AdamR
Big Member
Does anyone know of a good product for dying convertible tops ?
I have a nice whit top I need to dye black.
I have a nice whit top I need to dye black.
Dying convertible top ?
- Thread starter AdamR
- Start date
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ramenth
Gratis persona
After trying a quick internet search I found a product called Ronovo on other sites, but couldn't find any specifics on it. Don't know about it, as someone posted that "wear marks" still showed, so would it make a white top gray? Have you tried a call to Legendary or your local upholstery shop to see if they might know of a product?
AdamR
Big Member
Im going to ask some of our reps when they come in to the shop next week, Just figured I see if any of our in house body guys knew what actually works.
Our reps seem to think if they sell it, It must work great.
Our reps seem to think if they sell it, It must work great.
ramenth
Gratis persona
You got those kind of reps, too, huh? I was a PPG shop for years and remember NCP 272, the tintable kind. Boy did that bite me in the a**. I'd like to know what you find. I've replaced a few tops just for color changes because some of the dyes' claims seemed too good to be true.
AdamR
Big Member
I figure at $350 for the top plus install Its worth trying. I dont see the top being up much anyways but white top, red interior and a black car is to much.
You can dye it with SEM dye just like vynil and plastic. You'll need a whole lot of it. Thats a heck of a lot of area to cover. Weather and folding takes its toll though so repeating and touch up will be needed.
Ever seen a black top with only the piping dyed red ? That was a chore sure enough. It didn't look so bad either. Different anyway. Good luck
Ever seen a black top with only the piping dyed red ? That was a chore sure enough. It didn't look so bad either. Different anyway. Good luck
WildCat
Well-Known Member
my personal opinon, top not going to be up much, black car with white top looks great. White top will be cooler when up. If the top is in good shape and cleans up good, leave it
buddy bought a 70 challenger black, red interior and white top. I'm sure it can be dyed, but how much work to keep it looking good. Everytime it goes up and down will probably cause marks
Just My 2 Cents
toplscuda
Well-Known Member
Adam
SEM makes a good dye. Here are some instructions to follow that will make the job come out very well. While the instructions are slanted towards interior, I have done the same thing with convertible tops and had good results.
SEM as many of you know makes plastic dyes and vinyl dyes. Here are some basic guide lines for you to follow so that you can obtain good results and save some money paying someone else to do it. You should know this work is pretty easy to do if you can wield a rattle can somewhat well. The dyes are very forgiving, more so than paints. So this winter, take on this project, you CAN DO IT.
First you need to know that vinyl and plastics are slightly different. SEM makes a prep spray for plastic, and another for vinyl. Now, with that being said, I've used plastic prep for vinyl and had good results, but to play it safe, get the right prep spray for the job.
You will need the following materials.
1. SEM plastic prep.* ( or vinyl prep if your doing vinyl parts)
2. SEM Dye* in the color you choose. ( some paint houses can custom mix your colors )
3. A bunch of CLEAN rags. and several white ones for the final cleaning.
4. A soft tooth brush.
5. A soft bristle brush. ( this is used for doing door panels, seats, or kick panels, textured surfaces etc. )
6. Tac cloth, you can get this at any auto paint place.
*** depending on how much your doing will determine how many cans you will need. One can should do a complete set of door panels front and rear. Just make sure you have enough. too much is a good thing on this job.
Remove the part from the car you wish to dye and clean it up.
I can't stress enough about how much to clean the part. Use the prep spray well. It dries fairly quick, so figure that into your work pattern.
You should spray the part with the prep spray and scrubbing with the CLEAN rag and don't miss any thing at all. Use the tooth brush for hard to get to spots, and if doing vinyl, use it for the welting edges and threads in the seats. Use the brush for larger areas. Change rags often so your not just smearing stuff around and wasting the prep spray. Don't miss ANY spots at all and if your not sure, do it again. Do the entire part several times and with a WHITE cloth, do it again. If you see ANYTHING on the white rag. Do it again until the white rag is clean after you wipe it off. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
Let the part dry totally, if doing seats with thread or welting, let stand till the thread is try and use a rag along the welts to ensure it's dry and DID I MENTION CLEAN!
Once you have your part TOTALLY clean. Use the tac cloth to remove any fuzzies from the rags.
Now, as normal, shake the crap out of the dye as stated in the instructions.
If your doing something like an "A" pillar piece, spray a light coat ( tac coat ) on the piece. The dye dries pretty quick, and when dry apply another coat. Continue this until it's color is solid and not missing anything.
If your doing a seat part with welting, start off your tac coat by shooting the left and right sides of the welting so that you know the dye is getting down in there where the welting is near the seat. Do the welting ribs a couple of times lightly and then after dry, it will be time to do the whole seat.
Normally when I do seats or door panels I'll start by spraying across the sewn or pressed lines in the part. Next pass is with them, next is diagonally, and then repeat the steps again. Ending with a pattern that matches the lines on the part. Light coats work well and a good coat on the final run at it. Do allow the dye to dry between coats as the dye needs to be able to de gas.
If possible, try to do this on a warm day, or a heated area. It helps your work time greatly, but can be done in a dry area. As I said, this stuff is pretty forgiving. You will notice that after it totally dries, the textured surface will show again even if you got a little heavy on the spray in most cases. The stuff is great!
Once done, let stand for awhile till totally dry and install your part again and admire your fine work.
I've done carpets, headliners, door panels, kick panels, dash pads, A pillars, consoles, the works! You should be able to re do your complete interior of your car in a day or two.
Now, I'll say it again, don't scrimp on using the cleaner or fresh rags!
There is no need for a primer or any adhesion agent when using SEM dyes. Figure it this way, an adhesion agent or primer are what your putting on the part to stick to first, so there is no way the DYE can DYE the part if your doing that. The Dye will do exactly what it is billed to do if these instructions are followed and you CLEAN THE PART WELL. You will enjoy it for years to come.
Should there come a time where somehow you damage it, you can clean the area and blend in the color of dye again and repair it. Unless you have white, then normally the part must then be done all over.
As for doing seat belts, I've had mixed results for some reason there. So do those if you choose. I did a set of seat belts from blue to black and in the sun, they still had a gun metal look to them. I even tried boiling them in Rit dye with very limited results.
SEM makes a good dye. Here are some instructions to follow that will make the job come out very well. While the instructions are slanted towards interior, I have done the same thing with convertible tops and had good results.
SEM as many of you know makes plastic dyes and vinyl dyes. Here are some basic guide lines for you to follow so that you can obtain good results and save some money paying someone else to do it. You should know this work is pretty easy to do if you can wield a rattle can somewhat well. The dyes are very forgiving, more so than paints. So this winter, take on this project, you CAN DO IT.
First you need to know that vinyl and plastics are slightly different. SEM makes a prep spray for plastic, and another for vinyl. Now, with that being said, I've used plastic prep for vinyl and had good results, but to play it safe, get the right prep spray for the job.
You will need the following materials.
1. SEM plastic prep.* ( or vinyl prep if your doing vinyl parts)
2. SEM Dye* in the color you choose. ( some paint houses can custom mix your colors )
3. A bunch of CLEAN rags. and several white ones for the final cleaning.
4. A soft tooth brush.
5. A soft bristle brush. ( this is used for doing door panels, seats, or kick panels, textured surfaces etc. )
6. Tac cloth, you can get this at any auto paint place.
*** depending on how much your doing will determine how many cans you will need. One can should do a complete set of door panels front and rear. Just make sure you have enough. too much is a good thing on this job.
Remove the part from the car you wish to dye and clean it up.
I can't stress enough about how much to clean the part. Use the prep spray well. It dries fairly quick, so figure that into your work pattern.
You should spray the part with the prep spray and scrubbing with the CLEAN rag and don't miss any thing at all. Use the tooth brush for hard to get to spots, and if doing vinyl, use it for the welting edges and threads in the seats. Use the brush for larger areas. Change rags often so your not just smearing stuff around and wasting the prep spray. Don't miss ANY spots at all and if your not sure, do it again. Do the entire part several times and with a WHITE cloth, do it again. If you see ANYTHING on the white rag. Do it again until the white rag is clean after you wipe it off. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
Let the part dry totally, if doing seats with thread or welting, let stand till the thread is try and use a rag along the welts to ensure it's dry and DID I MENTION CLEAN!
Once you have your part TOTALLY clean. Use the tac cloth to remove any fuzzies from the rags.
Now, as normal, shake the crap out of the dye as stated in the instructions.
If your doing something like an "A" pillar piece, spray a light coat ( tac coat ) on the piece. The dye dries pretty quick, and when dry apply another coat. Continue this until it's color is solid and not missing anything.
If your doing a seat part with welting, start off your tac coat by shooting the left and right sides of the welting so that you know the dye is getting down in there where the welting is near the seat. Do the welting ribs a couple of times lightly and then after dry, it will be time to do the whole seat.
Normally when I do seats or door panels I'll start by spraying across the sewn or pressed lines in the part. Next pass is with them, next is diagonally, and then repeat the steps again. Ending with a pattern that matches the lines on the part. Light coats work well and a good coat on the final run at it. Do allow the dye to dry between coats as the dye needs to be able to de gas.
If possible, try to do this on a warm day, or a heated area. It helps your work time greatly, but can be done in a dry area. As I said, this stuff is pretty forgiving. You will notice that after it totally dries, the textured surface will show again even if you got a little heavy on the spray in most cases. The stuff is great!
Once done, let stand for awhile till totally dry and install your part again and admire your fine work.
I've done carpets, headliners, door panels, kick panels, dash pads, A pillars, consoles, the works! You should be able to re do your complete interior of your car in a day or two.
Now, I'll say it again, don't scrimp on using the cleaner or fresh rags!
There is no need for a primer or any adhesion agent when using SEM dyes. Figure it this way, an adhesion agent or primer are what your putting on the part to stick to first, so there is no way the DYE can DYE the part if your doing that. The Dye will do exactly what it is billed to do if these instructions are followed and you CLEAN THE PART WELL. You will enjoy it for years to come.
Should there come a time where somehow you damage it, you can clean the area and blend in the color of dye again and repair it. Unless you have white, then normally the part must then be done all over.
As for doing seat belts, I've had mixed results for some reason there. So do those if you choose. I did a set of seat belts from blue to black and in the sun, they still had a gun metal look to them. I even tried boiling them in Rit dye with very limited results.
MOBodyman
Well-Known Member
Your local Dupont paint supplier should be able to mix you some vinyl paint. I've used it successfully on metal interior parts (especially low gloss areas such as lower dash frames), plastic trim, and soft vinyl parts such as door panels and vinyl tops. It can be mixed in low, medium, or high gloss. It is mixed with regular paint tints but the balancer and binder is replaced with vinyl resin. Sticks good if the surface is clean, and the color holds out well. It's also ready-to-spray so there's no need for reduction. Dupont recommends high gloss on vinyl tops but the last one I did appeared a little too glossy for my taste. If I do another one I may have them use half high gloss resin and half medium. I used a quart on the vinyl top but I would think a convertible top would take a little more, probably and qaurt and a half.
Good luck with whatever product you choose.
Dallas
Good luck with whatever product you choose.
Dallas
68383GTS
Well-Known Member
Go to your local automotive paint supply store.Buy two quarts and shoot it with a spray gun.The stuff I but at the paint store is really good stuff.The key is prep clean it real good first and shoot on thin coats.
Jim
Jim
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