I might consider that too...it is cheaper than bedliner, right?
Depends, these days they have herculiner I think th ename is? at Walmart for really cheap, comes with the roller and everything.
CK5
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painting the fiberglass top
- Thread starter wazzabie
- Start date
Depends, these days they have herculiner I think th ename is? at Walmart for really cheap, comes with the roller and everything.
chulisohombre
1/2 ton status
i just taped mine off and used white spraypaint.krylon works good.
.i dont have much money and it took 3 to 4 cans to get good coverage.as was said you need to get that old paint cleaned off and then reprimer and paint.you can rollon bedliner and ive seen it look pretty good on some peoples trucks on here.it is 80 bucks a pint though and i dont know how much you would need.4 cans of white spraypaint is 15 bucks and as long as you take your time and spray it right it will look good.tape off the windows good beforehand or take them out.
.i dont have much money and it took 3 to 4 cans to get good coverage.as was said you need to get that old paint cleaned off and then reprimer and paint.you can rollon bedliner and ive seen it look pretty good on some peoples trucks on here.it is 80 bucks a pint though and i dont know how much you would need.4 cans of white spraypaint is 15 bucks and as long as you take your time and spray it right it will look good.tape off the windows good beforehand or take them out.
72 Blaze
1/2 ton status
Mine was blue when I first bought it. I painted it white. Just hit it with some sand paper,prime and then some good white pant! Its not perfect but it still looks good for the winter months! I need to have the whole truck re painted when I pick the winning ticket!
trustyrusty
Registered Member
May be a little more expensive, but I remember about 20 years ago when I painted my 78 Corvette(sold) I added a "flex additive" to the PPG automotive paint I used. I was informed by "dealership autobody repairman" that it was crucial as without it the paint would eventually crack from all the flexing the fiberglass does. Don't know if it is necessary with today's high performance coatings, but may be worth looking into.
Also you might want to look into the marine paints as there are allot of fiberglass boats out there. (MAYBE RYOKEN CAN CHIME IN HERE.) As far as making it "flat" or "satin" I believe you can add something to the paint to accomplish that.
Also you might want to look into the marine paints as there are allot of fiberglass boats out there. (MAYBE RYOKEN CAN CHIME IN HERE.) As far as making it "flat" or "satin" I believe you can add something to the paint to accomplish that.
I filled in all the cracks with a fiberglass/polyester filling compound.
Then I sanded the whole thing smooth with a DA:
And shot it with filler primer:
Then the same base/clear that would go on the truck:
But if I was painting only the top and the color was just black or white, I would go with Rustoleum over their primer. A little thinner makes it shoot pretty decent from an HVLP.
Then I sanded the whole thing smooth with a DA:
And shot it with filler primer:
Then the same base/clear that would go on the truck:
But if I was painting only the top and the color was just black or white, I would go with Rustoleum over their primer. A little thinner makes it shoot pretty decent from an HVLP.
mrwilliamsburg33
1/2 ton status
Random thought - Does anyone have more than one top with each having its own purpose? 1. Show 2. Play? I've seen the dupli-color spray on system you can buy that sounds pretty cool to me. Since I'm wanting to do my floor in bedliner, I thought I would do my top in bedliner as well, especially since its black and needs repair. I think it would be cool to have a bedliner top, but would it get old to look at?
Herculiner does fade unless you get the UV additive. I had it on the outside of a '96 Tracker and every other year I had to spray it with black spray paint just to keep it nice and dark black.
Mine's white and I'd want a lighter color so I'm sorta considering some kind of grey or white DIY bedliner.
I've got the previously mentioned problem of some of the "crevices" and "joints" in it have whatever putty or what not GM put in it cracking and coming out. What should I put in there to fix that before bedliner/paint?
Mine's white and I'd want a lighter color so I'm sorta considering some kind of grey or white DIY bedliner.
I've got the previously mentioned problem of some of the "crevices" and "joints" in it have whatever putty or what not GM put in it cracking and coming out. What should I put in there to fix that before bedliner/paint?
flex additive isn't necessary... many boats come from the factory with imron and awlgrip without flex additive....
some of the paints out 20 yrs ago where much more prone to cracking than todays urethanes, ESPECIALLY the early enamels.... where flex additive came from, and was REALLY needed was plastic bumpers (we used to use it all the time), not so much fiberglass stuff...
trustyrusty
Registered Member
Thanks for the clarification Ryoken. Guess it's been a few years since I did any painting...
Damn, time flies. Seems like just yesterday I painted that. I can still recall remember the "silver" boogers.
Like I said, todays paints are probably so superior that you could pretty much shoot it with anything your heart desires.
Damn, time flies. Seems like just yesterday I painted that. I can still recall remember the "silver" boogers.
Like I said, todays paints are probably so superior that you could pretty much shoot it with anything your heart desires.
pretty much.... afaik, flex additive is still recommended on plastic bumpers.. tho i doubt it's done often, and they probably get away with it in most cases...
blue.... dyna was a good choice.... for those not up on that kinda stuff... there are basically 3 kinds of automotive fiberglass "fillers".... the standard stuff you'll see in cans..
there is fiberglass filler, which basically looks like heavy bondo in green color... duraglass is a common brand... great product, i use it often.. dyna has one too..
then there is short haired fiberglass filler, and longhaired filler... the shorthair is VERY nice and adds a substantial amount of strength over the straight fillers mentioned above... longhair has even more strength..
short hair, and moreso longhair, usually require a skimcoat of mud to fill pinholes, etc...
for seams like you find on a top, i generally like to use shorthair... the standard fillers have more of a tendency to develop a crackline down the road.. whereas the shorthair "ties" the 2 piece together better.. but any of the 3 are a good choice...
blue.... dyna was a good choice.... for those not up on that kinda stuff... there are basically 3 kinds of automotive fiberglass "fillers".... the standard stuff you'll see in cans..
there is fiberglass filler, which basically looks like heavy bondo in green color... duraglass is a common brand... great product, i use it often.. dyna has one too..
then there is short haired fiberglass filler, and longhaired filler... the shorthair is VERY nice and adds a substantial amount of strength over the straight fillers mentioned above... longhair has even more strength..
short hair, and moreso longhair, usually require a skimcoat of mud to fill pinholes, etc...
for seams like you find on a top, i generally like to use shorthair... the standard fillers have more of a tendency to develop a crackline down the road.. whereas the shorthair "ties" the 2 piece together better.. but any of the 3 are a good choice...
I used a power sander on mine and block sanded around edges. Take windows out for sure. They come out real easy and makes job easier and looks alot more proffessional. Order all your gaskets first, be ready to spend a few hundred on gaskets and materials. I rattle canned mine to match truck color. Wish I would have got a pro paint gun cuz it took way more than I thought it would. Then I did a light clear, it turned out great. Let me know if you need some pics of process.
badmix
1/2 ton status
Well, I just painted my topper today. It wasnt the ideal way to do it, but it worked out well. Ideally you want to take topper off and windows out. I didnt have that luxury as im trying to put a roof rack on and the weather starting to turn to crap. When I was working on putting the roof rack on the topper, I could see the paint was faded or gone and fiberglass was showing thru, so that is what prompt me to do a hasty paint job on the whole topper.
Anyways. I use Interlux Pre-Kote White , its basically an undercoat. Im going to see how this works as a main coat. If it fades or chips or comes off, ill re-address things, but so far im pretty happy with it. I just used a roller brush which worked out well, especially for keeping the textured top which I like, makes it easier to paint.
*The Interlux Pre-Kote read on the can to use 10% thinner to brush on. I felt this watered it down too much, next time I wouldnt use any thinner. I bought a Quart container and barely used 1/2 of it to do the roof. I may go back and put a 2nd coat on if the weather stays warm enuff, if not, ill see how this holds up.
For prep work;
1) scrubbed the top with a stiff bristle brush and dawn dish detergent and rinsed well and let it dry overnite.
2) Lightly scuffed up the paint (or what was left of it) with green scratch pad
3) rolled on the paint.
Here is a pic from my cellphone, not very good but itll have to do. lol.
Anyways. I use Interlux Pre-Kote White , its basically an undercoat. Im going to see how this works as a main coat. If it fades or chips or comes off, ill re-address things, but so far im pretty happy with it. I just used a roller brush which worked out well, especially for keeping the textured top which I like, makes it easier to paint.
*The Interlux Pre-Kote read on the can to use 10% thinner to brush on. I felt this watered it down too much, next time I wouldnt use any thinner. I bought a Quart container and barely used 1/2 of it to do the roof. I may go back and put a 2nd coat on if the weather stays warm enuff, if not, ill see how this holds up.
For prep work;
1) scrubbed the top with a stiff bristle brush and dawn dish detergent and rinsed well and let it dry overnite.
2) Lightly scuffed up the paint (or what was left of it) with green scratch pad
3) rolled on the paint.
Here is a pic from my cellphone, not very good but itll have to do. lol.
chulisohombre
1/2 ton status
looks pretty good from my house.
Interlux Pre-Kote White is a primer for fiberglass boats used for topside applications that are not under water. The Interlux Pre-Kote White does not have UV inhibitor. Is this some thing that can be mixed in and added to the paint?
