So, I purchased an used OEM hardtop (Silverstone), my s2k is sebring. I will definitely have it resprayed, but given what I know about paint work, I am concerned - It looks as though the rear glass will need to come off, so will all the side trim, headliner etc to get this thing painted correctly?

Anyone have a bodyshop do this for them? What did it run? Did they strip the top and do it or can they do it without taking the glass out etc?

Also, need some advice - Should I paint it Sebring or should I get it sprayed Berlina like the CR? I keep looking for pics of sebring with black HT's and have had no luck finding one.

Thanks!

 

I am doing the same, have a White top getting it painted Black. The window does Not need to come out, the seal around it is soft and any decent shop should easily be able to tape it off and paint behind that seal. Black Magic pearl(mettallic Black) is what I going with just to be a bit diferent, I have seen Sebring with the Sebring top and it looks good. Color you choose depends on Your opinion though
The black trim around the side windows looks like it comes off somewhat easily too, the inner side panels pop out and give access to 1 bolt and the rest looks like it is snap in clips.
Beware of the clear plastic along the front edge, i peeled it off to paint but it is there for a reason, to prevent damage to that edge of the paint.

 

Hardtopguy sells that clear plastic piece for 30 bux -yeouuuch! My top does not have this plastic piece and paint is all chippy underneath.

 

I painted mine from black to sebring silver. You really need to remove the two metal side moldings on the driver and passenger side and the rubber weatherstripping, and the retainer and all related screws on those parts. My painter tried to do it by not removing them but it didn't work so well and then they were removed and it was re-painted. We did not remove the rear window, we taped around it, we did not remove the interior liner or latches, I removed the side latches just so they wouldn't damage them. My hardtop doesn't have the clear protectant strips so nothing done there. I removed all of the parts myself before taking it to the painter, I don't recommend leaving it up to them as they will likely lose some parts - very small screws and such, and there is a waterproofing procedure to be done on re-install with sealant and they may not do it properly. I did it myself and it does not leak - crossing my fingers.

I will say sebring silver is hard to match up, we painted mine a few times as the flake in the metal just wasn't matching very well, the colour was fine but there is a difference in the metal flake my painter used, it still doesn't match 100% but I'm not going through that process any more, it is good enough. There is a fair bit of work getting one of these hardtops painted and put back together properly. I have a breakdown of all the parts and installation procedure in my shop manual, that is a big help if you decide to do the job.

Here is a pic of my s.s. with the black top prior to painting and comparison after:

 

Thanks so much for posting. Thats exactly why I am considering black. I had a Silver track Evo. I did 20mm wider front fenders which we painted silver and ran into same issue as you. In some light, it would not match at all. He said its the way you spray it angle-wise and going left to right vs right to left.

Do you have the factory service manual? I have a pdf copy, does it have the hardtop breakdown? Interesting...I will look tonight!

Your pics are blocked here at work. I will check it from home. Thanks for posting them up, no idea how much it will help me.

The other option is to wrap in 3m ni-oc, but thats ricey. My car has all OEM stuff when done (lip, spoiler, side strakes) and its not aggressive looking to justify the carbon wrap.

My top is sitting on the ground resting on the latches, I hope it does not damamge them

 

If you are okay with a black top it might be easier to paint compared to silver, plus less worry with getting paint on the black trim. I kinda like the look of silver on silver though, but the black was pretty cool too, I was just tired of keeping the black free of finger prints and dust and everything that goes along with black paint, lol. If you have the pdf version of the manual the hardtop exploded view is in the body section of the manual and it clearly shows all of the parts and the installation and adjustment procedure for the hardtop. FWIW, it has been reported that Honda used 10 different versions of Silverstone paint over the years of production, mostly changes to the flake , so that makes it pretty hard to match up. I think the same thing applies to my sebring silver.

Yeah resting the hardtop on the latch pins can cause it to go out of adjustment, those small bolts that hold the latches in place aren't torqued on very tight so the plates can move around with weight on them. It won't damage them but they may go out of adjustment and you don't want to be adjusting them all the time as they will strip out the threads eventually. (I've re-tapped several of mine during the adjustment process when they have stripped out)

 

Wow, thanks for the information, sir. I will try to get my top stoop up ASAP. No good way to store it. I don't have a stand for it I think I may do one of those hoists!

 

I built one of those pvc stands as per the diy post on that, it wasn't too hard, maybe $50 in parts and some glue. A hoist is a nice way to go too.

 

I found the thread - I may give it a go, although garage space is a premium..

 

Yeah it can be a bit bulky due to it's size.

Did you check out the pics of the different colours of my HT ?, I also have a pic of the silver HT with the windshield tape removed, which matches a bit better, silver on silver.