I search and really did not come up with much. I plan on painting my top this weekend. Its black but has faded and chipped. I plan on just cleaning with some mineral spirit and water. Then prime then paint. What do you guys think the best paint would be that i can get in a spray can unless there is a cheaper and better way.

 

Get yourself a cheap spray gun and do it that way, it will come out 100X better. As far as paint goes i think Napa sells auto paint. Just get whichever color you want. Be sure to make it the right mixture of mineral spirits and paint when you do it though.

 

I would clean it with lacquer thinner. Mineral spirits is oily and will leave a residue and cause the paint to fish eye. All the tops are white fiberglass, if another color, it has a thin gel coat of fiberglass on it from the factory which is a little duller than the paint. You can get an additive to lower the gloss so it will look factory.

 

I've been looking at painting my top too, how much did you spend on your sprayer swimmerboy?
I don't want something really expensive, but I don't want to buy junk either

 

I used two cans of black rocker guard type paint. $12 total. Looks perfect to me.

 

Rustoleum! Seriously. It's much cheaper than auto paint, and probably more durable. There's a few good tutorials on instructables.com

You can either roll on or use a spray gun. Either way you definitely want to thin the paint first. I did the roll on with rustoleum for my truck canopy, turned out fantastic! If I ever have time to paint the whole truck I will absolutely do it the same way.

 

I have a lot of rustoleum in spray form, I've almost done it that way I was just not sure if it would turn out well. I have painted my front bumper with it and it looks good, but that's a smaller area

 

It will turn out great on the larger surface too.... just remember it's all about the prep work. If you cut any corners on the prep work, any flaws will be amplified in the finished product.

 

how would you go about rolling it on? seems like it would be hard to get the corners. No i have used rustoleum gloss black i defiantly don't want the top to look like that. I dont want a flat that will turn to chalk ether.I do have a huskey gun that cam with my air compressor no sure how good it is and never used it. AM thinking use the gun kinda been wanting to try it out now just need to find a 3 things
1)i have decided if am going to use a gun should go ahead and prep right. What sand paper should i use.
2) What primer to use
3)What paint to use and what to mix it with and how much

Thanks a lot guy getting fast reply that helping .I will make sure to post some pics during the process for you

 

why not do a roll on bed liner? or dupli-color spray on bed liner. this guy did his like that. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...40/index3.html

 

87Runner, I would use a spray can unless you want to make it a fun project then try out your spray gun. I'm about to paint my top black also and after using my spray gun to paint my truck last month it doesn't seem worth the time or effort to spray it some kind of flat or satin finish. I'm going to use the rustoleum camo flat black straight of the can. If you are going to use the spray gun when you go to the paint store to get materials they give you data sheets on how to mix everything. I think the primer is 4:1 ratio. These are the steps I would take if I were you for your prep.

1.) sand with 220 grit ( you can sand with something more aggressive but finish with 220)
2.) fill any holes (If you want to) then resand and finish with 220
4.) wipe clean
3.) prime (what ever kind you want. The paint store will give you some decent stuff)
4.) dry or wet sand 600 grit (what ever your sand paper likes best)
5.) wipe clean
6.) paint

And don't paint in the sun on a hot surface.

 

thanks for the info man i guess my main concern with the can is it will leave streaks. But i will start sanding tomorrow with 220 thanks aging

 

Here are the instructable links that I referenced. I used a small edge trim roller when I did my canopy.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-...-paint-your-c/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pain...ith-Rustoleum/

Good luck! Post pictures of your progress.

 

I don't want to sound like a dick but it's not the paints fault its the person would sprayed it and the conditions it was sprayed in. Flat paint out of a can is a hell of a lot more forgiving than a gloss paint. With a flat paint if you give it even light coats you should be fine or if you give it 2 heavy coats and follow the wet edge you should be fine. The gloss paint out of a can is hard to master but it can be done.

Follow the steps and take your time it will come out looking great.

 

am kinda a newbie but i want the paint like factory in shine. When you say flat are you talking
like this


i have seen people do this to there cars looks good for a week or two then turns into chalk.

or is this considered flat

 

I'd like to add a few things too.

-Dont forget to wet the area your painting to keep the dust down
-Wetsand it will come out better
-They make sticky wipes to remove ALL dust and dirt after you're done sanding i suggest you use those they work really well.
-Make sure there is absolutely NO water on the shell at all even a drop could really mess things up.

 

I would say the first one is a primer and will look like ˟˟˟˟ after the rain and sun get to it, the second one looks like a satin or semi-gloss. Which one are you trying to achieve? Google image the different finishes that should help you pick something out.

 

Good call. The sticky wipes are called tack cloths and you can get them for like 2 bucks at the auto parts store.

I just sprayed two areas on my top to show you flat and satin black. Give me like 10 minutes for the surface to dry and I'll take a picture.

 

This is duplicolor bed liner I sprayed a couple months ago

This is Krylon Fusion satin black I just sprayed

And this is Krylon Fusion satin black vs. Rustoleum camo flat black

 

wow man could not ask for a better reply lol thanks alot. Am thinking the Krylon Fusion satin black is the winner for me.Here is my new plan
1) sand with 220 sand paper
2) Clean and wipe with the cloths
3)prime with two or three coats.
4)wetsand with 600 grit
5)Wait for it to dry then hit it with some Krylon Fusion satin black thinking 3 coats or so.
Thank you richf and Swimmerboy2112 helped me out a lot might start sanding tomorrow any other info would help alot or any thing i should add or do different in the list above