Painting a fiberglass topper

[benny12]

I bought a ATC topper off craigslist, but the topper is a brownish while my 2017 is graphite metallic. I have searched long and hard for someone to paint it for a reasonable cost, I can't find anything under $800, and that was Maaco. I looked at a wrap, but that was expensive too and didn't last long term. 

 

I researched and learned the process to paint it in my garage. My questions: 

 

1. Is it possible, if I take my time and follow the directions, that it will look close enough to my factory paint (it won't look like an untrained monkey did it?)?

2. Can I get away with using rattle cans, or do I need to get a sprayer (I have a compressor) to get decent coats on it?

3. If I can do rattle cans, which brand is best? I have seen Touch up Direct, AC Delco and a few others.

 

Thanks for the help all. 

 

Side note, if you are in the greater Denver area and have a recommendation of someone that does these in their garage and actually returns phone calls I am interested. 

[Granite7]

The rattle can is going to look like ass and get worse every month in the Colorado sun. The challenge will be getting even coverage by overlapping sprays before it flashes dry. That will be nearly impossible to do with a rattle can on a large surface, but it probably looks good enough for a 100 foot finish. The real kicker is when you finally break down and pay someone extra to strip off your rattle can and paint it right.

I haven’t even mentioned the hazards of breathing that stuff. Find someone with the right spray equipment, the right PPE, and a ventilated shop. Finding someone with that in their garage isn’t very likely.

Maaco ought to be able to handle a 10 foot finish.

I would recommend calling Gerber Collision Repair in Longmont. I’m not positive that they’ll do it, but they’re good folks. They’ve been our go to for PDR and a couple fender benders. They do excellent work and they’ve been reasonable on the things we have paid out of pocket for. I’m sure it’ll be more than Maaco, but at least it’ll give you an idea of what a professional charges.

[Snowcamo]

X2 find a shop to handle it. A small job with just a light sanding then primer, base and topcoat will add up to be the same in the end once you buy the correct tools and material for the job. Been there and now I have a complete upmost respect for paint techs. Not worth the rattle cans as it will turn to ish quick and you'll be back to square 1 after the summer or year is over.

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[Grumpy Bear]

20 hours ago, benny12 said:

 

I researched and learned the process to paint it in my garage. 

 

Autodidact can take a guy further than educators would care to admit but....painting....even a good 20 footer....requires allot of practice and allot of failures to master. You will learn in your first failed attempt more than everything you've learned by reading. I once knew a guy to paint entire door on new cars in rattle cans and get a factory looking finish. But he also painted dozens of junkyard doors and dozens more smaller repairs on the 'salt car' before he even attempted that job. I've painted frames, tanks and fenders for motorcycles and got a passible result but after decades of hiding my failed attempts. I limit myself to chip repair anymore.  

Edited April 16, 2021 by Grumpy Bear