Toyota Celica DIY

IMPORTANT: This is only a guide. This is how I personally installed Lexan glass on my carbon fiber trunk on my 2003 Celica. Please be aware of your state/local laws before installing Lexan glass. I will not be held liable for anything concerning this modification.

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What is needed:

- Carriage bolts (Home Depot)

- nuts for bolts (Home Depot)

- Washers (Home Depot)

- Dremel (Home Depot)

- door/window weather stripping (Home Depot)

- Brown paper (Home Depot)

- Polycarbonate sheet “Lexan” (48” x 48” is sufficient although
they’re usually sold as a 48” x 96” sheet) – purchased from ATLAS GLASS – 407-788-7719, 700 West S.R. 436, Suite 106, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.

- Black vinyl – purchased from Sign-A-Rama, 407-268-3180, 3801 W. Lake Mary Blvd, Suite 111, Lake Mary, FL 32746. site: www.signaramalakemary.com, e-mail: info@signaramalakemary.com.

- Loctite – Blue thread locker (Home Depot)

- Variable Speed jigsaw (Home Depot)

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It may be easier to have the CF trunk already installed before starting…

First thing is first, you’ll need to create a template of the original glass so you’ll need to get a large sheet of brown paper or something flexible and disposable like it to tape over the stock rear glass. You may need to tape the sheets together if it’s not large enough to cover the whole glass. Tape it against the glass so it follows the contours. You can either outline it with a marker then cut it or, what I did, I used a knife and followed the borders of the glass with the paper still on the glass.

After you have the template created, you can now tape the template on the lexan glass. Do not peel off the protective film from the lexan glass yet. Use the jigsaw to cut around the template you made. You can use a “wood” jigsaw blade, but for a nicer finish on the ends, you can use another with smaller/finer ‘teeth’.

Here’s the Lexan sheet with the film on. If it’s good enough for the Rolex24 and other LeMans racers… it’s good enough for everyone else.

Since the carbon fiber trunks do not come with the glass, use the CF trunk to check if the cut Lexan will fit nicely; make sure you bend the Lexan like the stock glass. Trim edges as needed to get a perfect fit.

Door/window weather strippings have adhesive on one side already, so there’s no need for anything additional. You may need to buy two packs. Place the weather stripping having in mind where you will be putting your supports. You will want to put your supports directly on top of the strip, so follow that “line”. Do not put the stripping too close to the edge of the CF because you will not want to put the bolts there because it will crack the CF. Though the weather stripping has proven to be sufficient to hold out the elements, you can also use sealer for better peace of mind.

I’ve made my strip ‘flow down’ by overlapping like so…

Here comes the part where it is very helpful to have an extra pair of hands…

Place the new Lexan fixed on the CF trunk with either tape or vice grips so that the glass does not move as you drill your supports with either a drill or Dremel. Use a drill bit the same diameter as your bolts! I used carriage bolts as my supports because you cannot rivet carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is strong, yet brittle and it will crack as will the Lexan. Use a pattern that will effectively hold down the glass even in the worse case scenario, like going 120mph with the windows down. If won’t look good if you put too many and it won’t support well if you don’t put enough.

This is the pattern I made…

Once you have the holes for your supports on both the CF trunk and Lexan (you can peel off the protective film from Lexan and apply the vinyl or paint), place your bolts and nuts with washers. I’ve cut small rectangular holes on the CF bottom sides so that I can screw the nuts on the bolts (only on the left and right sides). I made the holes here so when the hatch is closed, you can’t see it. Be careful for electrical wiring within the hollow when making these holes.

DO NOT TIGHTEN THEM TOO MUCH!!! The Lexan glass will crack eventually as you drive. Tighten the supports by hand! It just needs to be tight enough so that the weather stripping makes a nice seal between the CF trunk and the Lexan. Use the LOCTITE on the bolt thread so that the vibration won’t loosen the nut. Make sure you get the BLUE and not the RED Loctite in the case that you may need to remove the Lexan, you can still use a wrench to take it out.

It’s all downhill from here. The black vinyl has no other purpose other to cover the weather stripping and any other imperfections. You can spray paint the underside of the Lexan as an alternative. You can also place 2 or 3 light gage steel strips from top to bottom in the middle of the Lexan so that the glass won’t flex. Don’t wash the Lexan with any ‘alcohol based’ products. Make sure you use a soft sponge because you can scratch the glass.

Congratulations! Your Celica is now about 40+ pounds lighter.

Here are some images of what mine looks like…