Planning to paint my hardtop; a few questions

[Jamison C]

So.. did you paint it?...

No I ended up just retiring it in the shed until winter. But now that I’ve had a little experience with the HVLP and SEM on my door panels I’m much more confident in doing it myself. It’ll probably cost me $150 or so in paint and clear whenever I decide to do it.

I might also give the penetrol a try and see how long it lasts. $150 isn’t much but if I don’t use the top much what’s the point ya know? I already have an almost full can of the penetrol.

 

[Jamison C]

You can take my 0.02 for what it's worth, but a textured hard top to me just isn't worth the effort or expense of a legit automotive paint job. I scuffed mine with a red scotchbrite, cleaned it thoroughly with water and then acetone and painted with whatever brand of satin black rattle cans Walmart happened to have on the shelf. It's lasted 2 years without a hint of fading so far and our sun is intense here too given the elevation....though my tj is garaged when not in use so there's that.

I'll save the high dollar automotive stuff for metallics and matching to existing base/clear parts. Even then I still used the 2k clear and mixed base in rattle cans at $25 per can. The product I used on my half doors was from spraymax.

Did you use the 2k on the top? IMO that makes all the difference. Chrysler never put any kind of clear on the tops.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Did you use the 2k on the top? IMO that makes all the difference. Chrysler never put any kind of clear on the tops.

No clear on the top. That was on my aluminum trail doors.

 

[Jamison C]

I should throw out though that I did use the HLVP with some SEM last week and got really good results from it spraying my half door panels. The shop recommended 16-18psi (I went 18) since SEM is supposed to go down in super light coats until full hiding is achieved. I did three.

First coat:

Second coat:

Third coat (full coverage):

I think just one quart of base and clear would get me by on a hardtop. If you compare the painted surface area of a hardtop to four door panels, it really isn't that much larger. Despite the fact you can't reduce SEM, it goes a surprisingly long way. After the door panels I have about half a quart left, and that was with me forgetting to reduce my fan and spraying/wasting more paint than I should have. Having done this to something small like the door panels, I feel much more comfortable about doing the top myself. We shall see!