upshift

When polishing my car last weekend I took the Porter Cable and some Griots # 3 polish and cleaned up the rear cab window - Unbelievable, from cloudy to clear. I was really nervous at first but my window is so bad (95k miles!) that I had to try something and it worked. I am way over due for a new top but this will let me milk the old top for a little while longer.

nile13

Did you do inside or outside, or both?
Any pointers?

upshift

I just did the outside. I could barely see inside my car before and then it looked great after polishing. I could definitely go back and do some more and do the inside too but I was pretty excited from the transformation, and tired from polishing, so I quit cleaning and took her for a drive. I wish I had before-and-after pictures but it would probably be hard to convey anyway.

No real pointers, but the car was clean to start with. I used the same pad I polished the car with and added a little polish (a lot less than I would use on the car so it wouldn’t make a mess), set the pad on the window and turned her on. I did a little corner first to see if I was really screwed, but after wiping off the corner and seeing the change, just went on and did the whole thing.
I had nothing to lose as my top is pretty bad but you might want to tape around the edges where the top meets the window.


Jef

nile13

My top is bad and the window is completely non-translucent. A few polishes I've tried did not do the trick, but that was by hand. I have a cheap orbital polisher, I half-heartedly tried it on the window... not much luck. Hmmm...

Father of 3

Is this your original top/window and if so, how many miles were you able to put on it to the point where it got non-translucent?

nile13

Hard to answer, as I bought the car 11 months ago with 112K miles on it and the window was completely opaque at that time. At 127K miles it is... still opaque
Yes, the roof is original, car was sold in April of 1994. The roof has more problems at this point than just opaque window.

djantlive

Try some plastic window polish sold at auto supply store. Many have had good results.

Marc in AK

Before and after photos would be nice....good tip. AK

swmic

I tried removing the scratches in my cab window with 3M swirl remover and a polisher with a foam pad. I was also very surprised with the results. It wasn't too bad to begin with but cleaned it up like new. I'll repeat the process this spring when I go after the swirl marks once again.

Shawn

fbfisher

Upshift, I have a guy in Reseda who does tops ~$1,000 installed. Does work for all of the independants. Mine turned out great! He does interiors too. When you are ready I can pass along the info.

nile13

Ah, shoot, have I known that, I'd change the top when I bought the car in Cali...
Here in Boston the prices seem to be in $1700+ range so far. I'm seriously thinking of buying a whole used roof with motors and frame and putting it in myself. They seem to go in $2000 range. BTW, if anyone knows of one, please let me know.

24FPS

i can vouch fer fred's top... damn nice job. fact is i like it better than the original (correct me if i'm wrong fred) the rear window is dbl. sewn in & not fused. btw nile @ that price you could afford to freight the car back to l.a. & drive back home.

re: scratched rear windows... i've had a lot of luck w/ meguires... but hell i'll see if the griot's no.3 works better... i've used their 'speedshine' to keep mine conditioned, seems to hide the tiny scratches. & i'd def. tape the top so you can go to the edge ! -thx for the tip upshift

upshift

I just used Griot’s because that is what I was polishing the car with. I’d bet most fine polishes/swirl removers would work.

Fred,
Thanks for the tip - $1000 is a great price, now I just need the time to bring it down there. Which material did you go with and any idea on how much time they take to install?

I’ve been putting off getting a new top for so long it’s starting to get kind of fun seeing how long it will last, although it is beginning to look sort of like a pirate’s flag.

Jef

nile13

Do you remember which number you used?
I have #18 detailer - no luck. I also have some BMW cab window cleaner. Or should I just take the regular abrasive polisher in a tin can and go at it?

JPS

I also used I think Meguire's #10 to start with the PC. However, my top is in pretty good shape. I did mask it off, but it is still a PITA to get the stuff off the top. I've now been masking the window and using a toothbrush to scrub the little bit of the top I got the gunk on.

Ack.