had a discussion about this with someone IRL. interested in as many views as possible.
if you resprayed your hardtop (or had someone do it):
did you sand it down first at the outset? to what extent?
a bit to help the primer?
or completely take the previous colour off?
did you take your hardtop off to do it?
or did you leave it on the car?
out in the open or in the garage?
hand sand it or use cordless sander?
any recommendations of cordless sanders?
any recommendations for rubbing down paste & wax / polish (for black)?
what colour primer?
. The issue with fiberglass and similar materials is that the paint can bubble up if its not let to cure and if it reacts with previous applied paint and or resin. As the previous paint is set ok I would leave the previous coating on and use it as a primer.
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Best to have it wrapped really.
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wrapping looks great 
anyone bought or know of a good place to get 1993 brilliant black (PZ)?
Best advice - take it to a bodyshop, it will only cost £150 - £250 to spray and they will make it look amazing and it will match the car perfectly. Just ask a few garages for quotes.
Painting fiber glass is a specialist job and the Mazda hard tops often suffer from tiny bubbling on the sides which needs to be dealt with professionally. It’s a fiber glass thing.
Don’t wrap it - it will not last as long, will not match your paint, and will still show bubbles in the underlying paint (they can start to appear anytime).
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“Don’t wrap it - it will not last as long, will not match your paint, and will still show bubbles in the underlying paint (they can start to appear anytime)”
Greatly disagree.
My wrap was done by a company retained by large commercial companies eg Guinness etc.
Top dollar organisation using 1st division products.
It was good as day 1 after 3 years of Scottish weather rigours and a 2000 mile high velocity UK rally.
Maybe…there are wrappers…and Wrappers in upper case.
But…if the OP does require a body colour match then clearly a pro paint job is best.
Otherwise, quality wrap does have it’s place if done properly.
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Hi, not saying a wrap can’t look fantastic and your car looks great, and its very good for marketing (Eddie Stobbart wraps all his trucks so after a couple years the wrap is peeled off and they sell them on plain white) but if its a daily driver 3 years is all it’s expected to last (and thats from 3M, the main manufacturer) whereas a good paint job will last a decade or two and be about the same cost. Also if the bubbling in the paint underneath happens you will still see it with a wrap or if you get any damage you’ll have to remove the wrap to fix it whereas a paint job can just have a local repair.
You pay your money and take your choice!
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Good points.
Well presented.
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Thanks M’dear.
Lance Corporal Teddy raised 18k in the end for H4H
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I took my hardtop to a bodyshop and they sprayed it!
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