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Just wanted to say that I've soloed this thread and getting great results on my C5 top. I'm not going to d the clear coat because I think it is going to look great without it. I got an orbital buffer for $29 from Home Depot that is making the job much easier after sanding down. Also by the way my top was is pretty bad shape with almost all of the original hard coat gone already. It doesn't matter. This technique still works. So happy I don't have to buy a new top!
Just wanted to thank the OP for this how-to. The cement ceiling in my garage leaked onto the targa of my C4, even with the car covered. I think it was the lime in the cement that ate the clear off. I scraped the rest of the clear coat off with a very wet (Windex) razor blade, changing blades often and angling just right to prevent gouges or scratches. I then followed the directions and did the sanding and buffing at home, then sent to top to a body shop for a shot of clear. All in for $400, my materials and body shop bill. It was a real bummer but not a total waste. The passenger side was peeling anyway. Very happy with the results.
Nice job! Mine has the passenger side flaw in it too.
Has anyone ever considered covering the top with black vinyl? Seems like it should work.
Steve
I bought a C5 last year and the roof had been vinyl wrapped. Looked good. Shiny but obviously not see-through. It's a bit dull now so might try repolishing or taking that off and repolishing back to clear.
When I did mine it did not take long to determine that all of the coating had to come off. I picked up some 3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound 05954 and used a buffer with a wool pad. That saved a lot of sanding. From there 2000 grit followed by Meguiars #1. Switched to a foam pad then Meguiars #9 then PlastX. I did not bother to clear it. It will scratch but once the coating is gone it is easy to just do a quick polish on it again.
Thanks for outlining how to refinish the targa. I'm not the best at doing fine finish work, but my $150 targa turned out better than I could've hoped it would. Much appreciated.
Bringing this post back up. What type of clear is best or next best for the finish? My research points to 2K Urethane clear being the best for the abrasion protection but it's a hassle to protect yourself from all the chemicals (full body suit, eye goggles, independent clean air respirator, etc). I feel lacquer/enamel may get the job done in the interim, but I'm more concerned about durability throughout the years.
A lot of us haven't worried about putting down a clear coat. I keep a coat of CG Jet Seal on mine for UV protection. Cheap, quick, and easy. I don't see durability being a short or even medium term issue without a clear. If you get another 10+ years out of it, that's going to outlast many other parts of the car lol
You can have it re-lensed for a few hundred bucks more than it costs to try to refinish it yourself if you're looking for "brand new quality"
Good question. Personally I would not clearcoat mine for many reasons. Once I got it to shine I called it done. It will scratch easily but it can be restored in a few minutes rather than a few hours.
This is informative and interesting. I've been reading on this thread that a lot of people had difficulty with removing the coating with wet sand. Once they got off the coating completely off, they were able to restore the shine and clarity completely just with compound and polish?
My clear top has apparent signs of oxidation and peeling so I plan on shaving it down with wet sand. Since I'll be chipping away at it until it hits the base, I was perplexed with the finishing process of how to restore the clarity if it wasn't clear coat spray.
I'm going to look into heggs' suggestion on the jet seal. It looks like a type of ceramic coating or something.
Last edited by OneBadBanana; 03-20-2020 at 12:19 AM.
Bringing this post back up. What type of clear is best or next best for the finish? My research points to 2K Urethane clear being the best for the abrasion protection but it's a hassle to protect yourself from all the chemicals (full body suit, eye goggles, independent clean air respirator, etc). I feel lacquer/enamel may get the job done in the interim, but I'm more concerned about durability throughout the years.
The urethane clear has stood up on my top really well. Just find a body shop that will clear it when painting a car and it won't cost much. It makes it easy because you don't need to wet sand or even go very fine on the sanding. About 320-400 grit is as fine as you need to use. I used a D/A air sander on mine before getting it cleared.
First post on this forum, and of course I'm digging up an old thread. Picked up a yellow C5 last Sunday and I'm already getting to work fixing the little things. I'm not good with body work / detailing and I have a great guy that has done several of my cars already, but I told him I wanted to take a stab at the targa top before throwing in the towel. I've seen a lot of inexperienced people on here tackle the job with phenomenal results, so it pains me admit that I'm struggling something fierce.
I started with 600 grit to get a few of the deep scratches out, then 800, 1000, 1500, 2500, and finally 3000. I then used Meguiars medium cut with a medium (yellow) pad at 1600rpm. Then went to Meguiars Fine cut with a soft (red) pad at 1000rpm.
As you can see, I still have very visible scratches. I went back and used rubbing compound with a wool pad, but I'm still left with these fine scratches that I cannot seem to eliminate.
I could use a new technique and some words of encouragement because I probably have about 5 hours into this already with little to show.
I hate to say it, but 5 hours is about 1/2-1/3 of the time it took me. I spent pretty much an entire weekend doing it by hand. It takes some work. The most helpful tip I can think of, and is where most people run into issues, is: for each step up in sandpaper, go against the grain of the sanding you just did. Only move to the next step in sanding when you no longer see the grain of the previous step. That will get you to where you want to be. It's looking good so far, but you need to go back to the grit that your deepest scratches are and start over from there.
You never even got past the lexon covering. I hate to say it, but this type refinishing is absolutely not worth it and it never looks good. Quit now and call melrose tops and have them replace the lens with a new one.
Truthfully? I spent - no, I WASTED - countless hours trying to refinish mine. I even got to the point of paying a local body guy to give it a shot. It just never, ever worked out.
I finally said “forget it” and got a replacement lens from Corvette Tops In Kirkland, IL. Not sure if the business is still active or not as that was around three years ago. There are other places out there but the prices can be a bit high.
Save yourself the grief and just replace it, if you have the means to do so. I don’t regret it for a second.
Truthfully? I spent - no, I WASTED - countless hours trying to refinish mine. I even got to the point of paying a local body guy to give it a shot. It just never, ever worked out.
I finally said “forget it” and got a replacement lens from Corvette Tops In Kirkland, IL. Not sure if the business is still active or not as that was around three years ago. There are other places out there but it’s not cheap.
Save yourself the grief and just replace it, if you have the means to do so. I don’t regret it for a second.
Thanks, I may end up doing that, but I am going to go back and try to remove those scratches with the cross-sanding with the step-up in grit. I don't give up on things very easily, so I'm going to give in another try.
12-14-2015, 12:05 PM
