This past weekend I decided to try and restore the black color to our 2003 TJ that we purchased a few months ago. Like many TJ hard tops the paint was oxidizing and in need of some work. I read through the forum on multiple ways others cleaned and brought back color. Thanks to all that have contributed to this forum, so many great ideas and a wealth of knowledge. Hopefully this post will assist others to clean and restore their hard top's color.
Before going down the path of a re-paint, I decided to try using a Magic Eraser with warm water. The Magic Eraser did a great job of cleaning and removing 70-80% of the oxidation. Not knowing what the Magic Eraser would do to the pain, I started on a small area using light pressure and then increased in size. I could see the change immediately after making the first pass. With a little more confidence I increased pressure to the Magic Eraser and went over the entire top. After rinsing I was amazed how much better the hard top looked.
The Magic Eraser cleaning job took less than 30 minutes. While it did an incredible job removing most of the oxidation, I decided to bust out the orbital buffer along with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. Yep, I extended a 30 min job into a 2 hour full-on hard top clean and buff. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound took off another layer of oxidation and did a great job of cleaning the surface. The last step, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish not only cleaned any remaining surface oxidation, it brightened the surface and brought back most of the black color.
Total time for the hard top was around 2 hours from wash, Magic Eraser, Ultimate Compound, and Ultimate Polish. I couldn't be more satisfied with the results and decided to go over the entire Jeep with the Ultimate Compound followed by the Ultimate Polish. All surfaces are now clean, prepped, and read for an application of a ceramic wax spray.
Wanting to protect the work I did on the hard top and all painted surfaces, I spent some time researching many different waxes. I'm amazed how far the wax industry has evolved. Yesterday I purchased Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating and will go over the entire Jeep, including the hard top, when the product arrives. I probably spent more time researching spray waxes than it will take to apply lol.
The next several posts contain pictures showing the "before" any work was performed to the hard top followed by each step mentioned above. I'm separating pics to show the difference on the top, side and rear corner using the Magic Eraser, compound, and polish.
Before going down the path of a re-paint, I decided to try using a Magic Eraser with warm water. The Magic Eraser did a great job of cleaning and removing 70-80% of the oxidation. Not knowing what the Magic Eraser would do to the pain, I started on a small area using light pressure and then increased in size. I could see the change immediately after making the first pass. With a little more confidence I increased pressure to the Magic Eraser and went over the entire top. After rinsing I was amazed how much better the hard top looked.
The Magic Eraser cleaning job took less than 30 minutes. While it did an incredible job removing most of the oxidation, I decided to bust out the orbital buffer along with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. Yep, I extended a 30 min job into a 2 hour full-on hard top clean and buff. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound took off another layer of oxidation and did a great job of cleaning the surface. The last step, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish not only cleaned any remaining surface oxidation, it brightened the surface and brought back most of the black color.
Total time for the hard top was around 2 hours from wash, Magic Eraser, Ultimate Compound, and Ultimate Polish. I couldn't be more satisfied with the results and decided to go over the entire Jeep with the Ultimate Compound followed by the Ultimate Polish. All surfaces are now clean, prepped, and read for an application of a ceramic wax spray.
Wanting to protect the work I did on the hard top and all painted surfaces, I spent some time researching many different waxes. I'm amazed how far the wax industry has evolved. Yesterday I purchased Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating and will go over the entire Jeep, including the hard top, when the product arrives. I probably spent more time researching spray waxes than it will take to apply lol.
The next several posts contain pictures showing the "before" any work was performed to the hard top followed by each step mentioned above. I'm separating pics to show the difference on the top, side and rear corner using the Magic Eraser, compound, and polish.
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