Possessing a car, getting it painted by a professional can get a lot of money. Nevertheless, you can apply paint on car roof yourself, but you must ensure you are fully engaged as the task demands time, effort, and accuracy.
Painting the roof of a vehicle is a general trend in contemporary society and provides the owner to accommodate the vehicle’s paintwork to suit their personality considerably.
Prepping the Roof for Painting
- Coordinate the existing color by applying the car’s color code to purchase paint. Obtain your vehicle’s paint color code. It’s typically listed on the “compliance plate” under the bonnet, including details like the VIN. Please write down this code and bring it to an auto paint retailer to get a color match.
- Get cans of automotive clear coat finish along with the automotive primer.
- Wear a respirator and personal safety equipment for any car coating job. Wear long sleeves and pants, goggles, and gloves. You may even put on a disposable full-body shielding suit with a shade.
- Work in a well-ventilated carport or a covered outside spot. Do not apply spray paint in your garage if it holds a furnace, water heater, or any other potential ignition source. Follow the leading garage door and added the exterior door or window open. It would help to fix up blocks of plastic sheeting to guard your stuff against paint overspray.
- Wash and rinse your car’s roof. Let it cool dry. Use an ordinary automotive soap, water, and a sponge or cloth to wipe all visible dirt, grime, and debris.
- Don’t apply any wax before painting.
- Get relieved of any rust points with sandpaper or a grinder. For large rusting, employ a metal grinder to eliminate as much rust as you probably can. Implement a putty edge to stuff holes with a non-rusting auto frame filler. Let the filler dry entirely before undertaking.
- Wash the roof thoroughly with wet scraps, tack cloths, and then a degreaser. When you’re done sanding, wipe down the top with some damp rags.
- Paint thinner, mineral spirits, or denatured alcohol can be exchanged for the degreaser.
- Delicately apply painter’s tape around the roof’s edges, holding it down firmly into the seams within the top and the doors, front windshield, and rear windshield.
- If you have a sunroof, push the strip down into the seams around the edges.
Applying Primer, Paint, and Clear Coat
- Spray on three light layers of automotive primer. Shake the can definitely for at least 1 minute and up to 4 minutes — ensure it clatters! Keep the can 12 inches from the roof surface and spray in steady, even blasts, stirring the can from side to side.
- Start at the side of the roof and work your way to the other side in parallel lines.
- Wait 20 minutes, put on a second coat, and wait 20 minutes before continuing the third coat.
- Adding multiple light coats produces superior results with clear finishing coats.
- Sand the primer gently with a 600-grit block, then clean the dust. Once the last primer layer dries completely, get it sand gently with a 600-grit sanding block with even strokes forever going in the corresponding direction. Wipe off the dirt with a clean, moist rag, make the roof dry, and then wipe it repeatedly with a tack cloth.
- The aim is to even out the primer and gently etch it to operate the finish coats better.
- Spatter on a light coat of your preferred color of rattle can car paint. Apply the same technique as with the primer: get long, uniform, even, parallel strokes from the far side of the roof to the expected side. Perform this first coat very lightly, though—you should still obviously see the coloring of the primer coats below the surface. Allow the paint to dry for the next 20 minutes before proceeding.
- Clean the surface using a tack cloth after this first coat dehydrates. Apply the tack cloth after each coat you use from now on.
- Append a second and third coat of paint to make a whole, even color but a somewhat heavier coat.
- Allow the coat to dry, and wipe it down with a tack cloth.
- Focus on an evening out the coverage.
- Utilize the tack cloth over after the third coat. If you’re still not entirely satisfied with the smoothness of the coverage, go ahead and add a fourth coat.
- Apply three layers of rattle can automotive clear coat.
- Begin by spraying on a charming first layer of clear coat, utilizing long, even, parallel moves.
- Pause for about 20 minutes for it to dry and clean down the roof with a tack cloth.
- Add a heavier layer as the second one, wait and wipe, and then apply a third layer to even out the glossy finish.
- Pause for at least 12 hours before lifting the painter’s tape.
- Allow the transparent coat to cure for at shortest another 12 hours. It is ideally for up to 7 days before exposing the car to the environment.
Final Thoughts
If you’re viewing to paint your car yourself and generate special effects, it’s a must to fund in a pro-style paint sprayer and use skillful techniques. Since your car’s roof is less prominent, though, you may choose it’s okay to reconcile for “pretty good” results instead. Opt for the more accessible and cheaper alternative of using “rattle can” automotive spray paints in this situation. But don’t save on the prep work!