Crop circles on my hard top...

[O'Shell]

Ok so I scored this hard top same year as the cruiser that its going on for $200 bucks. I'd say its a good deal but its going to need some work. I'd like to maybe strengthen the fiberglass the circles are a little soft then paint it with a good water proof layer. My old hard top from my 74 (R.I.P) had a sunroof installed by the PO well years down the line water started leaking in and the fiberglass sagged. I want to prevent the from happening to this newly acquired top. Also want to fill in the screw holes in the picture. Any ideas on a good route to take here?

 

[Fast Eddy]

Any ideas on a good route to take here?

You don't want paint, you want gelcoat. Take it to a boat repair shop. It should be pretty cheap and it will come out great.

 

[O'Shell]

Thanks, I hope I can find one in the high desert here.

 

[my64fj40]

I disagree, you want to paint it.

Gel coat is not as good as it is made out to be. Paint it with DuPont Imron, it is more durable than gel coat, and it won't fade like gel coat does.

Check out the thread in my sig to see some excellent work a buddy of mine did more my fiberglass top. He repaired a few weak spots, and put a another layer of cloth down on the inside. The top used to flex and bend when I picked it up, know it is stiff as a rock.

 

[Doug_S]

If you use DuPont Imron, be very careful to use a respirator. Imron is one of the most toxic paints out there.

 

[kbill45]

Top

What I see is fiberglass deterioration from exposure. On my restorations when the top is in this condition I sand it with 100 grit, wash it real good and skim the whole thing with fiberglass, sand smooth and paint. Not that hard really.

 

[nwtreeoctopus]

kbill45 has the idea. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to use some Imron after the fact, but if you fix up the fiberglass, you won't need paint that intense (not that it'd hurt).

 

[Coolerman]

I would think with the amout of body flex these trucks have you would want the top to be a bit flexible?

Otherwise seems it would start to develope stress cracks...

On my 12 year old boat, which is all gel coat, one coat of good wax a year and it looks brand new today. Granted the boat sees less sun that DD Cruisers but gel coat is pretty tuff if maintained with a good waxing now and then.

Of course YMMV~

 

[Tankota]

If you use DuPont Imron, be very careful to use a respirator. Imron is one of the most toxic paints out there.

Yes, it is. Cyanide is one of the ingredients Works pretty good though

 

[my64fj40]

I would think with the amout of body flex these trucks have you would want the top to be a bit flexible?

Otherwise seems it would start to develope stress cracks...

On my 12 year old boat, which is all gel coat, one coat of good wax a year and it looks brand new today. Granted the boat sees less sun that DD Cruisers but gel coat is pretty tuff if maintained with a good waxing now and then.

Of course YMMV~

Well, let's see. The top is 40+ years old. I don't think the fiberglass is in as good as new condition anymore. As in, it probably flexs a lot more now than it did new. So, now we want cruisers that have flexing bodies and tops, what's next, crumple zones also.

Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't a top that flexs more have more stress cracks
As in the picture posted above..........

I painted a boat completely with Imron about 8 years ago. Went and saw it a couple months ago. Just like new, no waxing, no fading, no chalking. And a hot rod buddy of mine painted a car about 10 years ago with Imron, after 120,000 miles paint is like new. Looking at the front grill area, there is not one rock chip, want to know why?? Imron doesn't chip.

 

[my64fj40]

kbill45 has the idea. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to use some Imron after the fact, but if you fix up the fiberglass, you won't need paint that intense (not that it'd hurt).

I'm sure we could rattle can a body also, I mean it works don't it??

 

[llih]

After doing some research over on some corvette and body forums, I ground the cracks out. The long line of cracks across the front in the pic is from the hood hitting the top. I layed in another layer of glass cloth across the front visor. I put down another layer overlapping it to feather is all in. I also patched a couple of light holes and re-resined the gutter. I then sanded it down coarse and finished it off with some kitty hair body filler. Got it looking nice. The extra glass stiffened it up. Primed and painted it with some 1 stage automotive paint. Looks new and doesn't leak.
Almost all catalyzed automotive paints have cyanates in them and should be sprayed using a hi quality respirator or fresh air breathing system. Adequate clothing and gloves should also be worn, as the cyanates can be absorbed thru the skin.

 

[my64fj40]

After doing some research over on some corvette and body forums, I ground the cracks out. The long line of cracks across the front in the pic is from the hood hitting the top. I layed in another layer of glass cloth across the front visor. I put down another layer overlapping it to feather is all in. I also patched a couple of light holes and re-resined the gutter. I then sanded it down coarse and finished it off with some kitty hair body filler. Got it looking nice. The extra glass stiffened it up. Primed and painted it with some 1 stage automotive paint. Looks new and doesn't leak.
Almost all catalyzed automotive paints have cyanates in them and should be sprayed using a hi quality respirator or fresh air breathing system. Adequate clothing and gloves should also be worn, as the cyanates can be absorbed thru the skin.

Did you leave the original layer of gel coat on or did you sand it all off??

 

[wesintl]

hail damage...

 

[FJ40fiji]

Gel coat is great, but not cheap, and not easy to apply. Get a very light cloth, or whats called a veil and some regular old polyester resin. After you have sanded all that is loose go ahead and lay up a thin layer of new fiber glass, then sand, fill if neccessary, and paint. Check out Fiberglast (search it, I don't remember the address) for materials and good composite info.

 

[TLCHopII]

K then: here's neub question

What caused those crop circles? Are thay in some existing paint/coating or down in the fiberglass?

FYI: old glass is very thirsty buy more resin than initially seems necessary. A combinationof the approaches above seems necessary: resin & glass for the purposes of repair and rstorationof the fiberglass base material. choose your finish based on your skill and/or budget.

 

[Trollhole]

hail damage...

X2

 

[Coolerman]

Well, let's see. The top is 40+ years old. I don't think the fiberglass is in as good as new condition anymore. As in, it probably flexs a lot more now than it did new. So, now we want cruisers that have flexing bodies and tops, what's next, crumple zones also.

Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't a top that flexs more have more stress cracks
As in the picture posted above..........

I'm not an engineer but how about this theory? Think of a sheet of paper thats 'bolted' to a frame. It is free to flex with the frame in any direction and will withstand a lot of flexing. Now coat the paper with something to stiffen it up. It will become MUCH stronger but will loose it's flexibility. Now when the frame flexes the stress from the paper not being able to flex freely is transfered to the frame attachment points and you get stress cracks around them. Might be why Toyota made the top a bit thinner? I'm asking ... Any structural engineers here?

I don't think those are stress cracks... My top also has those and it's not even been on a vehicle that's been in use in 8 years. I like the hail theory!

Don't think I can afford to do Imron with my budget...

 

[llih]

I only ground off the gel coat in areas where the damage was. Most of my top was in pretty good shape. I had the cracks along the front of the visor. I ground those out as close to the gutter as possible. I didn't want to take the heads off the rivets. I ground back towards the center of the top far enough to get a good lap and tie in. I had a couple of other small spots where the gelcoat was cracked. I ground those off too. I course sanded the gutter, so the new resin would have some tooth. I also ground around the two light holes so they could be repaired. I used some glass mat on the holes. I used some fabric on the other spots. I would think leaving as much of the gel coat as possible would be best. That way you can keep the original shape of the top. You could use more then a couple of layers of fabric if you want to be extra anal. I was amazed at how much more strength it had after just the glass sheeting. I then used some kitty hair body filler to bring it up to the level of the gelcoat.. This is some tough stuff. You want to knock it down before it gets too hard. It is tough sanding. The kitty hair really stiffened it up
After it was all rough sanded I skimmed the areas with some Rage Gold. I finished blocking it out, primed it with some primer surfacer. I then painted it with with a single stage paint. I also used some zero rust on the gutters before priming it.

These tops were pretty stiff when new. I had 2 friends with new 40s back in the 70s. Their tops were like a solid piece of steel when we took them off. I think the 40 years of flexing and removing the tops get things worked loose. Of course many people modify these vehicle to flex a lot more then they ever did coming from the factory. The circular cracks I think were from hail or else the previous owner had an enemy with a ball peen hammer.

 

[pbgbottle]

X2
here for using the veil it finishes up really nice .alot easier to clean up and sand smooth than the gelcoat ,gelcoat is a biatch to get smooth if you applyed it with a brush .

Gel coat is great, but not cheap, and not easy to apply. Get a very light cloth, or whats called a veil and some regular old polyester resin. After you have sanded all that is loose go ahead and lay up a thin layer of new fiber glass, then sand, fill if neccessary, and paint. Check out Fiberglast (search it, I don't remember the address) for materials and good composite info.