chipped/gator skinned paint

[racerx]

Well, the paint on the roof of the 3g is getting old or something.
i don't know if this has happened to any of you, but that paint has started to "gator-skin" if you know what i mean. its like the paint got all dry and decided to crackle up like the plains during drought season!
i've used meguiars wax for the first 2 years i owned the car, and mothers for the last, but it still deteriorates.
is there anything i can do to restore my roof? like a clay bar? or would that just yank up all the little flakes that are left. maybe a ton of touch up paint?

[k-roy]

A clay bar will just strip the paint. About the only thing you can do is a new paintjob.

[racerx]

i was afraid of that... anybody have an idea of what it would cost to have the roof redone? is it possible to get only the roof done?

[HondaBoy]

yeah, its possible to just get the roof done. but it really never looks right with new paint just in one section and then the old paint. if you wanna go the el cheapo way, go to macco. yeah, they dont have good reps, but if you spend a little money its worth it. if you go with macco, make sure you tell them strait up to get into the parts where you want. like i guess tell them to take stuff off. dont know if thats what you wanna do. well, you may just have to live with you flaking roof for a while. hope mine doesnt start doing that. although the clear coat is worn off in a small round spot.

[mykwikcoupe]

go with a phantom top. you know the black cloth covers convertable look. its old school like the car

[DBMaster]

I actually have a little of that going on with my roof. The paint is nice and shiny and beads water and I have waxed every three months since the car was new. The tiny cracks are hard to see because the car is white. It has actually not gotten worse in at least two years. Just keep the thing waxed religiously and it might hold out for a while yet.

[shane_lxi]

New paint. Save up $800 bucks, and you can get the whole thing painted. If you get it painted the original color, you don't have to do the door jams, or engine bay and trunk. The top is DEAD man, don't bother trying to restore it by any other means, just save up and paint it . Sell some video games, or your kids. In my case, I had to sell all my slaves to pay for the new paint job on my old 2g. They were all cryin and stuff. I had to explain to them that if I wanted to profit the most, I couldn't keep their familie's together, I had to sell them all serpately, other wise I would have to give a group sale discount, stupid slaves... they just don't understand.