Colour coding hard top

[Guest]

What is the procedure for stripping and colour coding an original BMW hard top. Also my internal liner ia a kind of beige colour can I dye this or spray it black?

[bootyman]

They are a lot of work to colour code mate. You have to 1st stip the vinyle form the hardtop to reveal the rough fibre glass surface. It then has to pe pugged and sanded doen, then primed, then sprayed after. I dont think you'll be able to do it yourself and it wouldn't suprise me if most painters wanted a few hundred pounds to do it. As for the roof lining, forget about spraying it. You can still buy them from BMW, but tghey are not cheap.

[motorsport]

I peeled off the vinyl to reveal the green vinyl adhesive which is a pain to clean off. Took me an absolute age using a water steamer (safest and easiest option, avoid chemical strippers) to loosen it and a plastic spatula type tool to scrape it away once softened. Once you have removed the adhesive be careful as you flatten the fibreglass, as the hardtop is built around a metal honeycombed frame. You don't want to expose the metal frame as it will require a lot more filler primer to build up the surface ready for painting. Take off the rubbers first, including the rear screen seal, as they are really expensive to replace (main seal is Ԛ£200). Basically the process isn't that difficult just a lot of labour.
I would prepare it yourself as the bodyshop will then only have to build up the primer to a flat surface and paint it. If the honeycombed area is exposed too much then it may show through the paint when the hardtop gets a lot of heat/sun.
Get it done, well worth it.
Andy.
Send me a tel number pm if you need more info.