Hard Top Protectant

bucky said:

I finally removed and sold my Gobi rack. The PO applied some type of protectant to the hard top and missed 2 areas that were inaccessible due to the rack. I have no idea what he used. The flares are also treated the same. When I bought it I did not notice this and therefore did not ask him what he used. It appears to have been applied with a cloth, darkened the grey to a black and has a gloss finish. The bare areas are very oxidized and I need to treat them and try to keep the same look as the rest of the top. Whatever he used seems to be very durable and not some cheap product. Any Ideas of what he may have used? What do you use on your Hard top to remove oxidation and protect it? I believe this is an after market top.

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People are so lazy. I wish I could help you out, but have no idea.

Take the top off, and place it on an elevated surface. Clean it thoroughly with a degreaser / cleaner (I just use Simple Green) and allow to dry for a day.

Take the rear glass off, and weatherstrip. Take painters tape, and painters plastic and tape off all windows and trim.

Go buy a quart of Rustoleum oil based Satin Black paint @ home depot , Lowes, Menards, etc. its about $17

Mix it 3:1 with acetone and pour into an HVLP gun, and spray the entire top several coats. First coat should be light and thin, then go heavier. My top I just got was faded beige, and its now Satin Black



Heres a quick video.
Keep in mind painters have so many mix ratios. The 3:1 worked great for me

You could look into Penetrol - quite a few people have posted about it on this forum and had good results with it on their hard tops. I actually just applied some on my tan hardtop and it looks much better after a light coat

I would say it is Penetrol or wipe new.

It is, but it also works good for the tops. I used it on the top of my son's jk that came out of Texas and it has been looking great for almost a year now.

bucky said:

I thought Penetrol was an paint additive not a stand alone product. Am I missing some thing?
Wipe new looks promising.

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Penetrol Flood… it is a oil based paint additive but it works great on plastic surfaces… make sure you get the oil based, not the water based… I put 3 coats on my Avalanche rear cover and other cladding last summer and it’s still holding up… you can paint it on with a brush but I poured it on and wiped it in with a rag, let it dry and added another coat and then another… when it dries it’s like a clear coat…

bucky said:

I finally removed and sold my Gobi rack. The PO applied some type of protectant to the hard top and missed 2 areas that were inaccessible due to the rack. I have no idea what he used. The flares are also treated the same. When I bought it I did not notice this and therefore did not ask him what he used. It appears to have been applied with a cloth, darkened the grey to a black and has a gloss finish. The bare areas are very oxidized and I need to treat them and try to keep the same look as the rest of the top. Whatever he used seems to be very durable and not some cheap product. Any Ideas of what he may have used? What do you use on your Hard top to remove oxidation and protect it? I believe this is an after market top.

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Has anyone ever considered taping it all around the perimeter and painting the top bright white to reflect sunlight? Seems like that would be a good idea for the really sunny places.

I had a similar problem with the side plastic on my doors, fender plastic, and outside mirror plastic. I brushed them with Soilove to clean them really good using a plastic brush and rinsed immediately and dried them. Soilove is real good stuff. It is better than the Bug and Tar cleaner from Turtle wax. The Soilove brought the dirt off in piles. The Bug and Tar did nothing. Then I coated them with Meguiars Supreme Shine and I didn't remove it. I did it at night so that it wouldn't evaporate in the heat of the day. Here are the before and after pictures. I had the same problem with my fender flares and they look the same as the after picture here now. If you wipe off the Meguiars, it won't penetrate. I never wipe it off. If it attracts bugs, I just wipe away the bugs with the Meguiars Supreme shine wipes, and spray it again with the Meguiars Supreme Shine. If the top is painted, be careful with the Soilove, that stuff is strong. But, your top looks like black plastic, so it should be safe. The before picture is after 20 years of regular washing and drying. The after picture is when the Meguiars has pretty much evaporated on its own. I just recoat them after every wash for sun protection, either in the dark, or out of the sun. I try to dry my Jeep out of the sun, and then I spray my plastic and soak it.