Joy,

I painted my blue 87 top with some RV rubberized roof paint (got it at
Camping World). I used some 3 inch wide masking tape and started the
paint about 6 inches from the curve of the pop top so it wouldn't be
noticeable against the blue poptop ( at least when its down). I used a
3 inch paint roller to do the edges where the tape was and a regular
roller for the rest. I can't tell you if it makes a huge difference
inside my van since its a dark color overall, but on a really hot day
that part of the roof is a lot cooler than the blue parts of the roof
so it must be helping somewhat. I think the stuff comes in silver and
in hindsight, I think that would look better and less stark than the
white. It's only been up there for about 6 months but so far so good. I
would expect that it might last 3-5 years?

Here's a couple of sunroof pics that also show the roof with the
coating:
http://vickersdesign.com/vanagon/sunroof3.jpg
http://vickersdesign.com/vanagon/sunroof2.jpg

Cheers,

Jeff 87 Syncro Westy in Marin

On Aug 7, 2005, at 11:19 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Date:    Sun, 7 Aug 2005 11:18:45 -0700
> From:    Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
> Subject: painting the poptop with reflective paint
>
> Has anyone tried (or considered) painting the top of your poptop with
> silver
> paint so it would reflect sunlight and stay cooler inside?
>
> If you have, I'd be interested in your experiences.  Whether it works,
> why
> it turns out to be a dumb idea, what kind of paint, etc. etc.
>
>
> Joy