Painting the Poptop

[snowleopard]

Thanks for the advice I've been given recently on here. It's been very useful for a neophyte to car repair and maintenance. Though I've owned my Westy for some 12 years or so (and beaten the everlovin' hell out of it on many a dirt backroad), I've not spent much time trying to keep it up. Now...well...I love my gutless wonder....

So new question. The van was gold, now it is green (gf's choice and I've grown to like it). The poptop is still the beige color, however, and I'm feeling it would look much better white. I'm going to be removing the poptop to change the rotting tent, and so I think I'm going to paint it. So here goes:
1) Someone mentioned a thread that is very detailed about using rattle cans to paint the top. I can't find that thread. Anyone got a link?
2) Is the poptop color just white, arctic white (like the Eurovan), or does it have a code like the body color? Same as the body color?

New Tires (215/65/16 ATs) and New Wheels (GoWesty 16") Thursday. Very psyched....
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85 Westy: The Green Machine
PCT Hiker: Mexico to Oregon on Foot
(It was faster than a Westy going up an incline)

[Terry Kay]

Rattle Cans.
Spray Bomb paint.

First let me say that the paint in them cans is reduced to less than water so the propellant can force it out of the pee hole orfice.

So in essence what I am saying is why waste you time half assing the pop top?

It take a direct blast from the sun, day in and day out.

Why cheap shot the job?

If you have the pop top off, skuff it , prime it, and lay a slick coat of boat deck or hull urethane on it---it'll last forever.

If you do't like the urethane trip--take a look at POR 15 white 2 part paint.

I just used it to restore a 65 F-850 Super duty Ford steering wheel.
Humidity makes it cure--and the longer it sits the harder it gets.
They tell you to brush it on, and it won't show any brush marks.
I sprayed the repaired steering wheel with my Binks 7 , and it came out slicker than new.
Then stuff is tougher than galss, and won't chip, fade, peel, or crack, and will not fade from the Suns UV rays.

You have to think about this---

That fiberglass top is real porous, and will suck up that shake, rattle, and roll squirt can paint faster than you can apply it.

Real Honest to goodness Garbage.

Roll and brush some Petit, Interlux hull/deck urethane, or the POR 15 white--
It'll be the last time you have to do the job, and it'll look new--

Your talking about making your Van look like Ma & Pa Kettle's, or the Beverly Hillbillies truck's refinished via spray can's.

Big waste of time, and energy.
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T.K.

[snowleopard]

Sage advice...I only brought up the rattle cans because someone mentioned earlier that this had been done with excellent results. I was doubtful, but curious.
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85 Westy: The Green Machine
PCT Hiker: Mexico to Oregon on Foot
(It was faster than a Westy going up an incline)

[Terry Kay]

Oh I'm sure it's been done more than once to a pop top.
No doubt in my mind.
But not with much more than temporary gratification.

Like I said, that old fiberglass is porous like a sponge and will suck up that watered down spray can paint pretty fast, giving the pop top a short term shine.

Use the hull paint and it'll last for longer than you can imagine.

It'd be good pay off for your effort.
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T.K.

[bucko]

I may be unique in this situation, but I bought about 8 cans of Krylon white spray paint from the local Home Depot a year and a half ago, and spray painted my pop up. It has been a year and a half later, and the white paint is holding up great. Still shines, and does not wash off with the weekly baths the Vanagon gets.

My situation could be different though, as the top was painted a fresh ugly blue color (along with the rest of the body) when I bought it in Germany. Because of this, the top had been prepared some what, so I scuffed it up, and applied the white spray paint, thinking that if it did not work, I'd be re-painting anyhow when I did the body.

It has held up fantastic in the hot, humid Florida sun for the year and a half, with great results.

The thread I think you are refering to was sometime last year, when a poster here painted his top a maroon color. He posted pics and did a nice write-up on his work.
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Current VW drives: 1984 Westfalia

Past VW drives: 1967 Beetle, 1973 Beetle, 1977 Bus, 1971 Military Type 181

[danfromsyr]

I've heard some use home center bath/vanity 2part epoxy with great results..
very hard durable paint and in white and tan tones off the shelf..

[westy87]

I had mine painted 5 years ago with the same paint used on the body. HOWEVER, my painter primed it well before applying paint, thus allowing any porous sacrifice to occur on the primer, instead of the paint. It still looks new.

[PDXWesty]

my top was old and faded as well. I had it painted to match the body and it looks like new. A body shop used a base coat/clear coat just like you would in the body. I'm sure it will last for many years to come.

[enlitnme28]

[kevinbassplayer]

Here's some great info on poptop painting: This is on my long term list, maybe next year. This year I used the 3M fiberglass restorer which did a pretty nice job.

http://www.vanagonauts.com/%5B75.1%5DRoof---Maintainence,-Painting135.htm

[cnskate]

two cans of $7 Rustoleum from Lowe's works wonders. No priming, just bleach it clean and roll the paint on. People ask me if I bought a new top.
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"Wherever you go, there you are."

[Franklinstower]

I used a white top deck polyurethane paint from West Marine. It is made for fiberglass boats and has a great sheen to it.
I had to thin it before I sprayed it and it went on perfect. You can also brush it and the brush marks will fade away as it dries. Just have to be careful about drips.
I prepped with bleach and then a light sand using 100 grit for adhesion.
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'89 Westy - EJ25/22 Frank 4.44 5mt
'75 Miami Blue Sunroof FI Standard Bug

[Dogpilot]

If you are near a West Marine or the like. Query the folks about the new urethane. There are new urethane formulations that are set up to be roller applied. They go on and flow to a nice flowed finish. Just use quality short nap oil rollers. Almost all your airliners are touched up with rollers now. Too much hassle to mask and put a 767 in a paint booth.

You just need to get the paint that is set up for this application, and do not do it in the hot of the day, your best results are around 70°, in the shade. You also need to pull off your seals, so you paint under the seal area.
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[JoanM]

[Dogpilot]

If you top has that great green striped look. A solution of diluted bleach and a scrub brush works wonders. Just keep everything wet and rinsed to keep the bleach from reacting with you car's paint. If your going to paint any pop top. Clean it well with either a wax remover, or Coleman fuel to remove any traces of wax. Wax will leave big moby fisheyes. Fiberglass sucks up wax and silicones, like Armorall. Sometimes you just want to clean the holy cr@p out of it or it will fisheye you to death! Use Scothbrite (the maroone colored) to rough up the surface, AFTER you clean. Then clean it again.
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[snowleopard]

Thanks for the advice all. Summer is coming and I'll have the time to begin this project.... Am excited though a tad bit nervous.
_________________
85 Westy: The Green Machine
PCT Hiker: Mexico to Oregon on Foot
(It was faster than a Westy going up an incline)

[skaaudivw]

I recently bought some marine paint from ipaint.com. I only want to do it once and it was only $110 shipped with primer. quart of primer and gallon of paint.

[Terry Kay]

A fast enamel reducer is best for prepping a surface to be painted.
it has no oils in it to create fish eyes , and removes surface contamination without smearing oil on, and into the sanded surface as Coleman lamp fuel will do or mineral spirits.

A quart of Dupont 8022 reducer wiped on and of quickly will be your best bet to get the top as clean as it's going to get prior to painting.

The skuff pads I really don't like.

Yea they work fast but they don't enough biter's into the original surface.
Use no finer than 320 production paper to sand the surface up so the paint won't blow off in sheets later on.

220 is really a good prep paper.
Add's plenty of biters.
_________________
T.K.

[Terry Kay]

I forgot---
Here's one more trick of the trade I learned a long time ago.

After you get all done wipng the surface down with some sort of enamel reducer, what you have wound up doing is setting up a static charge in the fiberglass that wiil raise the hair's off of your arms.

It'll attract dust , diratand any other airborne garbage directly to the paint.

You can ground the fiberglass, re wipe it--no go.
It' be like a dirt magnet.

Here's the solution.

Take a damp with water ( damp, not wringing wet) rag and wipe the suface down lightly.

It'll kill any static that you created with wiping it down with prep sol, or reducer.

This only happens to fiberglass--not metal.

I found all this out refinishing Mack Trucks for 30 years.

The hoods would always look like a dust magnet--the cabs wouldn't
after the pant job was all done.

I did a bunch of wet sanding and rubbing to flatten out the nubs in the paint prior to figuring out the water wipe before I painted.

It cut the dust problem down to nothing.
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T.K.

[Terry Kay]

Dupont 3812S is the fast drying enamel reducer is what you want to use to get the surface of the fiberglass clean , prior to refinishing the top.

It works fast, and will not leave any oily residue on the glass.
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T.K.