>What is the recommended procedure for cleaning up the plastic rear window of
>a convertible top? Over time, mine has been getting scratched, and slightly
>hazy from microscratches. Concourse cars have windows as pure as the newly-
>fallen snow, which suggests to me that their owners either they install a new
>top for every car show or have some magic trick ingredient for polishing their
>windows and putting green stripes on the edges of their CD's. Oh, this isn't
>rec.audio? Sorry, make that just polishing their windows.
There are three classical stages: protecting, maintaining, and restoring
the clarity of a convertible window. As with everything else, protecting
is best, maintaining comes next, and restoring is decidedly third.
To protect the convertible top, keep a clean towel (the most useful
item in the universe, of course) in your car. When you fold the top
(and you DO fold it in the correct way as described in the Owner's
Manual, yes? If you don't, you shorten the life of the top as well
as the window), put the towel against the window so that when you roll
the top up for stowage, the towel separates the clear plastic from the
vinyl of the top.
Second, if possible, never fold the top when it's dirty or wet. Clean
the top, plus the inside and outside of the window, so that dirt doesn't
remain on the plastic. Dry it carefully with a soft towel and let it
air-dry for a few minutes to make sure there's no film on either surface.
As another general precaution, try not to fold the top when it's cold,
as this can lead to cracking of the plastic. (Yes, this isn't always
practical; there are times when you put the top up *because* it suddenly
got wet and cold and dark. See "towel," above.)
To maintain the top, use a good quality plastic dressing for the vinyl
and clean the clear plastic with the gentlest possible cleaner. I use
Sunlight dishwashing liquid (Cecil Kimber meets Madge the Manicurist)
because a) we always have it in the house and b) it was recommended by
an auto detailing company in an article six or seven years ago in Road
and Track. For vinyl, I don't like Armor-All; I'm not convinced that
it doesn't evaporate out of the plastic surfaces and cause more trouble
than it solves. I've had good results with Black Chrome by Turtle Wax
and another stuff, the name of which escapes me but it's on my dash
right now. Right, it's called Clear Guard, and it's clear. It feels
oily and it spreads a long way, so watch out and try to keep it off
your paint -- spray it onto a rag and carefully wipe the vinyl with
the rag, or it will leave un-rub-outable damp-looking spots on the paint.
I've also found that a soft brush -- softer than a nail brush -- is
good for getting the dirt out of the grains in a vinyl top. For
this, ArmorAll cleaner does a good job, as does Simple Green or its
clone, Breeze. Apply these first, then when clean use the plastic
dressing.
Once the window starts to haze over, though, there are two steps you
can take. The first is to use Meguiar's Plastic Polish. This is very
effective on light hazing of the plastic (such as making it wear its
underwear over its pants -- whoops, wrong kind of hazing) such as you
can expect after the first year or two. Since it is a polish, I don't
suggest using it on a brand-new top, as it is designed to remove the
hazed (oxidized) layer of plastic and can leave fine scratches that
will blur the view (but be better than the haze).
For serious hazing and discoloration, though -- those brown smudges
in the edges, and the state where you can only see bright blurs at
night when the cars behind you have their lights on -- Happich's
Simichrome is the best bet. This is a jewelry polish that is also
good stuff for your SU dashpots and other aluminum surfaces on the
car (like MG windscreen frames and the aluminized steering wheel spokes
on Bs and Midgets of the early Seventies), but it also happens to do
the best job of anything available on the plastic window. You will
be able to get rid of most of the discoloration, but the plastic will
still be "frosted;" it'll be clear but slightly blurry. You can finish
with the Meguiar's (the way you polish metal by starting with a coarse
polish and ending up with jeweler's rouge) to get the best results, but
it'll never be like a new window. (Note that rubbing Simichrome on
your plastic window will make you and your car do a pretty fair
impression of a Van de Graaf generator, so be sure you aren't holding
any expensive microprocessors or computer equipment while polishing
the window, unless you're wearing your ground strap, of course.)
Some places will stitch in a new plastic window if you can find the
right material. No, I don't know of any shops that I can recommend;
I'll probably just replace the whole top, since on my car I've got a
few problems in the black vinyl as well as in the clear (well, trans-
lucent) plastic.
But spend most of your energy protecting, then worry about maintaining,
and try to put off having to restore as long as possible.
--Scott
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