would be cut down at your own risk and most places say would need at least 2 screens ... I've heard of one guy getting it on the 4th one.
I found a guy who 'shaves' the screens instead of cutting them but again 50/50 chance it wont crack and he was cheapest at about 3 grand (plus the screen/s)

I'm thinking of doing it similar to this but make it still look like a rubber is around the bottom, biggest problem would be the wipers, if they were hidden then they would wipe over the fake rubber, if the fake part was on the bonnet/guard  section would probably look rude from the side.
But biggest issue I can see is getting the screen in and out.

I wont be gull winging the front doors, we did that to the old Thames vans many moons ago and have learnt my lesson lol

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hi Busy, is there a reason why you can not go with a laminate or polycarbonate windows, they would be almost bullet proof, you could get almost any shape and size, but i am guessing there is a reason why we dont use them in cars, maybe someone here has the answer.

george.

[Rogue Trooper]

No way could you use polycarbonate. In an accident it would break into shards and impale the occupants.

[ben]

i have cut toughened glass and laminated glass.

i taped it up with masking tape full both sides to minimize vibration. then used a glass cutting bit in a jigsaw. give it a shot busy. dont know how it would go on a front windscreen.. use a wrecked one first lol.

also dont use new screens you can pickup great second hand laminated screens for 50 bucks here in aus..

ben

[Zeeman]

At that price, you'd be better off doing it yourself. 3 grand is ridiculous.
They're only asking that cause it's a prick of a job, and the risk of failure is extremely high.

I was quoted under $1000 to do mine 4 inches. Plus the screen/s, it may take 2 or three before success is achieved.

I think you'll find that most, if not all Bedford screens are laminated glass. These can be cut, either by sandblasting, or with a glass cutter.
Here's an article about it from Tex Smith's book 'How to Chop Tops'.