Black Hard Top Color Restoration

[Jacobjburt]

Can anyone contest to the durability of this method?

 

[Moliver11]

Anyone contest to how long this lasts

It still looks great, then again I garage my TJ so it doesn’t get full sun exposure all day.

 

[phacor8]

That came out great

 

[Jacobjburt]

It still looks great, then again I garage my TJ so it doesn’t get full sun exposure all day.

Thanks I’ll give it a try

 

[Jacobjburt]

I also gave this a try, because the hardtop I bought was a bit faded. Eventually I want to go over and paint the whole thing with SEM paint if I can get my hands on some . but for 10$ And about 30 minutes worth of work I’m happy. I used 4 magic erasers total.

 

[Jacobjburt]

I also gave this a try, because the hardtop I bought was a bit faded. Eventually I want to go over and paint the whole thing with SEM paint if I can get my hands on some . but for 10$ And about 30 minutes worth of work I’m happy. I used 4 magic erasers total.

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Also a while ago I used some rv silicone to hold my vent in place and I accidentally got a bit on the hardtop. The magic eraser took it right off.

 

[Moliver11]

I also gave this a try, because the hardtop I bought was a bit faded. Eventually I want to go over and paint the whole thing with SEM paint if I can get my hands on some . but for 10$ And about 30 minutes worth of work I’m happy. I used 4 magic erasers total.

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Looks really good. The next step of a ceramic spray really helped keep it fresh looking. Nice work

 

[James9100]

Anyone ever tried an oxidation remover product after using magic erasers?

 

[SSTJ]

@Moliver11 @Jacobjburt @tkarbs

Thanks for these pics. Can any of you share how much black appeared on your Magic Erasers in the process? I'm trying this out on a tan hard top, and after my first (gentle) pass, I see color coming off on the eraser, but no noticeable result. I can certainly try another pass, but want to be sure I'm not just removing all the paint.

 

[Moliver11]

@Moliver11 @Jacobjburt @tkarbs

Thanks for these pics. Can any of you share how much black appeared on your Magic Erasers in the process? I'm trying this out on a tan hard top, and after my first (gentle) pass, I see color coming off on the eraser, but no noticeable result. I can certainly try another pass, but want to be sure I'm not just removing all the paint.

I don’t recall how much black transferred to the magic eraser, I do remember it took a few passes. My hard top was oxidized pretty good, the magic eraser was noticeable in bringing back the color. I don’t recall feeling like the paint was getting too thin.

 

[Rcroane]

Anyone ever tried an oxidation remover product after using magic erasers?

I didn't use Magic Eraser....I just used Meguiar's Marine Oxidation Remover. It worked great and the top still looks great a year later.

 

[rubicube]

My hard top has been sitting in my driveway for months looking like crap, think I'm going to pick up some magic erasers and show it some TLC. Thanks for the write up!

ya me too monsoons are starting so I'll have to put the top back on,crap I like run-in round with the dew rag on{safari top}

 

[Nayabay]

I have a lot of work to do on my hard top. A friend leant me his professional polishing equipment. I want desperately to throw a magic eraser on there, but I don’t know how.

 

[Rcroane]

I have a lot of work to do on my hard top. A friend leant me his professional polishing equipment. I want desperately to throw a magic eraser on there, but I don’t know how.

You'll have to use elbow grease for the Magic Eraser. Give it a good cleaning and then apply Flood Penetrol. You'll be VERY pleased with the results.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

Magic eraser worked great on mine. Its not a lot of area, not sure polishing equipment is needed.

 

[James9100]

I used magic eraser on mine in May 2022, worked amazing and still looks good. Just a bit of water and start scrubbing.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

I actually spent too much time on the very top. Cant see it.

 

[jakesilvester]

This past weekend I decided to try and restore the black color to our 2003 TJ that we purchased a few months ago. Like many TJ hard tops the paint was oxidizing and in need of some work. I read through the forum on multiple ways others cleaned and brought back color. Thanks to all that have contributed to this forum, so many great ideas and a wealth of knowledge. Hopefully this post will assist others to clean and restore their hard top's color.

Before going down the path of a re-paint, I decided to try using a Magic Eraser with warm water. The Magic Eraser did a great job of cleaning and removing 70-80% of the oxidation. Not knowing what the Magic Eraser would do to the pain, I started on a small area using light pressure and then increased in size. I could see the change immediately after making the first pass. With a little more confidence I increased pressure to the Magic Eraser and went over the entire top. After rinsing I was amazed how much better the hard top looked.

The Magic Eraser cleaning job took less than 30 minutes. While it did an incredible job removing most of the oxidation, I decided to bust out the orbital buffer along with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. Yep, I extended a 30 min job into a 2 hour full-on hard top clean and buff. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound took off another layer of oxidation and did a great job of cleaning the surface. The last step, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish not only cleaned any remaining surface oxidation, it brightened the surface and brought back most of the black color.

Total time for the hard top was around 2 hours from wash, Magic Eraser, Ultimate Compound, and Ultimate Polish. I couldn't be more satisfied with the results and decided to go over the entire Jeep with the Ultimate Compound followed by the Ultimate Polish. All surfaces are now clean, prepped, and read for an application of a ceramic wax spray.

Wanting to protect the work I did on the hard top and all painted surfaces, I spent some time researching many different waxes. I'm amazed how far the wax industry has evolved. Yesterday I purchased Turtle Wax 53409 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating and will go over the entire Jeep, including the hard top, when the product arrives. I probably spent more time researching spray waxes than it will take to apply lol.

The next several posts contain pictures showing the "before" any work was performed to the hard top followed by each step mentioned above. I'm separating pics to show the difference on the top, side and rear corner using the Magic Eraser, compound, and polish.

I just did this to my faded and oxygenated hard top this week and I have to say wonderful instructions on how to restore it. I am really happy how mine turned out, this is specifically really good to do for someone from the UK as its really hard to get the Penetrol which is recommended in a lot of posts for restoring the TJ hard top. See the before and afters video below!