Dying parts with salt

[Dr. Robotnik]

careful with that dye on the granite!!! English brown?? If you get any stains, let me know im in the biz and have some tricks to get stains out.

Granite? I assume you are referring to my pics. It's not granite it's a manmade material which doesn't stain, phew. What's the English Brown, do you mean the colour? The parts are black they just look funny in the pic I guess. I am the forum's worst photographer.

I've done fiberglass shock towers and they take the dye really well and rather quick. I tried doing a fiberglass t-plate for a 12L and it would not take the color except for the rough edges which now just look dirty.

That would probably be because the edges of the T-plate might be sealed. If you try sanding down the edges, then re-dying, the dye will probably penetrate properly. Failing that a Sharpie marker might work

[Tadracket]

....Failing that a Sharpie marker might work

Yeah, there are a couple guys on here that can tell you how to properly Sharpie your car

[templeofspeed]

....Failing that a Sharpie marker might work

Yeah, there are a couple guys on here that can tell you how to properly Sharpie your car

Lets start calling them "touch-up pens"...

[highwayracer]

I recycle my dye for plastic parts. When dying fibreglass, I add extra dye to the mixture in order to get a deeper color. I dyed a number of fiberglass parts (from different manufacturers) at the same time and I noticed that even though they were the same thickness some of the parts were darker than the others. I'm guessing that this happened because of the different types of epoxy that's used or the different process used to create the fiberglass.

Because of this, you may need to check the color more frequently. Black is easy to correct...just add time and they'll eventually become the same color. If you are dying a different color, too much time = the wrong color. I did this with some red parts.

Also, if you are dying other than black, make sure that the pot is 100% clean. I remember reading the RCCA article about 20 years ago where they were dying some yellow parts that because greenish/brow because the pot had a trace of black.

If all else fails, sand the parts to remove the shine and paint.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
highwayracer

[AYKBOBCAT]

Wait a sec.... You recycle your dye? How do you do that? You just keep the water in a bottle and use it another time later?

I thought of doing that before but never went ahead

[highwayracer]

That's exactly what I do. I have a big plastic jug (old juice container) that I pour the dye/water back into after everything cools off. Find a container with a large opening...it makes it easier to fill it.

Before I use it again, I shake it up to ensuer that everything is mixed (MAKE SURE THAT THE CAP IS SECURE)

highwayracer

[AYKBOBCAT]

Tried again with Dylon AND SALT yesterday.... IT WORKED!!! All good. It worked also for the shock towers but they came our dark blue and dark grey instead of black. How long do you leave fiberglass in the dye to get the dark black?

[Dr. Robotnik]

^It's a LOT longer than for nylon. Just leave them in until they are done. The longer you leave them the darker they get. Try an hour or so, it shouldn't do them any harm at all so don't worry.