Paint to adhere to gelcoat?

[FFRWRX]

I've got an 818C under construction. It is currently being wrapped. The molded inset areas around the windows will not be wrapped, as the windows are all bonded in and I don't think glueing them onto the wrap is a good idea. Since the gelcoat is red and the car is not being wrapped in red, I want to paint the areas that the windows will be bonded to, like this:

173189

The same thing is around the rear glass and the windshield. I figure that painting those area black first would be a good idea. Since there will be door rubber sealing as well (that will be black) this would blend in nicely.

What paint should I use for this? Ideally something that I can brush on at home. Not much of this area will show when the car is done so a super smooth surface is not really a requirement; brushing should be OK. But the windows will all be basically bonded to the paint, that is hopefully bonded to the gelcoat.

Rick

[lance corsi]

I would lightly sand the gel coat with 220 grit before painting. A painter could tell you better. I’m a metal butcher.

[JohnK]

I would consider painting on a black frit around the edges of the glass so you can't see the molded fiberglass inset that you're bonding to. Edwardb talks about how he did this on the windshield of his coupe build here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26630-Edwardb%92s-Gen-3-Type-65-Coyote-Coupe-59-Build-Complete-and-Graduated&p=397649&viewfull=1#post397649). This gives it a very OEM look.

[J R Jones]

For lightly roughing the surface I have good results from scotch bright pads. They conform to contours and get into fillets.
On paint I am concerned about UV protection and fading in sunlight. Primer, even epoxy primer does not have UV resistance and fades to gray when exposed to sunlight.
It may be possible that glass reduces UV, but I have no documentation on that. So that leaves flat or semi-gloss black.
jim

[FFRWRX]

It seems that using 3M Single Step Primer (black) might be the way to go. You are supposed to use it before the urethane to install the glass, and it is black and UV resistant. There shouldn't be much of it exposed after the glass or rubber sealing trim is installed, so maybe it is OK to have some of it not covered by the glass or trim? But the rear glass covers a large bonding area, and apparently this stuff is expensive, so maybe paint over most of it and the primer over a smaller area where the adhesive will go?

[lance corsi]

Sounds like a plan. Or, you could do what I’m doing and run louvers on the back hatch, but no glass.

[Dave 53]

On my 818S windshield frame, I sanded off the gel coat gloss. Then I sprayed it with POR15 Top Coat, gloss black. Glued the windshield on. It's been well over a year and 10,000 miles. No issues.

[Jumakid]

Go to your local shop and ask for what type of paint to use and if an additive is needed to add