Refinished my clear targa top
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,823
Likes: 757
From: Marysville Washington
Refinished my clear targa top
Well, when I bought my car in January, it had a clean bill of health, and was in perfect condition...save for the clear top, which looked like it was impregnated with sparkles it was spalled so bad. This weekend, my aim was to fix this issue.
-PARTS LIST-
Saw horses
Masking tape
Random orbital double action sander
6" head attachment
180, 320, and 400 grit sandpaper for the sander
600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
Clear coat paint
1 foam sanding block
variable speed polisher
1 light foam pad, and adapter for the polisher
GOOD quality wax
Swirl remover
various microfiber cloths
dish soap
So the first thing I did was setup the saw horses in a cool place, out of the sunlight. The sanding takes a long time, and if you have extensive spalling (what appears to be many light cracks in the material as viewed from the interior side on a sunny day) you may need to sand into the base material quite far to take them all out.
What you see in picture one, two, and three, is the UV damage to the factory top coat. As you can see, it is extensive, and covers about 80% of the surface of this top.
I started with 400 grit sand paper...which was a mistake. If you have any section of good top coat on your top when you start this, you WILL need more aggressive paper. The coating will coke up a piece of 400 grit immediately! The third picture however, shows what it looks like when your getting through the hard coat. My finger is pointing at the base material, and the white spots are partially sanded edges of the top coat.
Well live and learn. I looked at the underside of my top after going through a dozen 400 grit discs, just to see that my spalling hadn't even been touched, so I stepped up to the 180 grit and went at it, which went MUCH faster as one could imagine. After I did the whole top in this (about an hour) I stepped up to the 320 grit discs (another hour of sanding) and finally back down to the 400 grit (hour and a half) at which point I felt confident enough to wet sand the surface in preparation for paint with 600 grit (about two hours). I sanded everything in one direction so I could see where there were still swirl scratches from working the surface with the ROB sander. After I was happy with the finish, I then washed the top with dish washing soap, which will strip all the oil, solvents, and particles from the piece, and let it air dry in the sun.
After hours of toiling, I finally sprayed the clear. I used the cheapo duplicolor clear in a spray can, two cans of it. I sprayed it on in two light coats, and one final thick one, and the 5th and 6th pictures show the top, the next day after I let it dry overnight.
-PARTS LIST-
Saw horses
Masking tape
Random orbital double action sander
6" head attachment
180, 320, and 400 grit sandpaper for the sander
600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
Clear coat paint
1 foam sanding block
variable speed polisher
1 light foam pad, and adapter for the polisher
GOOD quality wax
Swirl remover
various microfiber cloths
dish soap
So the first thing I did was setup the saw horses in a cool place, out of the sunlight. The sanding takes a long time, and if you have extensive spalling (what appears to be many light cracks in the material as viewed from the interior side on a sunny day) you may need to sand into the base material quite far to take them all out.
What you see in picture one, two, and three, is the UV damage to the factory top coat. As you can see, it is extensive, and covers about 80% of the surface of this top.
I started with 400 grit sand paper...which was a mistake. If you have any section of good top coat on your top when you start this, you WILL need more aggressive paper. The coating will coke up a piece of 400 grit immediately! The third picture however, shows what it looks like when your getting through the hard coat. My finger is pointing at the base material, and the white spots are partially sanded edges of the top coat.
Well live and learn. I looked at the underside of my top after going through a dozen 400 grit discs, just to see that my spalling hadn't even been touched, so I stepped up to the 180 grit and went at it, which went MUCH faster as one could imagine. After I did the whole top in this (about an hour) I stepped up to the 320 grit discs (another hour of sanding) and finally back down to the 400 grit (hour and a half) at which point I felt confident enough to wet sand the surface in preparation for paint with 600 grit (about two hours). I sanded everything in one direction so I could see where there were still swirl scratches from working the surface with the ROB sander. After I was happy with the finish, I then washed the top with dish washing soap, which will strip all the oil, solvents, and particles from the piece, and let it air dry in the sun.
After hours of toiling, I finally sprayed the clear. I used the cheapo duplicolor clear in a spray can, two cans of it. I sprayed it on in two light coats, and one final thick one, and the 5th and 6th pictures show the top, the next day after I let it dry overnight.
Last edited by ErikwithAK01; Jul 27, 2014 at 12:34 AM.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,823
Likes: 757
From: Marysville Washington
This next picture was as I was wet sanding the surface after the clear with 1000 grit paper.
the 2nd picture is of me while I was polishing out the surface.
The 3rd picture shows the surface quality after treatment with the polishing compound, and a healthy coat of a high quality wax (which should ALWAYS be applied in the shade). As you can see, an enormous difference from the beginning of the process. I tried to get a better picture of the clarity after the polishing process but this was the best I could come up with in the last pic.
The finished product is a very clear, nearly perfect finish that is now OE in appearance, and I no longer have to explain to people why my roof is sparkly haha
If your on the fence about this, just know it should take a solid weekend for someone that is new to body work, but when it's donw, it's one of the most satisfying projects I've personally completed on my Vette!
the 2nd picture is of me while I was polishing out the surface.
The 3rd picture shows the surface quality after treatment with the polishing compound, and a healthy coat of a high quality wax (which should ALWAYS be applied in the shade). As you can see, an enormous difference from the beginning of the process. I tried to get a better picture of the clarity after the polishing process but this was the best I could come up with in the last pic.
The finished product is a very clear, nearly perfect finish that is now OE in appearance, and I no longer have to explain to people why my roof is sparkly haha
If your on the fence about this, just know it should take a solid weekend for someone that is new to body work, but when it's donw, it's one of the most satisfying projects I've personally completed on my Vette!
