I did love those operable wind wings as you call them, but I'm going for appearance and like that clean look without glass. Cost may dictate the final solution. For now, while I'm experimenting, I removed the glass and added rubber glass guides to hide the gaps. Plexiglas may be the solution, time will tell what wins out. I'm not concerned about scratches, it will take years for them to show.
Tom
1)- If you're going for plastic, plexiglas is easy for the home modifier. Add a piece of contoured wood to the window as a mock-up to fill in the missing front piece on stock glass. Cut a piece of plexi a little bigger than what you need and put the stock glass & wood filler in an oven with the plexi on top. At 150 degrees F, the plexi will sag around the stock glass in about 10 minutes. With oven mitts, take the stock glass out with the plexi on top and let it cool- another 5 minutes. Then trim. 150F won't hurt stock glass and it reproduces the stock compound curve perfectly.
2)- use UV-stabilized plexi or your new plastic window will sun-craze in a month or so of driving during daylight hours.
3)- tinting plexi can be done with green 'RIT' dye just like they do sun glasses. Dissolve the powder in hot water and lower the upper edge of the plexi in a tray full for about 1 minute then rinse to produce a tint band. Amount of tint can be increased by repeated dunks & rinses.
4)- polycarbonate is far stronger than plexi but needs around 300F to form it.. Lower heat causes air/moisture bubbles to form which ruins it as a window. Some high priced polycarbonate is silicon-coated (used for fighter plane canopies) but eventually it scratches, too. ALL plastic is softer than glass.
Wow, that's a very good piece of advice.
Working in plexiglass will darn sure be easier than glass and less costly if you make a mistake. I will call on my friend that owns a pizza restaurant, he has ovens large enough to place the glass inside. Scratches are not really a problem for me, the windows are almost always down, and I've only washed the car once since I bought it 42 years ago.
It pays to be on this forum.
Thank you so much,
Tom
Yummy!
🍕🍕🍕 with subtle undertones of oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary and melted plastic.
reminds me of the owner, who will go unnamed, who baked his first powder coated wheel in the kitchen oven while the wife was away. Let’s just say there were unintended results.
😁
Larry
...instructions from a Ferrari newsletter on replicating the wrinkle finish on the valve covers included how to burn toast to mask the smell... 
I am reaching out to custom Auto glass manufactures to get pricing on glass replacement windows. I will keep this thread informed on what I find out. I think glass would be better. Larry
I will admit to heat setting the high temp paint on the brake drums in the kitchen oven and absolutely stinking the house out.
Wife was highly suspicious when she came home and every door and window was open .....! Only a faint wisp of baked paint and grease remained....!
Have yet to attempt Plexiglass!!
As a do it yourselfer our oven has also taken a few unintended hits, the last of which resulted in a new oven. So these home projects can get costly, but the stories are always funny at a later point.
Glass would be my preference, and if anybody has a source, please count me in. I just put the large panels back in the door for safe storage. This reminded me that the glass panels don't recess 100% into the door. Is that typical, and is there an adjustment possible?
Tom
Yes there is…. It requires “fettling” and minor grinding in a few judicious spots.
I recall seeing a few posts (or older articles in Newsletters) about it.
I’ll see if I can turn anything up.
Rocky
The article Rocky refers to was written by Bill Taylor and is hosted at www.panteraplace
http://www.panteraplace.com/page188.htm
Larry
I have noticed that by disconnecting the window from the lifting arm the window drops another +/- 1/2" before being stopped by making contact with the interior of the door skin. This is perfect, as the space is definitely available for a fix to lower the window nicely into the door. The total rotating movement needs to increase for a longer window travel. I'm going to have to analyze the geometry of it all to determine which of the fixes mentioned above will work best, or if there is another idea waiting to be discovered. Probably not.
Tom
Wonder if you can make a prototype out some relatively cheap material. Wouldn't have to be clear. Maybe fiberglass and cardboard?
yes, I plan to build a sample window out of a material that has the glass thickness and is bendable. It will have to wait until winter, good riving weather is coming soon in Virginia.
The Vader window lift system allows full glass retraction with no rework of Ted's mechanism. But it's so close I had to scrape off the undercoating in one spot inside the right door to fit. Left side was OK as shipped. It's also 6-1/2 lbs/door lighter, 3-5X faster and has been in our car for 20 years trouble free. It uses stock wiring & switches. Best bucks I ever spent.
do you have a link for Vader?
Thank you,
Tom
