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Question about the textured tops.

cuervo

cuervo

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Hey!!

I'm wondering how the textured tops were painted from the factory and how they should be repainted now. Unlike the flat smooth tops that you can just sand an paint, I believe, the textured tops don't really seemed to be painted. They seem more like the color was put into the fiberglass.

Has anyone work on them and can offer me some info on it?
 
Whatever you do, don't just rattle can it. The previous owner of my rig rattle canned my white top and now it keeps bleeding white paint every time I wash it or it rains. Maybe he just chose the wrong paint, I don't know. Maybe if you used the right paint and then sealed it. I saw somewhere here where somebody sanded out the texture and then had it shot with the same paint as they were painting the body. It is just fiberglass so treat it like any other fiberglass part.
 
So THAT'S what my top is...always thought a previous owner just really screwed up a repaint job :doah:
 
ryoken said:
It's gelcoat....
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Is that the stuff they put on top of boat bodies? What is the difference between that and a good paint? The gelcoat goes on top of the fiberglass right?
 
yes, it is what they use on boats..

gelcoat is a polyester based product... paints are lacquer, enamel, epoxy or urethane.. There ARE polyester based paints, but only in the marine biz... Awlgrip for one...

polyester products dry harder than the others... gelcoat is generally 3 to 4 times as thick as paint... It is MUCH more durable, tho fades much easier than current urethanes and such...
 
Well then just a good scrubbing on the top then. Painting over gelcoat is a bad idea no matter what you use.
 
I'm wondering how the textured tops were painted from the factory and how they should be repainted now.
Click to expand...

been wondering that, myself. i'd have to do an insane amount of scrubbing on mine to get all the offroad dust out. but it sheds enough fibers without scrubbing. i make it a point not to rub my hands across it.

the smoother ones are still fiberglass, right?
 
I am in the process of doing mine now.
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cuervo said:
Well then just a good scrubbing on the top then. Painting over gelcoat is a bad idea no matter what you use.
Click to expand...

Well, thats somewhat of an old wivestale...

Painting over gelcoat is an industry standard in the marine biz... It happens daily... We paint 50' gelcoated hulls all the time...

Where that wivestale stems from is the early days of gel and paint, where the inherent thickness of gel was causing checking, cracking issues with the paints...

Hasn't been that way in years... Gels and paints have come a long way... If properly prepped there is no issue with it whatsoever...
 
yes you can u just need to seal the gel coat with a good primer sealer then apply paint.. its realy the same as painting a vett at that point
 
SWEET! yeah, mine is going in in a few weeks for a color change.... i want the top to match my center two tone stripe.
 
What exactly is "properly prepped". My former owner used who knows what kind of paint on mine, probably just rattle can, and it bleeds all the time. I like that Rustoleum marine paint idea.
 
eesh, making me type eh?!??!@?!!!

j/k...... degreased, sanded thoroughly with 150 to 180, epoxy or urethane primer... sprayed as a fill coat or sealer style, doesn't matter... sand with 320 thoroughly, damp towel/dry towel with denatured alky, squirt...

as for paint... if the top is prepped in that manor, you can put anything on it from rattlecan to sprayed urethanes to herc (rougher sanding)...

No uncatalyzed paint is gonna hold a candle to a 2-part... There are some advantages to a polyester based marine paint (that rustoleum isn't), but not enough to steer me away from a standard automotive such as Imron, etc...You'll only find polyester based stuff in marine apps, and they're all 2-part...
 
I made a half-top a few years ago. I sanded it smooth and rattle-can primered it. It absorbed that primer like you wouldn't believe, I must have used a dozen cans. When I put the rattle can black on, it still absorbed it and I could never get a nice polished finish.
I always kept the top sheltered, so I don't know how it fared in the weather. I sold it with the truck, so I dunno what the new owner did.
It can be done, but reading what these guys have said, I wouldn't expect my job on it to be too durable or have much longevity.

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I can see white fiberglass bleeding through on mine. I'm thinking about doing Herculiner over the whole thing if I have any left when I'm done doing my floor.
 
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