So I have a hardtop for my Bugeye Sprite. The top is in barn find condition and has some crazing and cracking of the finish/paint and I'm not sure if it's just paint or into the gelcoat.
So for someone who hasn't done much in the paint and body realm, what's the best process to attack this? Just sand it, or chemical stripper? What fillers and paints to play nice with flexible fiberglass?
2nd photo is up close after minor cleanup with a random orbit sander.
Additionally, there is an old repair spot on it. Anything special for that besides sanding it before proceeding?
I am certainly not the guy to ask because I would spray it with bedliner and go driving. 
Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:I am certainly not the guy to ask because I would spray it with bedliner and go driving.
Yeah, yeah, I get it. While I am not after perfect on this car, I am trying to do things kind of correctly. Nothing worse than having to strip off more bad work. I've already had to take a wire wheel on an angle grinder to get rubberized undercoating out of the entire interior of the car... (some previous owner thought that was a brilliant idea aparrently)
We did cover how to fix fiberglass not too long ago, if that helps you:
I find that small fiberglass repair projects... I outsource to good boat repair shops. Anybody that can make a metalflake covered bass boat look like it never rammed a dock, has to be my "go to". Plus my skin hates fiberglass dust.
I would be very careful about using chemical stripping on old fiberglass. It could soften it and turn it into scrap.
If there is someone nearby who does soda blasting, I would look into that.
I've owned a couple of fiberglass bodied cars. My advice is to find a body shop that works on Corvettes and either have them spray it or ask them how you can safely prep it for spraying.
Hard to tell from the pics if the cracks are just paint or go into the gelcoat. If the latter it is a huge PITA as you need to remove the gelcoat, and use a special epoxy sealer before painting.
Worth it though - those are nice looking hard tops.
Colin Wood said:We did cover how to fix fiberglass not too long ago, if that helps you:
That is helpful, but I am more looking for finish knowledge than for structural repair knowledge.
I guess I am looking for how far down I need to go and how? (yeah, I do need to know if chemical stripping is a no=no) and what products to use to skim coat the thing and then paint that wont crack on a flexible fiberglass part (in Ye Olde English White). I havent done bodywork at all before, so I am likely going to need to get a paint gun, which for how small this is I am leaning towards "is harbor freight good enough, or where can I get good enough for cheap?"
I am leaning towards DIY, but there are a ton of boat shops around... I would guess that this is much thinner than what they are used to dealing with.
An aside, I need to pull the rear glass as that is unobtainium and if it broke would have to be replaced with lexan.
In reply to Apexcarver :
The paint intended for bumpers is what you should be using. Do not strip it. Potential bad chemical juju.
That's small enough to just sand off but don't sand any further than absolutely required. Figure out the worst area and start with 150 grit spread the sanding around and as soon as you get the crack gone stop in that area. Blow it out and see if you actually got it all or just filled up the crack with dust. If there is a little trace left take a piece of 400 grit and lightly hand sand. Once the crack is gone, use that to judge how much to sand the whole roof. If there is just one area where it goes all the way to the fiberglass use a little filler putty, In that area, but if there are several areas where it gets down to the fiberglass you can on sanding everything down to the fiberglass and putting a gel coat on. But! 2nd gel coats don't have a great record, some just peel off. It's a judgement call, we don't always get right.
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