Product review: Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric Dye

As you may recall from the 'Beetle Era' of my posts, the gently used seat covers I acquired were a colour (Red) that wasn't going to work.  I knew the seats could be dyed and that there were several products on the market to accomplish this. I recall looking at standard hardware store product and specialist shop product and the price gap between them.  Which one would work the best?

As far as those seats go, we will never know.  I do however, have several motorcycle seats that are in sound condition but badly faded and could use some attention. 

On a whim, I decided to give the hardware store dye a go.

Dupli-Color Vinyl and fabric dye retails from around $12.00 CDN (under $10.00 USD from what I have seen).   It is fairly straightforward to use, in theory at least;  Shake can, adjust nozzle and make sure that your surfaces being dyed are very clean.

Here is what I started with:

Here is what I ended up with:

As you can see, the dye works well and makes a world of difference to the look of the seat.  That being said, it took some effort and expletives to get there!

The first thing to point out is the colour selection.  The results that you see, (believe it or not) come from a can of flat black, not gloss.   I picked up this tip from some helpful youtube videos and online forums that I researched beforehand.   If this is their version of flat, one would require sunglasses to look at a 'gloss' painted seat!

My biggest issue with the product is the delivery of it.  That is to say, the spraying of it onto the surface.  I shook the can, adjusted the nozzle with a small flat screwdriver, sprayed upside down for a few seconds, etc.  I could not get a consistent, even spray.  It would come out in globs, which had to be sprayed over to get an even sheen.   By the time I had finished the seat, the can was 3/4 empty.

On my end, it is possible that it may have been too hot outside when I sprayed the product; the other being that the can itself may have had a defect.  I will not rule out human error.   When I watched videos of the product being used, it certainly seemed to come out nicely.

Despite these shortcomings, the results are very good and I plan to use the remainder of the can on a white solo seat I acquired years ago.

For a  singular item, I would certainly recommend the product.  Doing a whole car interior might be quite a challenge with inconsistent spraying and touch ups.   I will do a follow up sometime in the future to see how well the seat holds up...

Until next time...

Evolution of the G9 petrol tank

I originally picked up two tanks on the cheap last year (via Ebay) and had them shipped from California to Niagara Falls NY.

These were bought to practice on and hopefully use on the project if things worked out.  There was lots of sanding, some accidents, some welding, filling and painting.   This one still requires some clean up before clear coat is applied and my pin striping leaves much to be desired;  However I am very pleased with it!  The decals came from a company in England with a very wide array of products with excellent prices and service to boot!  I highly recommend them.  

https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/

Surface rust! 

A good soak in a wood bleach and water solution removed the worst of it.

However sanding was required to remove the pitting...

Bugger!  The aforementioned repair of the badge screw mount.

Primed

First coat of pearl white paint

My first attempt at pin striping by hand 

fourth coat of black paint....

Application of decal and tape removed!  Not perfect and not factory, but I like it! 

Until next time......

The expense of being cheap.....

A wise man once uttered the words 'Do it right, do it once.'   I am unsure if he also said 'Measure twice, cut once' but I would like to think he did.

No words are truer when it comes to motorcycle building and to this specific topic: Paint.

Visit any car or bike forum out there and you will inevitably find many, many pages regarding the painting of bodywork. 

The most popular and recurring theme seems to be 'Cheap paint options'.   In other words, using hardware store aerosol to achieve decent results.   A lot of these threads make for fun and interesting reading with a plethora of 'experts' chiming in. 

There is the famous 'Paint your car with rustoleum and a roller for $50.00', painting rims with appliance epoxy, baking enamel etc. 

I am not ashamed to admit that I wanted to take the cheap road less traveled.  I read, re-read and looked at pictures.  I even bought a cheap toaster oven from a charity shop to bake small items in. 

The results? 

Garbage.  I won't even bother posting the pictures.   I carefully cleaned, primed, did thin coats, etc.

I tried 'professional' enamels, cheap enamels, etc.  There were runs (which I could sand out) and improper curing.  One toolbox cover was perfect, until a light tap of the fingernail scratched the paint.


It was infuriating, a complete waste of time, money and energy. 

Going back to the forums, there is always the one fellow (usually someone who did autobody or automotive painting) pointing out that cheap paint is false economy.  He is the one to listen to!

Not wanting to waste any more of my resources and momentum I visited the local (automotive) paint supply store for help.

For $85.00 (CDN) I purchased proper primer, paint and clear coat.   I have only used the primer thus far and I am incredibly pleased with it.  No runs, quick cure and even spraying. 

My first piece was an old licence plate frame with bad chrome that I sanded down.  The results speak for themselves as I was left with a smooth matte finish.  The black primer shows any flaws in the substrate, which avoids issues at the later stages.  So far I have done the brake plate, rear hub, tank, rear frame. 

I will never bugger about with inferior products again;  It just doesn't pay to be cheap. 

Until next time...