Snoops
Zorg Addict
Lots of people ask about renovating or simply dyeing their soft-tops so I thought I would dig out my photographs and do a write up from when I dyed Zippy's roof a few years ago.
Zippy's original roof was beige and it was a nightmare to keep clean. Over time the dirt just got engrained and no amount of effort could get it to look good, there were also some wear points where the roof rubs the bodywork (I believe that's what causes it) when the roof is down.
Anyway, I fancied a change of colour, dark green to go with the bodywork so I looked about and decided Renovo was the way to go.
I bought the 1ltr bottle of their Soft top Reviver (the dye) and a bottle of their Plastic Window Polish. CLICKY LINK TO THEIR WEBSITE
Preparation is KEY and makes the task much more simple and effective.
The day before I planned to use the dye I gave the roof a good clean by hoovering and then using Autoglym soft top cleaner.
Then, using old sheets, I completely lined inside the car covering up all the exposed carpet areas at the back and allowed the sheets to drape well over all the side windows and front windscreen and then masked out the rear window with newspapers and masking tape (sorry about quality of that picture).
The reason I allowed the sheets to drape over the car becomes evident when you open the bottle and put some in a container. This is water based dye and, as such, it will run very easily all over your precious bodywork (if you allow it to). The way I'd prepped the car ensured any drips or overrun were simple going to be absorbed by the sheeting.
Mine is a ’99 model so no roof lining and because of the wear points I had I was conscious that the dye would drip inside onto the seats etc. so the sheets run inside the car from one side of the car to the other (like a 2nd roof).
As you can see from the picture of items I intended to use I had an array of brushes and cotton buds to get into those nooks and crannies, turned out you don't really need them, the dye does run so you just take your time with the 2" brush and you'll be fine. The tissues were for me in case it all went wrong, you’ll be happy to know I didn’t need them.
First area to do is the section right at the back, release the roof and open it slightly (without pushing it back) so you release the tension at the back, the roof goes quite a way down there so you need to get your brush right down and work your way back up to where is normally visible. Once you've done that bit then close your roof properly so it is taught, if you don't do that you'll end up with creases/pockets of the roof where the dye will "pond" slightly.
Some of you may be tall enough and feel confident to reach across and do one side of the roof to the other, but I did mine in two halves. I worked one section at a time (as segregated by the stitching in the roof) first the nearside then the offside ensuring I did right to the edges. Don’t overlap the brush strokes so you get an even coat of the product and just work your way methodically to the windscreen edge.
I let the roof dry overnight and then repeated the whole process giving it a 2nd coat, there is probably enough left in the bottle to do a 3rd coat. If you’re just renovating your roof you could probably get away with 1 coat, remember I was completely dyeing mine (hence the 2 coats).
A couple of days later I used the Autoglym Fabric Hood Protector to waterproof everything and stood back and admired my handiwork. :-bd
The 2 pictures at the end I’ve put in to demonstrate what the roof was like 12 months later, the dye does fade so it would have been ready to re-dye had I not been replacing the roof.
Hope you find this useful.
Zippy's original roof was beige and it was a nightmare to keep clean. Over time the dirt just got engrained and no amount of effort could get it to look good, there were also some wear points where the roof rubs the bodywork (I believe that's what causes it) when the roof is down.
Anyway, I fancied a change of colour, dark green to go with the bodywork so I looked about and decided Renovo was the way to go.
I bought the 1ltr bottle of their Soft top Reviver (the dye) and a bottle of their Plastic Window Polish. CLICKY LINK TO THEIR WEBSITE
Preparation is KEY and makes the task much more simple and effective.
The day before I planned to use the dye I gave the roof a good clean by hoovering and then using Autoglym soft top cleaner.
Then, using old sheets, I completely lined inside the car covering up all the exposed carpet areas at the back and allowed the sheets to drape well over all the side windows and front windscreen and then masked out the rear window with newspapers and masking tape (sorry about quality of that picture).
The reason I allowed the sheets to drape over the car becomes evident when you open the bottle and put some in a container. This is water based dye and, as such, it will run very easily all over your precious bodywork (if you allow it to). The way I'd prepped the car ensured any drips or overrun were simple going to be absorbed by the sheeting.
Mine is a ’99 model so no roof lining and because of the wear points I had I was conscious that the dye would drip inside onto the seats etc. so the sheets run inside the car from one side of the car to the other (like a 2nd roof).As you can see from the picture of items I intended to use I had an array of brushes and cotton buds to get into those nooks and crannies, turned out you don't really need them, the dye does run so you just take your time with the 2" brush and you'll be fine. The tissues were for me in case it all went wrong, you’ll be happy to know I didn’t need them.
First area to do is the section right at the back, release the roof and open it slightly (without pushing it back) so you release the tension at the back, the roof goes quite a way down there so you need to get your brush right down and work your way back up to where is normally visible. Once you've done that bit then close your roof properly so it is taught, if you don't do that you'll end up with creases/pockets of the roof where the dye will "pond" slightly.
Some of you may be tall enough and feel confident to reach across and do one side of the roof to the other, but I did mine in two halves. I worked one section at a time (as segregated by the stitching in the roof) first the nearside then the offside ensuring I did right to the edges. Don’t overlap the brush strokes so you get an even coat of the product and just work your way methodically to the windscreen edge.
I let the roof dry overnight and then repeated the whole process giving it a 2nd coat, there is probably enough left in the bottle to do a 3rd coat. If you’re just renovating your roof you could probably get away with 1 coat, remember I was completely dyeing mine (hence the 2 coats).
A couple of days later I used the Autoglym Fabric Hood Protector to waterproof everything and stood back and admired my handiwork. :-bd
The 2 pictures at the end I’ve put in to demonstrate what the roof was like 12 months later, the dye does fade so it would have been ready to re-dye had I not been replacing the roof.
Hope you find this useful.
