Re: Terra top

[John Hofstetter <hofs@domain.elided>]

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 17:38:21 -0600
From: epp@domain.elided (Michael Eppinger)
Subject: Painting a Fiberglass Top

IH all,
How do you prep, prepare, and paint a fiberglass roof for a Terra?  I am
going to pressure wash the top to get it clean.  But do you coat it with
anything before you prime it?  The remains of the paint is dry and
chalky,
will that affect primer or paint adhesion?  Will the pressure washing
take
care of that before painting, or do I need to do something after it is
pressure washed?

Any help would be appriciated.

Thanks

Epp

Epp
I hate to even say this here because one of these days someone of you
will see my Terra and say, "you painted what?". Most of the recent paint
on it is to cover up scrapes so that they don't rust. 
But, at the risk of being set upon, your fiberglass top is probably
showing fiber because the "glass" has worn away. Sand your top and then
you should really paint it with a coating of epoxy resin which if you
are careful about laying it down will give you a really nice smooth base
upon which to work. The advantage of doing this is that the resin is
going to help your top last almost forever. I actually put the resin on
with a squeegee on most of the top. If you want to not bother with the
resin, then power wash, sand, wipe off with paint thinner, and paint.
The paint should adhere really well because the top is fairly porous and
the paint can get a good hold. I primed with Rustoleum primer because
that was what I had and never got around to putting on a finish coat.
Doesn't look that bad. The reason I got involved in messing with the top
in the first place was that my wife insisted on having a hand hold
inside above the window. I got a chrome hand hold and bolted it to the
inner layer of the top, filled the space with fiberglass gel (Acraglass
from Brownells) and then patched the two holes that I had cut in the top
layer in order to attach big washers and nuts to the bolts holding on
the hand hold. Worked great. 
Well, that's a good deal more than you wanted to know.
John