soft top rear window

Hi all,

After having zero luck polishing the rear window on my TF, I had an unexpected call from the local scrappy telling me had just had a TF brought in and asked if I needed anything before it went to the crusher... Most of the bells and whistles had already been taken, but I did manage to get a pristine fuel filler cap for a fiver, and very unexpectedly a rear window that was actually transparent for £10!

Whilst in the process of polishing the new one, I noticed the very beginning of a couple of cracks on the right hand side, right about where it would fold.

I bought some intex vinyl repair patches, but would it be worth stop drilling the ends of the cracks before they propogate too far? and if so, would clear silicon be the best option for filling the crack/hole?

Cheers

Andy

I have not known any satisfactory repair for a cracked plastic rear window, cracking is due to the ageing of the vinyl from uv light. the only answer is a new one unfortunately. owners dont regularly apply good quality wax to the plastic to keep it supple . I use Autoglym Super Resin Polish wipe copious amounts on both sides and leave for a while before polishing off. I also fold my ''supple'' rear widow around rolled up towels ,about 4 inches in diameter. you are supposed to zip out the window before dropping the hood. or fit a glass one

Before I fitted a glass window I had a length of foam water pipe insulation I covered in towelling and tucked the edges of the towelling into the handy slit provided in the insulation that worked well.

I was using Renovo on my window with so-so results. I read about some people using 'Greygate' on this site so I decided to give it a try. Wow. What a huge difference. I strongly recommend this if you have not tried it already.

In regard to the cracks, I don't think there is much you can do. It was almost free, so just use it as long as you can. To prevent further splitting you can either: (i) unzip the rear window instead of folding it when you put the top down; (ii) if you choose to fold the rear window, use a (cut) foam noodle at the folding point so that the rear window is not folded too much (i.e. rounded) - this should also slow the cracking.