HollywoodMX's - Dyeing a Gas tank Process. No Paint required.

[Jakeblues]

Question 1: I don't understand what you mean when you talk about putting heavy objects around the gas tank to stop it from "melting" (I forget the word you use)

Question 2: Would this process work to dye your plastics too?! Like fenders and air shrouds?

I tried it on an airbox door...it only turned grey. I think the door and other body parts are the same kind of plastic.

[O3400ex]

Do you have any other pics? Also, does anyone else have any experience?

[Jakeblues]

fork and rotor guard

shock guard, rear rotor guard and brake line clamp

[Jakeblues]

If you have an old broken fender or shroud laying around, you could try it on that first.

[O3400ex]

Has anyone tried it on their fenders?!

[duggiedirtbiker]

dude, this dieing process is awsome! At first i was kinda mad because i tried it on my # plates and they turned out horrible, but then i tried it on a bunch a little pieces like the plastic brake line mounts, engine case gaurds and the brake rotor cover and they look tight! Thanks for showing us this little trick!?

[Jakeblues]

It is sad that you ruined the plates, but I think if you had read the whole thread I posted and showed pics of how my a/b door turned out...they are the same type of plastic. If you want to save the plates buy the krylon fusion paint, cheap at walmart, it holds up pretty well and can be touched up easily. As long as there are no graphics involved you can just wet sand and repaint when they get all scuffed. The graphics or stickers could even be masked off for retouch work, just be careful with the sand paper

[duggiedirtbiker]

ill check that out! To clear things up i did the fenders the 3 months ago, and read through the whole thing back then. I did all the little parts like a week ago.

[duggiedirtbiker]

I cheacked it out and it looks nice! I loke how glossy it is.

But what is plastic paint?

[KrustySS]

I cheacked it out and it looks nice! I loke how glossy it is.

But what is plastic paint?

Fusion is the name of the spray paint made by Krylon specifically for painting plastic.

[yzfkneedragger]

Do you think this would work on a smr 450 Husky tank?

[Jakeblues]

Fusion is the name of the spray paint made by Krylon specifically for painting plastic.

Thanks, I have been out all weekend, doing my best to wear said paint off.

[Jakeblues]

Do you think this would work on a smr 450 Husky tank?

Hard to say for sure, but most tanks seem to be made of the same type of plastic, and it has worked for the others who have tried it?

[nparrott10]

rit dye is this a brand name or type of dye... and can it bought at other places other then wal mart because i have no access to one...only got things like home hardware, co-op, and some industrial stores....or can a different dye be used then rit?

[Jakeblues]

I know it can be found in many grocery stores here in the states.

for the body pieces experiment, I got a broken red fender to day and cut sereral pieces. I still have the bucket of dye solution so I left one piece stock and sanded the other pieces with different grits of sand paper. I will post pics later of the results.

[O3400ex]

I know it can be found in many grocery stores here in the states.

for the body pieces experiment, I got a broken red fender to day and cut sereral pieces. I still have the bucket of dye solution so I left one piece stock and sanded the other pieces with different grits of sand paper. I will post pics later of the results.

Great THANK YOU!

[HollywoodMX]

If the tank is full of dyed water, you'd still end up with one side that was colored. What if you submerged half the tank at a time, and left a strip in between that wasn't dyed. I know this would add time and effort to the process, especially figuring out a way to secure the tank so it wouldn't shift while it was being dyed.

What do you think?

Great idea, Hollywood. The DR650 crowd is just getting wind of it...

Thanks!

My tank is holding up great, still 100% black. The white on my tank graphics is slowly turning black though.

Mine is a little too.

Question 1: I don't understand what you mean when you talk about putting heavy objects around the gas tank to stop it from "melting" (I forget the word you use)

Question 2: Would this process work to dye your plastics too?! Like fenders and air shrouds?

Not melting but to keep it submerged.

I think its different for every type of plastic.

[bustersat]

Great info hollywood ?

Just a few suggestions.

- I used a turkey fryer to heat clear water, salt, and vinegar in turkey pot. Then I bought a 3 gal. metal bucket to dissolve my dye.

- I used an old cooler with a heavy duty trash bag as a liner. I put a 1 gallon jug of used motor oil in to help take up volume inside cooler. The cooler keeps the heat in for ever it seems. Mine also had wheels on it for easy moving around the garage!

-I took the screws off the top of the tank then put about 10 washers on each for weight to keep it submerged! Works like a charm!

-Once the turkey pot water boiled, I put it in the cooler with the tank to warm it up while I dissolved my dye.

-Once the dye was dissolved, I removed the tank from cooler, dumped in the dissolved dye solution, and stirred together. Then , slowly submerged tank into dye bath.

notes:

- I spilled water on my foot and got my pinky toe burned!?

- I did all my mixing on the lawn so there are zero stains on anything!

- Whole process from start to finish took about an hour with no clean up!

- Might be more expensive to buy all this stuff, but if you already have the cooler and fryer, the total expense was about $20 for dye, salt, vinegar, and 3 gal bucket! ??

[sxfracer]

brilliant write up thanks, just one question What is rit dye ? never heard of it in the uk............

[KTM CaRnAgE]

got two question but ill probably not get an answer to cause nobody probably knows but its worth a shot

would rit dye turn faded white plastic orange or black

and what about silver/gray plastic would it be able to go completely black

sry another question what if i left the decals on the plastic would they dye or stay the same just wondering