How to dye the tramp?

I read where someone dyed an old style tramp. Rite brand dye work for this? Any other ideas?

Hi Beery,

I was the guy who dyed an old (1977) , yellow tramp to black. It has held up well for 2 seasons now, and looks great.

Here are my suggestions;

- You must use vinyl dye, NOT vinyly paint. Any automotive supply place can get you this. I used a product that came in a spray can. It is inexpensive and easy to use.

- You must clean your tramp very well if you want to achieve success. This takes time and lots of elbow grease. I used soap, water and a scrub brush for the first washes. Then I used a professional wax/silicon remover as well (RM900 by BASF).

- You will do best if you stick with the original colour of the tramp. This way, scuffs will show up much less. Otherwise, the occassional touchups are required. However, touchups are easy to do as vinyl dye dries in about 15 minutes and applies very easily.

- The older and more UV damaged your tramp is the better the finished product will be. This is because the increased porosity caused by the UV damage allows greater penetration of the dye.

- If you decide to dye the tramp a different colour than the original, you will have to dye both sides of the tramp to obtain a good finished product.

- Vinyl dye is nasty stuff in terms of toxicity, so take the appropriate safety measures when using it.


...Here are a couple photos.

http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/53299-MVC-132F.JPG

http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/52248-00y1f.jpg

Regards

Dave

Hi Dave,

Yes I remember seeing those photos. What a nice job! looks like a seat in a brand new car! My tramp is yellow with a big faded spot. I want to go back to yellow. I don't know if my NAPA guy will have yellow dye!?! I couldn't even get paint help from those knuckleheaeds. That's why I was thinking of the five gallon bucket of Rite Yellow and let it sit for a couple of days. Do you remember the brand name of the dye you used so I may be able to buy direct?

Thanks, Jay
P.S. Check out my paint job in the forum under "paint job finially done".