Painting the roll cage

Devallee

Devallee

New member
Looking to paint my roll cage because the cloth cover is faded beyond all measure and I'm tired of it. Has anyone done this and can give me some pointers on how to make it look as clean and neat as possible? I'm wondering what to do with things like the wires and whatever else is covered by the padding. Pictures are welcomed.
 
jedg

jedg

New member
I will post up pictures tomorrow. Basic description is I removed all of the fabric and padding. I also cut out the square box tube above the back seats and welded in round tube. Got rid of the dome light and wires to that box tube and replaced it with a small LED light. I sanded the sport cage down to metal. Sprayed sandable primer and wet-sanded. Repeat. Sprayed 4 coats of automotive paint ( used a metallic brown that was on 1976 Jeeps). Sprayed 4 coats of automotive clear coat. This took several days as I followed the paint manufacturer recommended drying times for application of the paint and clear coat.
 
Saharacon

Saharacon

Member
If I were to go this route I'd bed line everything. Gut the interior and do everything at once. But again I want to see some pics of what exactly you've cut out.
 
Armydog

Armydog

New member
Pulled all my padding, it was in fairly good shape but I am planning a full cage upgrade and might want to weld additional tube to the stock cage.....so needed to expose the skeleton. Have not painted it yet, will do that AFTER the additional tubage is welded up. I will most likely use a rattle can textured paint like Rustoleum
ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1439778975.647778.jpg
 
Jeepers46

Jeepers46

Member
Have you considered painting the fabric? Ive not personally done it but I've seen some that was painted and it looked really good and didnt change the feel of the fabric.
 
Hobolobo

Hobolobo

New member
There's another thread on this that I started a while back that has a few pics. I wasnt impressed with it, paint got too scratched up taking top on and off.
 
jedg

jedg

New member
Well, I can't find the photos I took just after. I'll take some more if there's interest. This shows the color I used on the sport cage as well as the rear bar being welded in.

EDIT - I haven't had problems with scratches so far. I'm thinking that's a result of the automotive type paint and clear coat... but just a guess.

jeep1.jpg jeep2.jpg
 
Devallee

Devallee

New member
jedg said:
I will post up pictures tomorrow. Basic description is I removed all of the fabric and padding. I also cut out the square box tube above the back seats and welded in round tube. Got rid of the dome light and wires to that box tube and replaced it with a small LED light. I sanded the sport cage down to metal. Sprayed sandable primer and wet-sanded. Repeat. Sprayed 4 coats of automotive paint ( used a metallic brown that was on 1976 Jeeps). Sprayed 4 coats of automotive clear coat. This took several days as I followed the paint manufacturer recommended drying times for application of the paint and clear coat.
Click to expand...

What did you do with the wires from the sound bar? If I remember correctly from just poking around under the padding there were a few connection points for the sound bar that seem like they'd be exposed without the padding and cloth.
 
Devallee

Devallee

New member
Armydog said:
Pulled all my padding, it was in fairly good shape but I am planning a full cage upgrade and might want to weld additional tube to the stock cage.....so needed to expose the skeleton. Have not painted it yet, will do that AFTER the additional tubage is welded up. I will most likely use a rattle can textured paint like Rustoleum
View attachment 160280
Click to expand...

Yeah your cage looks pretty nice. My cage looks terrible under the padding or I'd just run it like it is
 
jedg

jedg

New member
Devallee said:
What did you do with the wires from the sound bar? If I remember correctly from just poking around under the padding there were a few connection points for the sound bar that seem like they'd be exposed without the padding and cloth.
Click to expand...

There are two sets of wires (if you have NAV) that come into the sound bar on the passenger side. I was able to reroute them so that they aren't seen. Just unplug, reroute, plug back in.
 
Hobolobo

Hobolobo

New member
Devallee said:
What did you do with the wires from the sound bar? If I remember correctly from just poking around under the padding there were a few connection points for the sound bar that seem like they'd be exposed without the padding and cloth.
Click to expand...

I cut the plug off and ran the wires through the cage via some existing holes, then just re-solder and connect.
 
jedg

jedg

New member
MTG said:
I like that paint combo. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Thanks. So that's a tip-of-the-hat to the old CJs. The paint is called Alpaca Brown Metallic 9A and is a color from the jeeps of the late 70s. (credit goes to my wife for the idea)


 
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