Targa: To clearcoat or not to clearcoat, that is the question...

[sothpaw]

Guys,
I have a small dilema and the 84-96 forum
didn't respond too well.

Anyway, I have an acrylic targa top on my
1993 which looks like it is peeling and is
scratched. It is bringing the overall (good)
exterior appearance down so I want to
do something about it.

I know from info. here that wetsanding followed
by buffing is the answer.

I went to a body shop to have it done for me,
as I don't really have the sand paper or
buffer and it eats up my time.

The shop guy quoted: $225 for sand, buff, and
clearcoat. And this will only last 3 years, according
to him, so I should consider a refurbishing service.
I asked what if you skip the clear coat,
how much then? He says $150 but won't last as
long.

So is it clear coated on top from the factory, and should
I therefore have him re-spray it with that? Or will
some Zaino Z1/Z2 do the protection trick alone?

Thanks for any help!

Andy

 

[Vettelt193]

I replied in the other forum, but here is more... The first time I have ever heard about clear coat on the glass top is from your post... I really do not believe the top has a clear coat on it, otherwise you would probably sand through it during the wet sand, and it would be noticable... Think of it this way, the inside of the top has a really slim chance of having any kind of clear coat on it, and it is shiny. If this is the case, then you can wet sand and buff out the scratches, and it will be shiny again... After that, it would need to be maintained properly to keep it that way, When I have my glass top on (which isn't too often, because of all the problems that seem to be associated with the thing) I wax it regularly... This means no less than once a month, and my car has a garage... If it wasn't garaged, I would be tempted to wax it every other car wash (every two weeks at most) ... This is simply because of the nature of the glass top... from my experience, they don't last a long time, 3 years is the norm if the car sits outside and it isn't waxed regularly... Honestly, If all I had was a glass top and it was going bad, I would invest in the painted top instead of another glass one, it keeps the car cooler anyway, and then I could take my time to wet sand the top myself.... You should be able to find a used one at any of the corvette salvage yards (advertised online and in Corvette Trader, a good fair priced one is called Coastal Corvettes, they have a tiny text ad in the back of the corvette trader)... you have a big advantage of having a black car, because the top should match the paint easily... hope this helps (oh, and for the glass tops, I think it is important to use a real wax, with carnuba, like the real zymol www.zymol.com because it seems to work better than the products like zaino)