Miata hardtop questions

Got it!

Thanks everyone!

Keith Tanner said:

I think every Miata hardtop has been painted. My red one was white, my white one was black, my blue one was...I forget. 

Shouldn't someone start a Miata hardtop exchange FB group or something? "I've got a red Miata and a blue top". "I've got a blue Miata and a red top... Hey!"

I can comment on painting the hardtop. Mine was blue and I painted it black to match my car...I figured black would help the resale as well. Long story short it's going to look like crap if you try anything but decent automotive paint and clear. You will probably want to use a good sealing primer as well. In my first attempt to paint it the new paint reacted badly with the existing paint. 

One thing I didn't expect was the cost of a new window seal and associated bits. I couldn't do a good enough job by just masking it off but it tore apart trying to remove it. All in the hardtop was $750 and the paint supplies was around $150. I had a good compressor and gun that I used so that helped things turn out alright. 

I've painted one with a window in it, I didn't have any trouble masking. You can lift the edge of the seal and get tape under it for a nice line. You definitely need to treat it like a normal car body panel, including a primer and real automotive paint.

AFAIK windows are basically NLA - so take care of it!

Keith Tanner said:

AFAIK windows are basically NLA - so take care of it!

...aaaaand on that note, I'm going to rearrange things in the garage tonight and add some furniture blankets to the hardtop storage.