Dye / Paint for Upper Half Door Skins?

[doc54]

My half door uppers are pretty faded and the finish is flaking off in some spots. I have a pretty new (~3 years old) Bestop Twill top and there is an extremely noticeable difference in the color of the soft top and the uppers. I don't want to get new uppers since the ones I have OEM and are, from my understanding, the only ones with a black interior - which matches the black inside of the twill top (not a fan of that gray color on most tops/skins). Additionally, the OEM skin is sewn/glued on and I'd rather have it like that than cutting it off and replacing it with the after-market velcro ones.

I was wondering if anyone has used some kind of dye or paint on either the half door uppers or soft top to restore the color. I've tried the 303 Aerospace protectant in the past but it is a temporary refresh and didn't really bring back the original color.

 

[red02tj]

My half door uppers are pretty faded and the finish is flaking off in some spots. I have a pretty new (~3 years old) Bestop Twill top and there is an extremely noticeable difference in the color of the soft top and the uppers. I don't want to get new uppers since the ones I have OEM and are, from my understanding, the only ones with a black interior - which matches the black inside of the twill top (not a fan of that gray color on most tops/skins). Additionally, the OEM skin is sewn/glued on and I'd rather have it like that than cutting it off and replacing it with the after-market velcro ones.

I was wondering if anyone has used some kind of dye or paint on either the half door uppers or soft top to restore the color. I've tried the 303 Aerospace protectant in the past but it is a temporary refresh and didn't really bring back the original color.

@RangerTJ did a color change on some uppers.

 

[doc54]

Perfect, that's just the kind of post I was looking for. Ordering now, thank you

 

[MikekiM]

FWIW, like you I dislike the grey underside of the Bestop soft tops.. In my case a TrekTop NX.

I painted it years ago (and after the pics below, painted the back window fabric as well) using Duplicolor Fabric & Vinyl paint. It looks a million times better.

I just replaced the half door soft uppers and will be painting the inside to match.

Two or three years later and it looks just as good, though a little dusty. This is yesterday...

 

[RangerTJ]

Perfect, that's just the kind of post I was looking for. Ordering now, thank you

THIS is the kit I used.

It gets darker with each application so you can dye them only as dark as you need.

 

[MikekiM]

THIS is the kit I used.

It gets darker with each application so you can dye them only as dark as you need.

Does this product cure or is a surface product like ArmorAll or 303?
I'd like to refresh my Trektop but don't want anything running off and staining everything it touches.

 

[RangerTJ]

Does this product cure or is a surface product like ArmorAll or 303?
I'd like to refresh my Trektop but don't want anything running off and staining everything it touches.

It's a permanent dye.

I did my doors back in March and it has not run or faded at all.

 

[MikekiM]

THIS is the kit I used.

It gets darker with each application so you can dye them only as dark as you need.

Tried this product today. Went on easy, cured in no time. No streaks, no runs so far. It did deepen the two year old black diamond fabric. Worked especially well on the faded stitching in the soft top. I used about a third of the bottle on a TrekTop NX on the TJ.

 

[MikekiM]

A day later and I have to say... I am REALLY impressed with how this looks. Time will tell if it fades or runs, but after a day in the sun the finish is an even deep black that looks like a brand new top.

 

[Iamindium]

How well has it lasted these days?

 

[MikekiM]

How well has it lasted these days?

It looks okay. Not as black as it was when I first applied it but still looks good. My TJ is a daily driver, so it sees whatever weather gets thrown at it every day. It was so easy to apply that I have no problem doing it again in the spring.

 

[RangerTJ]

It looks okay. Not as black as it was when I first applied it but still looks good. My TJ is a daily driver, so it sees whatever weather gets thrown at it every day. It was so easy to apply that I have no problem doing it again in the spring.

Mine still looks good overall, though I've been running my full doors for a couple of months now.

There's some wear of the dye in spots on the edge, but like @MikekiM mentioned, it's so easy to apply that it's no big deal to touch it up.

And now that the base layer is there and the color has been changed, it will likely need much less product to get the results you want.

 

[MikekiM]

How well has it lasted these days?

Just realized I am not sure whether you are referring to the paint on the door uppers or the dye on the soft top.

The paint on the uppers, and under side of the soft top looks pretty much like the day I did them. The soft top underside was done a few years ago. I open the sunrider panel every day during the warmer months and it looks perfect. The soft uppers were done this past spring and still look great. I am really obsessive about this sort of stuff and would redo them if they needed... they absolutely do not.