Can the 2 dr MIC hardtop be painted?

[Broncos 4 evah]

Subject pretty much says it all. Can the Molded in Color hardtop be painted after I take delivery?
Are there issues with paint sticking?

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[iamchewby]

The texture would need to be sanded smooth. It can be done but it takes a lot of work... and a good primer.

 

[Bronc-Itus]

Perhaps it could be dipped?

Would that make it a dic top?

 

[Hemisfear]

Media blast and bedline coating maybe, painting would most likely be very expensive, with lots of labor or special chemicals is my guess...

 

[Howdy]

Johnny's Bench, Krylon - YouTube

 

[Fly by Nite]

It can most likely be painted.
Preparation is critical to maintain adhesion!
Cleaning the surface is step one. Step two is surface prep for adhesion. Step three would be application.
The surface can be sanded to roughen it up and give it some 'tooth' for the paint to grab on to.
Another method instead of sanding is to use an adhesion promoter. This softens the plastic surface and allows the paint to bond with it.
There are also vinyl dyes which can be used on interior surfaces. It's similar to a paint but different somehow.

Without knowing the exact type of material the top is made from, I can't recommend one method over another.
Take a look at the SEM products web site. These are pro-quality products used in the auto industry. You could even give tech support a call and ask for recommendations.
https://www.semproducts.com/

 

[Darforce]

Consider vinyl wrap. You are looking at an hour of work, $60 and plenty of color choices.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

Consider vinyl wrap. You are looking at an hour of work, $60 and plenty of color choices.

I thought the epionion was there is too much texture for a wrap to take based on the old MIC top texture. I wonder if if this would work on the final MIC top texture - looking less textured? I so, I’d definitely go with this less risk / reversible approach.

My son says try plasti-dip too, with cleaning to remove the production release agents.

 

[GaryB2220]

Wait for dipyourcar to try it out themselves first or get a wrap. Or go full redneck and spray paint it crummy camo or black with a big red 3 on it. Whatever you do, please let us know how it works out and share pictures

 

[broadicustomworks]

Not trying to sound like an abrasive guy, but It has been discussed in probably a dozen threads already.
The older version of the MIC top I saw in person had a lot of texture to it. Identical to the grain and texture in a lot of aftermarket speaker pod Harley parts I have painted in the past.
I did everything textbook perfect with adhesion promoter, scotchbrite (sanding will reduce the texture in an uneven manner unless you sand ALL the texture off and featherfill prime, block sand it), etc. Some adhered just fine and looked good, some failed.

The newer version no one has seen in person yet other than the people on here who actually work at the factory.
The grain looks considerably less.
At the end of the day, everything can be painted, in theory.
I have begun using Tamco products, and they swear they have a primer that will adhere to anything, even chrome.
Until I try it myself I can't attest to that or defend it.
IF that is the case, in theory you should be able to scotch the whole thing, apply this primer (with some adhesion promoter to be safe), sand, and paint and be just fine.
I have done many Jeep tops in my day, both in paint and bedlining.
No failures, but their top in a considerably smoother surface (and what appears to be a different plastic) than what i saw in October at the TN show.

I can say 100% dipping it, plasti-dip, and wrapping are not going to end well just due to the grain. Your two solutions are really a urethane-based quality bedline material or paint based on the above assumptions.

 

[abe]

Wait for dipyourcar to try it out themselves first or get a wrap. Or go full redneck and spray paint it crummy camo or black with a big red 3 on it. Whatever you do, please let us know how it works out and share pictures

Raise hell, Praise Dale

 

[Bronco4lyfe85]

Consider vinyl wrap. You are looking at an hour of work, $60 and plenty of color choices.

What? Doing this correctly would definitely not cost $60 and would not take only an hour. You clearly know nothing about vinyl installation because if you did you would know it only comes in 5’ rolls.

You would want to use at the very least 1080-2080 3M wrap which isn’t cheap. The dimensions as far as I can tell are about 6’9” long and 6 - 6 1/2’ wide. We don’t have an exact dimension for that but going off that you would need 2 piece’s 5’X7’ which would cost you roughly $81 per sheet so that’s $192. Plus squeeqees, heat gun, nice rags etc so you can install it. I’ve installed this stuff and it has a learning curve you’ll like screw up so add in another sheet at $81. You’ll have to seam it which again, not a novice trick and wrap the beams going down, also not easy. For the columns it takes heating it up and stretching the vinyl around the columns. For the roof you’ll have to use knifeless tape and overlap them and pull It back 1 tri-line at a time to cut it and then heat it up to remove the seam so you can’t see it. The tape can be a bitch, I’ve used it, if not done perfectly it tears the vinyl instead of cutting it, takes practice. Then you have to go back and heat it to a specific temperature so that it “memorizes” that shape and doesn’t peel off later.

$60 would get you some hack, redneck installation with cheap EBay vinyl that will look like shit and likely last a month.

 

[ZackDanger]

Not trying to sound like an abrasive guy, but It has been discussed in probably a dozen threads already.
The older version of the MIC top I saw in person had a lot of texture to it. Identical to the grain and texture in a lot of aftermarket speaker pod Harley parts I have painted in the past.
I did everything textbook perfect with adhesion promoter, scotchbrite (sanding will reduce the texture in an uneven manner unless you sand ALL the texture off and featherfill prime, block sand it), etc. Some adhered just fine and looked good, some failed.

The newer version no one has seen in person yet other than the people on here who actually work at the factory.
The grain looks considerably less.
At the end of the day, everything can be painted, in theory.
I have begun using Tamco products, and they swear they have a primer that will adhere to anything, even chrome.
Until I try it myself I can't attest to that or defend it.
IF that is the case, in theory you should be able to scotch the whole thing, apply this primer (with some adhesion promoter to be safe), sand, and paint and be just fine.
I have done many Jeep tops in my day, both in paint and bedlining.
No failures, but their top in a considerably smoother surface (and what appears to be a different plastic) than what i saw in October at the TN show.

I can say 100% dipping it, plasti-dip, and wrapping are not going to end well just due to the grain. Your two solutions are really a urethane-based quality bedline material or paint based on the above assumptions.

Not a great high def image, but helps maybe a little to see difference.

(the new tops were on display at KOH)

 

[sanford]

no

 

[That_Hal]

Consider vinyl wrap. You are looking at an hour of work, $60 and plenty of color choices.

I have a hard time believing that a wrap would work on such a rough surface

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