Comments on: March Hare Back Yard Find! http://www.priceofhistoys.com/2008/10/13/march-hare-back-yard-find/ Kit car and homebuilt vehicle blog Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:58:24 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: ts http://www.priceofhistoys.com/2008/10/13/march-hare-back-yard-find/comment-page-1/#comment-19842 ts Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:27:41 +0000 http://www.priceofhistoys.com/?p=1779#comment-19842 PS It might also be possible to find a windshield in a junkyard with the right curvature or one that's close, pull it and cut it to size with a diamond wheel. Still a lot of work though and very tricky work at that, I would probably break one or more windshields before getting it right. PS
It might also be possible to find a windshield in a junkyard with the right curvature or one that’s close, pull it and cut it to size with a diamond wheel. Still a lot of work though and very tricky work at that, I would probably break one or more windshields before getting it right.

]]> By: ts http://www.priceofhistoys.com/2008/10/13/march-hare-back-yard-find/comment-page-1/#comment-19840 ts Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:21:43 +0000 http://www.priceofhistoys.com/?p=1779#comment-19840 With some modification to the windshield frame a flat piece of laminated safety glass cut to the right dimensions could be fitted. It's not like the kit isn't going to require several gallons of resin and a whole roll of glass mat to get it on the road anyway. But for all that work it would be almost as easy to make another, better looking car from scratch. I like the concept of a kit based on a shortened Beetle pan, it would be a perfect candidate for a downsized or high milage VW engine installation, possibly even a cut down 2 cylinder ACVW. With some modification to the windshield frame a flat piece of laminated safety glass cut to the right dimensions could be fitted. It’s not like the kit isn’t going to require several gallons of resin and a whole roll of glass mat to get it on the road anyway. But for all that work it would be almost as easy to make another, better looking car from scratch. I like the concept of a kit based on a shortened Beetle pan, it would be a perfect candidate for a downsized or high milage VW engine installation, possibly even a cut down 2 cylinder ACVW.

]]> By: Tom Alvary http://www.priceofhistoys.com/2008/10/13/march-hare-back-yard-find/comment-page-1/#comment-15602 Tom Alvary Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:15:10 +0000 http://www.priceofhistoys.com/?p=1779#comment-15602 This car is very cool. Its a great candidate for electric conversion because its so small. The real problem with the March Hare is that it doesn't use a DOT approved windshield. The rear glass from whatever car (Vega, Mustang?) that fits there is not a laminated windshield, and would shatter catastrophically if a stone hit it. That could easily blind you (think of having a million shards of glass blown into you at 60mph) and just can't be used safely. That's why you are required to have a laminated windshield (with an inner plastic sheet that holds the glass together) to meet DOT safety regulations. This car is simply unregisterable in any state that pays attention to kit car registrations. I'm presuming the manufacturer offered a proper windshield with the car when it was new. If so, that no doubt made the kit very expensive. If not, the project was doomed from the start, and accounts for the very low production numbers. Its too bad, really. The car certainly is neat. If you could get away with registering it without a DOT windshield, you could use a 3/16 Lexan windscreen, but that would probably have to be oven-molded to shape, and even then it will probably need to be braced in the middle, because the Lexan is so flexible. This car is very cool. Its a great candidate for electric conversion because its so small.

The real problem with the March Hare is that it doesn’t use a DOT approved windshield. The rear glass from whatever car (Vega, Mustang?) that fits there is not a laminated windshield, and would shatter catastrophically if a stone hit it. That could easily blind you (think of having a million shards of glass blown into you at 60mph) and just can’t be used safely. That’s why you are required to have a laminated windshield (with an inner plastic sheet that holds the glass

together) to meet DOT safety regulations. This car is simply unregisterable in any state that pays attention to kit car registrations. I’m presuming the manufacturer offered a proper windshield with the car when it was new. If so, that no doubt made the kit very expensive. If not, the project was doomed from the start, and accounts for the very low production numbers.

Its too bad, really. The car certainly is neat. If you could get away with registering it without a DOT windshield, you could use a 3/16 Lexan windscreen, but that would probably have to be oven-molded to shape, and even then it will probably need to be braced in the middle, because the Lexan is so flexible.

]]> By: Shannon Larratt http://www.priceofhistoys.com/2008/10/13/march-hare-back-yard-find/comment-page-1/#comment-14991 Shannon Larratt Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:00:17 +0000 http://www.priceofhistoys.com/?p=1779#comment-14991 test test

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