Redying convertible top

[Harrison256]

Anyone redyed their black top before? Mines a little faded in spots. Specifically the front panel but I'd like to do the entire thing as long as it can be done right. No experience with soft tops so idk if it will just look trashy no matter what I do. It's in fair condition already so I don't want to make it worse! I'd have paid to have it done by someone with experience but nobody in my area seems to do it and im Houston.. which I find odd lol

I was thinking of doing like 6-7 coats of Renovo Black with a brush but I'm looking for suggestions.

[gas-can]

It's not a huge difference, but I've noticed that 303 Aerospace Fabric Guard helps darken the top a bit and even out some of the duller/shiny spots. It also helps with the water-resistance of the top.

Might be less "dangerous" than a bottle of dye

gc

[Harrison256]

https://m.imgur.com/a/8ld7Y

Here's mine. It's just on that one panel the rest of the top is as black as the centers of the pictured panel. It's weird because I haven't seen this fade pattern before on other cars.

[Vanne]

I Renovo'ed my Z3 black top. Works perfect, obviously depending on how good your top is.

[Harrison256]

Originally Posted by Vanne

I Renovo'ed my Z3 black top. Works perfect, obviously depending on how good your top is.

How many coats did you use and what did you end up applying it with?

[3GFX]

Do you have any pics? Are you sure it's not just really dirty?

[Harrison256]

Originally Posted by 3GFX

Do you have any pics? Are you sure it's not just really dirty?

Photos below. It's really just the frontmost panel (the only one pictured that's I'm bad shape which I find strange bc the car spent most of it's life with the top up and broken


Photo: https://m.imgur.com/a/8ld7Y

I'm about to replace my motor later tonight so I'll have some better photos of the whole top unfolded but for the most part it's just that one panel

[3GFX]

Not sure...what ever you decide to do, good luck.

[Vanne]

Not sure, a bunch of coats, there are vids on YouTube on how to do it, just used a paint brush. Pretty easy really. I had about 2/1౦ left over from the litre bottle.

[racerbruce]

Confirming our convertible top material is fabric and NOT vinyl....correct?
https://www.amazon.com/Renovo-Soft-T.../dp/B000637SHY

[Vanne]

nfi, the z3 top is fabric, ill vouch for that.

[3GFX]

I'm pretty sure the Z3 and Z4 are fabric. Vinyl roofs (correct me if I'm wrong) are the fake leather looking ones.

[fiberguy]

The Z's have a solution dyed acrylic fabric top (probably made by Haartz). This means that the colorant is in the synthetic solution before it is extruded into a fiber. With a system like this, the entire fiber is colored, unlike a more conventional dyeing system that may only color the outside of the fiber - resulting in really good colorfastness.

Any "redyeing" will literally only color the surface of the fabric, so it will not have the durability of the original. Also, getting an even application will be very tricky!

[gpraceman]

I had the dealer redye the top of my Z4M before I would buy it. The top was faded and had some smudges on it (tan top). I'm not sure what product they used, but overall, it looks much better than it did. The top may need to be periodically redyed, but that it is likely a factor of how much sun exposure that it gets. Mine is a garage queen, so I expect the dye job to last quite awhile.