to paint or not to paint penthouse?

[SMBnoob]

Hi guys, I'm getting the electric penthouse installed march 21st. I'm getting just about everything, EB penthouse, electric and the bed. One thing I'm not sure about is whether or not I'll paint it. What's the default coating like? Jonathan at sportsmobile says some people opt not to get it painted on a white van if they plan on walking on it. I eventually plan on getting the aluminess rack up there but not anytime soon. Yakima bars will probably suit me just fine for now. Another $700 bucks isn't too much more when I'm already dropping $7k I guess. What did you guys do and does anyone know what the top is like unpainted?

Thanks,
Allen

[LenS]

Mine is not painted. I wanted white for heat reflection. I did think about painting the sides and an inch or two of the top van body color but in the end kept the whole thing white. The top is a shinny white fiberglass with I think a gel coat. Looks OK to me - kind of like a white fiberglass boat hull.

[Ford_6L_E350]

I would opt for painting it. The non-painted gelcoated top is prone to chalking and hard to maintain. If painted the same as the body, then it is easy to wash it and wax it same as the van.

The other choice is the Line-X type coating that is maintainance freee.

Mike

[daveb]

Mine was Gel-coated and I usually waxed it twice a year. Because I added the rack, waxing would have been a PITA so I had the line-x type stuff sprayed on by SMB. So far I love it...just hose it off. Nothing has stained it or caused any trouble as of yet and I have not heard of any people having any issues with the SMB product. If you're going any color other than white I can't comment on how close the match is.

Dave.

[jage]

Len's top (clicky):


So I really like the Raptor liner that is now on my top. Used to be gel coat green, now Raptor green. It might be more affordable in white.

[SMBnoob]

Thanks for the replies guys. I totally forgot about the line-x option. I was talking to Jonathan about that while i was up there in december too. Its not on the price sheet so its not hard to forget about it. I think I'll go the line-x route. Its definitely gonna be hard to maintain the roof once the aluminess rack is on. Maintenence free is probably the best way to go.

Allen

[daveb]

I paid about 650.00 to have mine re-done

[SMBnoob]

Originally Posted by daveb

I paid about 650.00 to have mine re-done

That's actually cheaper than the paint option. I'm gonna give jonathan a call tomorrow to finalize my choice. Thanks for all the input guys!

Allen