I have a '96 Miata with a tan top that is really in excellent condition, but the plastic rear window is getting yellow and cloudy and now it has a small tear in it.
Could I replace the plastic window with one of the newer glass windows without replacing the entire top?
Yes, several vendors offer replacement rear curtains with glass windows. But they're not much cheaper than an entire new top, the installation labor is more (since the top has to be completely removed and a new zipper sewn in), and you'd still have to unzip to raise and lower the top. For a little (~$150) more, you can buy a new no-zip top with a glass window:
"my_two_cent" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j8g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
Yes, but should you? I called Mike's Place:
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and asked about getting my rear window repaired. My top is fairly new (around a year old or so) and almost immediately began tearing the inner fabric right where the zipper for the zippered glass window begins and ends. Mike says this isn't abnormal, the glass window is too heavy for the material and some of them will do as mine has done. His recommendation is to keep the plastic window.
Several here have reported success with cleaning the rear window with various plastic cleaners, check Miata.net for more information on that.
But, FWIW, I plan to keep my glass window and get it repaired if possible. When I replace the top it will be the kind that can be folded w/o unzipping the window.
Meguiar's makes excellent products for cleaning the back window. Some of our local club members even use a dual action Porter Cable to do a thorough job of cleaning and polishing the vinyl.
Meguiar's has a one-step product called PlastX or you can use the two-step Mirror Glaze Clear Plastic Cleaner and Clear Plastic Polish.
I had a Brainstorm glass window for five years on my 96, top up and down on average at least once a day for five years and it was fine. At that time I replaced my top with a 99 one since I was fed up of zipping. The B used the OEM zipper in the top with a matching zipper in the window piece.
The quick and easy way is to replace the plastic window with a piece of 1/32" lexan. It stays clear, can be glued in and doesn't get brittle and crack.
Googling on "does Lexan scratch easily" brings up at least three links on the first page alone that specifically claim that Lexan scratches easily when used as replacement windows in automobiles.
Yet they make jet-fighter canopies and airplane windshields out of it. Greenhouse panels too, which would need to be somewhat scratch-resistant.
BTW, googling "does Lexan not scratch easily" brings up links where it is described as a scratch-resistant material, as well as links on how easily it scratches.
There has never before been such a vast and completely conflicting amount of information gathered for all of us to try to figure out.
I do not see that. Authoritative sources clearly say that the stuff is very scratch resistant. The few sources that disagree seem to compare with *glass* windows, not soft plastic convertible top windows. Glass is one of the most highly scratch resistant materials (though there are harder ones, like diamond;) no plastic is going to compare to that.
Well, I'm not sure where they are getting their info. from, but the Lexan that I have that is a safety inside cover on the door-windows of my house, does not scratch easy, AT ALL. :-)
Now that I think about it, my first Nalgene bottle still looks pretty good, and it has seen some hard drops onto rocks. It is, however, scratched up after 15 years or so.
One of the links mentioned making a viewing countertop for valuables out of Lexan covered by a sheet of glass, providing both security and scratch protection. As Leon pointed out, glass will not scratch as easily as Lexan, so this makes sense in a situation where the surface sees heavy use, such as a countertop.
I have never seen Lexan used on the back of a miata, but people here have reported doing so with good results and it has to be more scratch-resistant than the OEM platic that Mazda used, plus glass can not be glued into place and most people do not have the equipment to cut a piece of glass to fit the top.
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