[OMalley]

I've got a hold of a Suzuki Sierra Geniune hardtop.

Its white but am in the process of preping it to be painted black.

I have all the spray gear and will be taking a trip to Autobahn tomorrow to get some paint. (in tins not spraycan stuff)

I'm figuring a Gloss enamel Black and a corresponding primer will do the trick? How much of it i dont know.. Any advice would be great.

Also do you have to be 18 to buy automotive paint in tins? (save me the hour drive if you do)

Cheers

[Rusho]

2 Pac would be better, and an epoxy type under coat would be great also. I doubt autobarn would sell it though

[ajsr]

yep 2 pac is the go as its shiney off the gun.
black is the best covering color of all so if its a top only not the whole canopy you might get away with 500 ml but I'd get a litre.
mixed it will give you 1.6-7 lt of paint which will be heaps.
get fast hardner and fast reducer and let it go tacky- or just touch dry before recoating.
3 coats is heaps.

if you want semi gloss acrylic will be easier.

rub it all down as good as you can with 600 wet and then green scotch the shit out of it using ajax powder cleaner and green or red scotch brite(get 3m or norton scotch if possible.
ajax will dull the surface and get rid of the wax and greases.
make sure you prepwash surfaces as well

[OMalley]

[ajsr]

2pac mix is easy 2parts paint 1 part hardener and 10%reducer
so 1 litre paint 500ml hardener and approx 150ml reducer.
its not really something you want to learn to paint with however.

semi gloss is achived by adding flatting base to paint, but it works much better in acrylic as you need a massive amount in 2pac to dull the gloss out.

if you go to an auto paints place an ask for eggshell black its a mid sheen acrylic paint . just make sure you stir it well as the flatting base seperates as it sits on the shelf.

if you use acrylic make sure you sand any trace of shine off that top before you even look at putting paint on

[JrZook]

How good is 2 pack with the flexing of the fiber hardtop?

[ajsr]

Its excellent if you add a little flex aid into the mix. All factory bumbers are done in it.
acrylic is not quite as good. but will still flex ok with flex aid added

[OMalley]

What effect could shine have on the paint using acrylic?

[ajsr]

by using just normal acrylic you will achive anywhere from 3/4 to 1/4 gloss level depending on how good you can apply it.
Acrylic is designed to rubbed back after painting and buffed to a shine.

2pak and enamels are desgined to be left with an off the gun finish

[FHA57]

if ur going for a matt or satin colour just use the rubber deadner in a can works awesome my looked sweet

[ajsr]

its called stone guard.

deadner is tar

[ninjamoses]

Painted my white flexiglass canopy with paint from auto one (I believe its enamel - they mix up a batch for you off the factory paint code). The colour match was absolutely spot on, it went on well even with a cheapy spray gun, and still looks as good as the day it went on.

Prep work is the key I reckon, I spent many, many hours sanding it prior to painting.

We didn't bother with a primer, just did 3 colour coats and 2 clear over the top.

[ajsr]

yes you dont require a primer on fiberglass as long as its sanded well and has not gone through the gell coat, but good primer will never hurt