Why is the hatch so heavy?

[ggehrke at gmail.com (GGehrke)]

>    speaking from a mk2 standpoint, it's all glass. i successfully
> removed the glass from an extra hatch i had (the metal was rotting
> away). without the glass, i was able to swing the metal around quite
> easily (the spoiler had already been removed). when i picked up the
> glass to move it, it might have well still been mounted. i would compare
> the metal of the hatch to about the weight of a fender. i've wondered
> about the lexan bit as well, but there is definitely the bending issue
> on the mk2. and glass is more scratch resistant. would be interesting to
> see it done, however.

Yea, I've always heard lexan is only for race cars because of the
scratching and pitting, but I figure on a rear window it would
probably be perfectly acceptable.  You'd lose the defrost lines, I
guess, but mine don't work anyways.  Now that's got me wondering,
though, if you can buy a universal stick on heater element
somewhere...  hmmm..

-Grant-