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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - foggy windows

Hello,

Finally getting there with the midget!

Our roof is completely shot (the frame is in good nick but there's no hope for the vinyl).

As we are doing it with a small budget firmly in mind we have know someone (friend of a friend of a friend type thing) who has a vinyl roof and frame for £65. I figured I could get that then sell my frame for a few quid - simples!

The only problem is that the window has gone opaque.

Does anyone know if this can be rememdied? I've had a bit of a snoop around and some websites recommend a renovo product or a mechanic friend has said try brasso. I just don't want to waste my money on something that can't be made workable. I don't mind if it doesn't look perfect just reasonable and functional will do me.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Regards

Claire
Claire Jackson

Buy a new one - the hood will be old and stiff and soon the winows will split - not worth the effort / that amount of cash IMO.

R.
richard boobier

Hello Claire
There are three specific products that I can think of for cleaning the soft top windows.
1, Renovo window polish - I think a 50ml bottle is about £5-£7. To have a look search on web or Ebay.
2, Greygate plastic polish again about £5-£7 per 100ml bottle.
3, This is my own little find, Smart car cabriolet window polish about £8-£10 for a big 250ml bottle. These are available from the Smart car dealership.

You can see all three products by searching on EBay
I myself have items 1 & 3
Previous comments about the window plastic beginning stiff and brittle are valid. You may be able to tell this when feeling the window, but they will obviously be stiffer in the cold weather anyway.

Regards
Dave



dave bignell

Richard's point is valid.
Go for a new one it will hurt the budget but doing it again next year will hurt even more
Onno K

Claire,

I would also agree with Richard, and use your old frame and head rail. If you do this yourself be sure it's a warm day, and even use a hair dryer to help get the right fit. Perhaps "Father Chrismas" will be kind, and bring you a present of one?

Regards,

Larry C.
Larry C '69 Midget

back in the days when I was a penniless student running the same Midget that I have now.. I found that toothpaste was quite effective at polishing up the vinyl windows.
David Cox

lean on the friend of a frined to let you try polishing the vinyl windows before you part with cash. I've used the Greygate polish on an MGF hood and a Midget hood with very good results. If the 'new' hood comes with a frame then swap the whole lot over rather than the hassle and risk of damage in swapping header rails. The new one will be slightly different from the old one so the frame will need adjusting anyway, the 3 mounting bolts behind the B pillars have a lot of adjustment in them.
David Smith

Believe it or not but get some 'BRASSO' the stuff for cleaning brass. I got told by an old boy to use it on a vintage hood I had on a pre war car. The window was not opaque but black it was that bad. Came up like new and is still going strong ten years later.
Ed
Ed H

I've heard that toothpaste works
frogeye Gary

It depends on why it's opaque.

Sometimes the clouding is more than skin deep, and the sun has discoloured the clear plastic all the way through. That's what happened to mine. Otherwise the hood was in great shape.

So I used some very fine wet and dry to remove the surface, then polished it with brasso, and found it made no difference at all. Apart from making it shiny, I still couldn't see through it.

I bought a cheap replacement hood with a clear window from a poster here, and threw the old hood out.

Lawrence Slater

If the plastic is that cloudy then certainly inspect the rest of the hood very carefully as there are likely to be rotted stitching, damaged fasteners or small tears which will quickly worsen if you regularly raise and lower the roof. Check the 3 jaws" inside each tennax fasteners as well.
Personally l think that £65 is a high price for a second hand hood, even with the frame (which are two a penny ) . If the hood has been raised and lowered on a daily use car that could well be many thousands of times and that is what wears these soft tops out. If it has just been left in the raised position for months on end it will have survived better. But l still think its a high price.
It might be worth it if you plan on selling the car soon, but if keeping for more than 18 months, then buy a new hood.
Guy W

check the internet as I'm sure there are a few things you can use to polish the window that you already probably own, MX5 and BMW Z3 had plastic rear windows plus many old British sports and kit cars

the thing is if you get it highly polished it might show up bigger scratches and creases

as others have said the hood itself could be well worn or abused, the frame could also be worn and header rail rusty - or it could be all in quite reasonable shape, you'd have to give it all a good look to tell
Nigel Atkins

I once saw a hood where the rear soft top window had been replaced by a brand new section of clear plastic purchased from a boat yard. However, the installatio while functional wasn't particularly neat!
Guulsfrq

there's a chap advertisers in the mags called summat like Perfect Vision who fits new perspex in soft tops, he's down south of London, near Reigate IIRC
David Smith

This thread was discussed between 09/11/2012 and 11/11/2012

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