Roof re-dye

[l10tus]

The centre, originally black, lift- out section of my roof has faded grey terribly - not sure why - maybe a replacement at some point in the cars history? - but the fixed Surrey, rear section, is still jet black.

Anyway, I've tried a couple of brands of specialist soft-top re-dye but neither have worked.

I must admit I didn't do any special cleaning processes before hand as the roof section is in decent unmarked condition, all be it grey rather than black!

Anyone out there who has actually achieved a good result in re- colouring their faded top,who can recommend a product to to try?

Many thanks,
Phil.

[phillpot]

What have you tried?

Renovo gets plenty or good reports on TVR forums and groups

[Belle427]

I found Renovo pretty good to be fair.

[PabloGee]

If none of the traditional dye products work, you could try Fabricoat fabric paint - BUT, it's not the same sort of stuff, and might form a very different finish.

I have used it on the carpet of my car, as it basically provides a permanent colour finish that adheres to a synthetic material.
My carpets are not wool, so dye has been reported (by the manufacturers) to eventually just rub off.
Fabric paint certainly does not rub off - it does however make the carpet stiff - by virtue of being a paint, and whilst you can rub and brush it to soften the feel it remains markedly stiffer than untreated carpet.


On the other hand, I did discover a possibility that was no good to me since my car, roof and now carpets are blue, not black:
Carbusonic carpet dye, which is made for the auto trade.
Again, whilst this isn't specific to roof/canvas, it might be a worthwhile consideration,

Ideally you'd have a method for testing, maybe a small inconspicuous part of the roof, like along the front where it tucks in to the top of the windscreen (though in my case, that area is a little marked by rubber/grease).
And if it does work, you might need to apply to both top and rear sections of the roof.


Anyway, it could be that neither of these are useful suggestions, but thought I'd share anyway.

[l10tus]

I used V-fix but to be honest it was useless, £14 per bottle, used 2 bottles and you couldn't tell the difference!

[TarquinMX5]

Ooh, that looks much more faded than I imagined.

I've always used Renovo (20+ years) and been happy with it, but the roof has always been black so I can't say whether it would achieve what you need.

[l10tus]

Yes, it was all the same colour a couple of years ago, but due to the exceptional summer we've had it's faded quite badly, the canvas fabric is still in great condition though.

I wonder whathey use to dye them when they were made??

[sixor8]

I expect that the material came ready coloured from their suppliers to the factory for the various coloured rooves,

I bought some black canvas dye from 'Leather Care & Repair' quite a few years ago when I had a roof that somebody had dyed from blue to black for some reason, almost certainly from eBay. But mine wasn't as faded as that. I kept the car about only 18 months after using it, so I can't vouch for its longevity, but it didn't wash off in the rain in that time, I keep my cars outdoors. This was the stuff:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260758346975?_skw=black...

Checking my records, it was in 2018! Now, 250ml of it is only 50p less (with postage) than I paid for 500ml. It may be enough to do just the targa section:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261431692596?_skw=black...vEAAOSwvfZaKVxM&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1ewws5SE7S7DJjsgp2bITvGMb57%2FSLCmcuXntUprm%2BafMUEproyR6XveBmuouCZk7bFqudlbeDzmjlSOruRA5RYMOkx9w2gJZhzSctkD5fLzvYKp9LMI1fshl7pkprsRN6arMwmmPyeHM25WSvnBTqWwcE58IOFagdpf0ooic06GBKYcHCYo0jRQcDbK6DKfDOwDeNZXP5xuLlHP%2FjdF48VHgLOqSw6%2BGThVoWxWMjxoQCuOKPit0swzhtHUpamkso%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9K5_vrZZg

You can't avoid dying the stitches of course. You could buy just the material and try replacing it I suppose, there are suppliers.

[jimed]

I have used Lenovo to recolour a blue roof to black with very acceptable results. I gave it 2 coats after first cleaning the roof with Renovo cleaner. I suspect not cleaning the roof may well be the problem as it isn't just cleaning to get dust etc out but also any waterproofing treatment that may have been put on at some time in the past which might stop the colour from getting into the fibres. Cleaning all the roof would probably make the rear part look blacker as well although you might need to colour that as well if the match between the removable part and the rear section is not what you want.

[l10tus]

Yes, not cleaning the roof may be the reason. However, why don't any of the pre cleaning solution suppliers say it removes past waterproofing residues?

Unless anybody knows different that is?

[swisstoni]

l10tus said:

Yes, not cleaning the roof may be the reason. However, why don't any of the pre cleaning solution suppliers say it removes past waterproofing residues?

Unless anybody knows different that is?

I think it's safe to assume that anything designed to pre-clean would remove any treatment that had been applied previously.

[l10tus]

Is that a case of " doesn't do anything not stated on the tin" ???

[s p a c e m a n]

My roof was as bad as that when I bought it. Renovo black over both parts of the roof and then the waterproofer the day after, thing looked like new.

Have a pack of baby wipes handy and just wipe off any runs before they dry.