When I first bought this car, the plastic rear window really let the car down because it was all milky and horrible. It didn’t bother me that much because I drove it with the top down in all but the most brutally hot days. That said, I recently decided to do something about it since I am slowly getting everything on the car in order … my kind of order.
This is what the window looked like before. It was all milky and had a lot of buildup on the fold lines:
To address this, I tackled it with an inexpensive headlight restore kit that I got from Harbor Freight. I used the included polishing compound and rotary sponge and went at it with a variable speed drill on very low speed. I could only do the outside with this method because the interior is impossible to get to with anything buy your hands. I had to use a microfiber towel on the inside and a lot of elbow grease, being careful to not put too much pressure on the plastic. I wasn’t sure how brittle it might be. After a while, it became pretty darn clear. I then went through the process again using Meguiars PlastiX to give it a nice smooth finish and clear things up even more. This product also conditions the plastic a bit.
The results are below. The milky-ish horizontal section above the melon protectors is more of a reflection from the flash on my camera. It is still faintly milky on fold lines but tons better than it was.
My next project on this top is to go over it with Surf City Garage Top End Convertible Top Cleaner and Protectant. There are no rips or tears in the top so I am hoping this buys me a few more years out of this seventeen year old top. Of course, the replacement top will have a glass rear window instead.
Result and job done!
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