Hardtop holes

[DRoss]

The PO had a roof rack on my CJ7 , he drilled four holes in each corner and bolted it on. What do you recommend for filling/patching the holes? The top also is bad need of paint and I'd like to keep the texture. It's pretty smooth in places. If I use a product like herculiner on it, can it then be painted? Thanks in advance any suggestions would be great.

 

[CJim7]

The PO had a roof rack on my CJ7 , he drilled four holes in each corner and bolted it on. What do you recommend for filling/patching the holes? The top also is bad need of paint and I'd like to keep the texture. It's pretty smooth in places. If I use a product like herculiner on it, can it then be painted? Thanks in advance any suggestions would be great.

Bondo fiberglass filler works great.
I dont see why you cant use Herculiner or similar to create texture. Just remember it will not build a hard surface.

 

[PaRenegade]

I would use a fiberglass filler also. Rough up the hole for a bond. Some of these bedliners are available with colors. If you want texture, what I had done on my doors years ago where they have the matching decal on the top rear portion of the door is first spray it with the chip guard stuff you can buy in a spray can, then paint over that.
You could also try painting it with a thick coat of paint and then roll it with the textured rollers like the ones that come with bedliner.

 

[IOPort51]

marine tex epoxy. It is hard, strong but white and expensive.

Marine Tex Epoxy

 

[DRoss]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. I'll give it a try.

Dave

 

[bullseye]

A very simple option would be to use a body drain plug. There is another thread here down below with several options for the plugs....

You might have to drill the holes a little larger and/or use a bead of silicon if they don't sit flush with the top, but you're talking maybe 2 bucks for the plugs and another couple bucks for the tube of silicon.

 

[Jinx]

Just about any auto parts place sells fiberglass marine body filler and it works great. If you want to keep the texture without painting the entire hardtop experiment putting different types of sand in your paint right after the first coat. This will only work for small areas so don't try to do it if your repainting your entire hard top

 

[DRoss]

Yeah, the whole top is in need of paint. Quite a few places on the edges where the paint has been rubbed off and you can see the white fiberglass.

Dave