repairing targa top, in way over my head Options

[mightyohm]

Hi guys - I need some help with fiberglass repair. I have never worked on fiberglass before and I am in way over my head.

I am trying to refinish my Targa top. My top was already smoothed and painted when I bought the car, but the paint was flaking so I decided to refinish it.

I stripped the paint using fiberglass-safe stripper and got down to the gelcoat. That was pretty easy. Then I went over the top with a random orbit sander (100 grit) and got rid of the rest of the paint and got it cleaned up pretty well.

The problem is, the gelcoat has already been sanded through in many places, some of the damage must have been done by the PO and some by me making it worse. There is also a 1/8" divot in the top where the gelcoat is completely gone and it is into the fabric.

I want to prep the top for paint. I am having a professional body shop shoot the top, but I want to prep it as much as possible myself. I want to fill in the divot and low spots and also get the surface smooth. I think the PO used bondo.

Someone told me to use epoxy and a little bit of fiberglass cloth to fill in the divot. Does that sound ok? I have epoxy I bought from TAP plastics but I am not totally sure I know how to use it correctly.

I also think I have to "seal" the exposed fiberglass where the gelcoat has been sanded through. Is that correct? What can I use to seal it? I think if I just use bondo or have the shop prime it then the primer will leech into the fiberglass and cause pinholes.

Help please, I officially have no idea what I am doing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Here are a couple pics:

[Trekkor]

Jeff,
I've seen the " Inner Sanctuary " at HPH.
They have a whole rack of tops like 30 ft long. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)
Doors, hoods, trunks in every color...Oh my!

I'm not the fiberglass master, but I have done many repairs on my boat and skimboard and other schtuff.

I would approach it this way:

Remove all the seals and hardware.
Rough up the surface over the entire top.
Use acetone to get all the dust and residual yuck off the top.
Cut a piece of fiberglass cloth slightly bigger than the entire top.
Practice mixing some resin and hardener and using a piece of scrap cloth, get used to the process.
DO NOT mix the resin too " hot". With more hardener than recommended. It can " go off " and turn into jelly before you're even done mixing it.
Take the practice cloth and lay it out over a piece of cardboard. Pour the mixed resin onto the cloth and use an "S" motion back and forth over the cloth with a plastic body filler spreader until the cloth is clear.
When you do this over the top let the resin spill over the sides. ( protect your floor )

After the 'glass is hard you can trim off the excess and sand it out very smooth to 400-600 grit wet. Any surface imperfections or divots can be filled with straight resin and sanded out.

Try the practice session before you commit.

It's really quite easy as long as you are patient and the resin doesn't get away from you.

KT