Painting see-through top?

[JTaft]

I've had my '85 for about a week, and I've discovered I HATE the see-through top.

I searched, and didn't see any threads on painting plastic tops. Is there any reason I can't just paint the top body color?

JT

 

[Vettelt193]

The clear roof panels tend to be worth more than a painted one... you may want to just buy a painted top (this way you will get the headliner too) then sell your clear one.

 

[JTaft]

Not interested in buying/selling/stick-ons.

The question is:

Is there any reason I can't just paint the top body color?

Thanks,

JT

 

[78SilvAnniv]

The clear roof panels tend to be worth more than a painted one...

It's been clearly stated that the clear roof panels are more valuable, but it's your vette. Paint it if you want to. If you want a professional job you'll need to take it to a paint shop and they can tell you if they can or cannot paint that material and why or why not.
Heidi

 

[CyberFire 12]

Painted Top?

Give it more than a week, please. Painting will destroy any value this has, and IMHO, a real sacrilige to the car.

Check salvage lots for wrecks before you do anything drastic. You may be able to find a solid top at a reasonable price.

If you really are determined to paint it, go down to a Ford dealer and trade it on a Mustang instead:nono

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Check salvage lots for wrecks before you do anything drastic. You may be able to find a solid top at a reasonable price.

Good advice, and here is another similar thought:
See if you can find someone with a solid top who wants a clear top and swap with each other. That would make two vette owners happy.
Heidi

Anyhow, like I said earlier...it's your vette and you can do what you want to it, but I wouldn't expect many Corvette people to jump up and down and yell "Yeah, paint it!" as encouragement.
...as evidenced by the mustang comment. :eyerole

 

[reefdiver]

Yes you can paint it. A guy here in the West PA Corvette Club has his early c4 top painted silver and black to match the rest of his car. Looks pretty good I might add.

 

[JTaft]

"Painting will destroy any value this has, and IMHO, a real sacrilige to the car."

The value of my top is not an important issue to me. The fact that I dislike it is.

I already have a diety to whom I show respect. The Corvette is just my car.

"I wouldn't expect many Corvette people to jump up and down and yell "Yeah, paint it!" as encouragement."

What I expected was an answer to my question based on tech or experience.

I already know about horsetrading, paint shops, junkyards, and Ford dealers.

JT

 

[JTaft]

Reefdiver-

Thank you. I was beginning to think I had lost the ability to communicate.

JT

 

[c4cruiser]

If you do decide to paint it (and BTW, I share the other opinions regarding swapping or getting another top) there are a couple things you might want to know before doing this.

First in order for the paint to adhere properly, the top will have to be sanded, then a primer will have to be applied. Because the top is clear, doing this will let these two processes show thru the clear material. The inside of the top will show the sanding marks and the color of the primer used to let the outside color adhere.

Of course you could paint the underside of the top in a color that matches the interior and seeing as how most of the trim is black, that would the logical choice. But this will most likely double the cost of the paint work. You didn't say which clear top you had (blue or bronze) but without painting the underside, that tint will show to a degree.

Please don't take offense at the replies as most Corvette owners that don't have both tops or don't have the optional clear top, would love to get the clear top or even add the solid top to the car's accessories. Your blunt reply with the quotes didn't really help but you were asking about something that Corvette owners normally don't do to their cars.

Good luck with your project!!

 

[taegdh]

C4 Cruiser's answers are to the point. You might be able to paint them, but you'll also have to consider doing the inside also. When you do this, take the time and care to remove the metal rim protector before you start sanding or etching. Get the correct bonding agent to replace it when you're done or it'll just come off at the most inconvenient time.

Note: These tops are made of an awfully hard acrylic plastic, and you may have to use a paint which "bonds" to this kind of substrate. Talk to a real good paint mixer, because if you don't do your homework, you'll just have a mess on your hands, and it could cause an unpleasant chemical reaction, and meltdown of the top's material. Be careful!

 

[JTaft]

"Please don't take offense at the replies. ."

You wouldn't find it offensive if someone suggested you trade your Corvette for a Mustang?

". . .but you were asking about something that Corvette owners normally don't do to their cars."

Does that violate some rule? Please forgive more bluntness, but I don't care what Corvette owners normally do to their cars. I was asking a simple, somewhat technical question. In reply, I received some opinions, some painfuly obvious alternatives, and the suggestion that I trade my car for a Mustang. Answers to my question? One.

" and it could cause an unpleasant chemical reaction, and meltdown of the top's material."

Can you be more specific? Have you seen this happen? What kind of automobile painting product can melt an acrylic top? I'll certainly avoid it.

I'll get the top painted by a pro whose work I have seen and admire. I wasn't planning on doing it in the yard with rattle cans. Sorry if I gave that impression.

Thanks for the advice.

JT

 

[tnovot]

Yeh, you asked a straight-forward question and didn't get a yes/no answer. Is that what you wanted -just a yes or no with no other helpful info?
Other owners were just trying to give you additional information (sure much of it was opinion) which you rebuked solidly. Heidi had an excellent suggestion about the trade which you apparently ignored. Others offered excellent advice/suggestions. 99.9 % of people on this site go out of their way to share info and be as helpful as possible. Your responses reflect a lack of gratitude and an abundance of insolence. You have a mindset on this ? or just don't like other people who are trying to be helpful? Guess you care nothing about making friends easily (or getting many responses to any future questions). Of course you already know everything you need to know about horsetrading, paint shops, and much more so maybe you won't ever need anybody's advice again.

 

[Robertwav1]

The 5.0 is a pretty cool car! It's not a vette ... but it's cool! As far as the top goes ... I have one that's peeled slightly and was thinking about getting it painted. I bought a real nice used solid top with the headliner and I love it! I'll probably never use the other top ... If you want you can have my peeled top to experiment instead of ruining a good see through. I live in Jersey though so you would have to get somehow. Just a thought ... in honor of all corvette purist's!

 

[JTaft]

"Yeh, you asked a straight-forward question and didn't get a yes/no answer. Is that what you wanted -just a yes or no with no other helpful info?"

Yes.

JT

 

[tlong]

I think it's a bad idea to consider painting an acrylic top. That's why they made 2 choices. Just get a solid one and throw that one in the dumpster if it ticks you off to the point of being rude as hell to us.

The advice here is valuable. Take it and try not to be grumpy. Welcome to the CAC.

 

[larry bud]

Does that violate some rule? Please forgive more bluntness, but I don't care what Corvette owners normally do to their cars. I was asking a simple, somewhat technical question. In reply, I received some opinions, some painfuly obvious alternatives, and the suggestion that I trade my car for a Mustang. Answers to my question? One.

Some vette owners are pretty passionate about their cars. Don't take it personnally.

I haven't painted an acrylic top, but you should visit www.paintucation.com. Kevin, the owner of the site, is a paint shop guy, and he sells video tapes for DIYers. That's how I painted my car

www.areddy.net/vettepaint

He has a discussion forum all about painting, and I'm sure could answer your question about any difficulties in painting such a thing. As others have pointed out, you'll probably would want to put some sort of headliner in there. I don't have an acrylic top to know if there are differences on the inside, but I've read of those with leather interiors who've glued matching leather to the inside of their tops for a headliner (many us with solid tops have experienced sagging headliners). Sounds like a pretty cool solution.

 

[c4cruiser]

I went back and read your original post to see what really caused this to go downhill. The question was simple although it was somewhat unique. From a technical point of view, you can paint the top. How you do it and whether or not you should were answered by people who obviously care about their cars and Corvettes in general. You'll find that the great majority of Corvette owners care about everything from detailing to performance to correctness and some of those people answered your question with those things in mind.

Like tnovot, I found your replies to be at the very least, less than friendly and actually to the point of being rude. You will find that members of this Forum will try to help with questions and there are a lot of people here that have lots of knowledge about Corvettes. I felt that other's responses were to suggest reasonable alternatives and not necessiarily to turn you completely away from your intentions. Nobody was saying that you could not do what you wished or that it was some sort of law or rule you were going to break. You took these suggestions the wrong way and your responses reflected that.

Would I take offense of somebody suggested that I trade either one of my Vettes on a Mustang? No, I would not but I would not be considering the same course of action as you are. And IMHO after reading that response, I feel that was more "tounge-in-cheek" than anything else.

You stated that your Corvette is "just a car" and that's fine. But you should also understand that most of us here DO care about the car and what it represents in automotive history and the legends and people behind it.

So paint the top to match (or contrast) the body finish. A good shop should be able to make the top look great. As far as the potential of chemical reactions with the top material and the painting materials, a competent shop can answer any concerns you may have. But you said you were familiar with that already.

 

[JTaft]

"... If you want you can have my peeled top to experiment instead of ruining a good see through."

That's a very generous offer. Thanks.

Since I'm going to pay somebody to paint a top one way or the other, adding a trip to New Jersey to the project doesn't seem viable.

As I said, this is not a backyard project. My paint guy doesn't regard painting any part of a car as an experiment. If he ruins my top, both he and I'll be astonished, and it won't be my problem anymore.

Thanks for all the DIY info. As Dirty Harry opined, a man needs to know his limitations. I've painted stuff myself before. Not pretty.

JT

 

[1987Silvervette]

JT,

Well i am going to give you the answer you are looking for, but you are going to have to do soem reserch. First some chemicals you DONT MIX, my personal opinion is that the paint will not stick. Glass can be made up in sevral diff. composits, paint is made up in sevral diff. composits. So you see there are sevral diff mixtures you could get and REALLY screw up the corvette that you obviously dont care about. My best suggestion if you REALLY wanna do it is that you need to get a chemical composit sheet of the glass and the paint. Keep in mind if you paint it, and yea it will look good for a while but then it might form a anerobic decomposition of the b/t the paint and the glass. So there are a number of things that can go wrong. Even if you were able to get your hands on the chemical composit sheets you will not be able to figure them out. I deal with them day in and day out. and they are like reading f****** greek. So save yourself some time MONEY and complete and udder embarassment and just get another top. hell i would love to trade you. but you made it very clear that you will not trade