How to dye brown plastic parts black

syncrodoka · Last edited by syncrodoka on Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:10 am; edited 1 time in total

I needed a black heater plate that mounts behind the shifter without the horizontal cutouts in the face for my truck with the floor ductwork to the back seats. They are difficult to find in any color in the US but the early diesel vanagons had them in brown and after a long search I got one.

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I went the dye route because it is permanent and when it gets scratched the plastic underneath is black not brown.
A large enough plastic container for the part was located and it got soaked in hot tap water for a while to get the part warmed up, then the water was dumped. It got refilled part way with hot tap water then the rest was filled with water that was heated on the stovetop and the RIT fabric dye was added.

The part soaked overnight and when it came out it was definitely black not brown any longer.

The scary part is that I needed to cut out a large notch in the center for the syncro locker panel in the hard to find part but in doing so I was able to confirm that the dye had soaked through and it is now a black part.

I used 2 bottles of dye to make sure that the part got the color since gallons of water were added to cover the part. The dye cost about $3 each and the process was really easy and gave me great results.

IdahoDoug · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:38 pm Post subject:

Wow, that's amazing. I recently had a RIT fail trying to dye some automotive carpet. Didn't even touch the carpet - no effect at all. I've used it a half dozen times with success, so guess it was rayon or st. Anyhow wow your part looks great!
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purplepeopleeater · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:38 am Post subject:

Nice, too bad I have a ton of black stuff I WANT brown Surprised

alaskadan · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:47 am Post subject:

Wow, I had no idea that would work. I would've bet money it would'nt work. I had always used SEM plastic prep and paint. So that specific plastic is water permeable?

dhaavers · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:50 am Post subject:

insyncro · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:56 am Post subject:

Looks great.
Wink

schenks13 · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:34 am Post subject:

that looks fantastic!

now, how to do this with the large plastic Carat panels
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Gunldesnapper · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:55 pm Post subject:

Now that is an interesting idea schenks13. My panels look like crap!

Looks great syncodoka.
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schenks13 · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:00 pm Post subject:

I've painted mine, and it's does not seem the same as the part that syncrodoka dyed. Mine look like painted panels...his looks like black plastic.
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'87 Syncro High Roof
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joetiger · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:11 pm Post subject:

This is a great idea! I'm slowly transitioning my brown interior bits to black, and it would be a lot cheaper to just dye what I have.

Was there any bleeding afterwards? Did everything dry out and not cause any mess?

I'm curious because it seems like there'd be a possibility that you dye it black then you get black hands every time you handle the pieces. I'm also wondering if there would be any bleed-out when it gets really hot in the interior. Could just be me thinking too much, though.
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syncrodoka · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:40 pm Post subject:

I forgot to mention that the part needs to be rinsed off after the dye bath with cold water.

This part is newly dyed and it doesn't leech out any color. I have handled the part plenty and the only color that i got on my hands was from the dye bath. If the dye method didn't take i was ready to use other methods but it worked great so i mentioned it.

My son's RC car chassis has been dyed from grey to black for over a year and it has never been a problem. This technique is more commonplace in that hobby since they are almost all plastic.

If there is ever a issue with the color leeching i will update the thread but my past experience with the process makes me believe that it isn't a problem.

DAV!D · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:50 pm Post subject:

That's actually a great idea and it looks good too. When I was a teenager I had a remote control car, that I died the white nylon parts blue and it worked great. I would have never thought you could do the same thing with hard plastic like that.
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86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

Syncro Jael · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:54 pm Post subject:

Great!

Now I know how to make that extra brown grab handle I have black for another 87 Westy!

Thanks! I never would have thought Dye would work, just plastic paint.

Woo Hoo! Dancing

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furrylittleotter · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:50 pm Post subject:

Very cool. I have a fuel cell in my kit car I will be trying this on!

Neil2

FNGRUVN · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:58 am Post subject:

Nice job. Hope it works out in the long run.

I'll stick with SEM trim paint, though. My OG brown steering wheel is still nice and black after about seven years. Same goes for the dash, shifter boot, arm rests and every other plastic bit in the van.

I'm not knocking what you have done, just giving a testimonial for another option for parts that can't be soaked.
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61Scout · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:29 am Post subject:

Learn something new every day! It's amazing how the dye had such good penetration into the plastic. Very cool trick.

-Kevin
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