Did a Google search and didn't find anything on the BBS, so here's some info.

Could barely see out of the vinyl windows in my '97 Can-Back softtop anymore, they were cloudy and had a lot of fine dust scratches.

Stuff you'll need:
- bag of cotton terrycloth towels $8
- Maguire's #17 plastic cleaner $7
- Maguire's #10 plastic polish $7

Recommended:
- Craftsman MegaMouse orbital sander/polisher $40
- Painter's masking tape $5

Clean all the loose dust / dirt off your windows with a wet rag or sponge so you don't grind it into the plastic. Then apply a decent amount of cleaner to a towel or to the buffing pad on the polisher, and scrub the window well. Then wipe off the cleaner and loosened grime with another towel and look to see if there's still nasty buildup (tree sap, road grime, oxidation, etc.) on the window. Repeat a few times if your windows are really bad. I tried the #17 cleaner by hand and it works but takes FOREVER to get down to a nice shiny clean surface. The orbital sander is easy and gets one side of a whole window done in maybe five minutes! (Mask around the window with painter's tape to keep cleaner off the canvas.) Then I did the inside of each window, and except for the big scratches the window almost looks like new. The cleaner works so good it almost seems pointless to go over it again with the #10 polish, but it does improve clarity a little bit more so what the heck.

I give the restored windows two big thumbs up.

Good to see you are still kicking around, Drew.
Gonna make it to *your* Bash this year?

Does your suggested cleaning process stiffen the windows up, chemically? Most of the windows that I have that are beat up, scratched up, and etc. are also baked pretty hard. I tried to buff out a side vinyl a few years ago and it improved, but failed shortly thereafter. Dunno if it was the chicken (cleaning) or the egg (aging/abuse)... I could see through the window in the end, it just had a big old crack all the way across. Which come to think of it, I could also see through. :p

Randii

Toothpaste, 1.19 for a big tube.

got any before & after pics?

No before / after pics, but the Miata guys swear by it - that's where I found the tip.

Good to see you are still kicking around, Drew.
Gonna make it to *your* Bash this year?

Does your suggested cleaning process stiffen the windows up, chemically? Most of the windows that I have that are beat up, scratched up, and etc. are also baked pretty hard. I tried to buff out a side vinyl a few years ago and it improved, but failed shortly thereafter. Dunno if it was the chicken (cleaning) or the egg (aging/abuse)... I could see through the window in the end, it just had a big old crack all the way across. Which come to think of it, I could also see through. :p

Randii

Is there still a Bash? lol...doubt I'll be making it. Just trying to get the 4Runner street legal again in case I need to move sometime in the near future, sucks not even being able to park it on the street. Would like to have the rig operational for Moab '07 though.

I doubt the cleaner stiffens up the plastic, it's probably just a gentle abrasive (like toothpaste) and some kind of oily stuff that fills in the scratches a bit (the polish). But I have no idea, only a been few days so far.

I'll vouch for the Meguires cleaner and polishers, works great!

I've heard the toothpaste trick too, but haven't tried it yet, guess I'll have to wait until my Meguires runs out. :)