Yellow CVA dampers dyed black
Wth the rerelease of the Top Force came the opportunity to replace some damaged rear dampers on an Avante 2001.
With the rears all looking good, I wanted to replace the fronts as well.
I have used black Rit Dye on some white lightweight wheels sometime ago, so I thought I would try the same with yellow CVA damper parts.
I bought two W parts trees (Vanquish, Terra Scorcher) and two T parts (Boomerang) and supplemented them with some other yellow CVA tree parts. I also bought a pack of black Rit Dye powder (there is a liquid but it is more expensive, but I have not tried it - yet).
1. Take parts to be dyed off the trees
2. Boil the kettle and dissolve the Rit Dye in 350/400ml hot water in a microwaveable bowl - best to use something you don't want to keep afterwards.
3. Add the parts to be dyed (best to loosely tie all the small parts together using fine thread to make it easier to find them. I didn't do this and made a lot of mess trying to fish out two small parts)
4. Cover with cling film, and put in the microwave on high for 2 mins (800watt microwave)
5. Remove from microwave, remove cling film (will be hot and mind the steam), and check parts have started to take the dye. They were a shade of green at this point.
6. Recover with new cling film and return to microwave for another 2 mins on high
7. Remove from microwave, remove cling film (will be hot and mind the steam), and check parts again. They were close to black, but wanted to be sure. There was no sign of the plastic warping, but just be aware that could happen.
8. Recover with new cling film and return to microwave for 1 minute on high
9. Remove from microwave, remove cling film (will be hot and mind the steam).
10. Fish out items and rinse in cold water
The microwave technique was much better/convenient for small items and was pretty easy to keep the mess down. But be aware, the liquid will colour anything it comes into contact with, so be careful, protect work surfaces, use rubber gloves, and don't burn yourselves - 5 mins in a microwave gets the water really hot with lots of hot steam.
The factory black Top Force damper cylinders are in the last pictures for comparison (top left/right and left right)
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Comments
SRB Bloke
Nice work
I've dyed loads of stuff over the years, most of the time it works well. Sometimes it's goes horribly wrong. But those look great. I might try the yellow shocks that came on my sons Christmas pressie, a TT-02B. Thanks for reminding me..
Leethal Driver
Big fan of Rit, nice deep black there. Great big hole in the shock body won't help though!
thetamiyakid
I think that 'hole' (last pic damper body on right?) is a trick of the light or where I did not remove it from the tree as cleanly as I should😊
Crash Cramer
Looks great and I just wonder, the new shrink wrap between trips to the microwave, was that because it is near impossible to reuse the shrink wrap or another reason?? I am wondering if the TOGO containers I get at the Chinese restaurant would work as they are microwave safe and have their own lid.
thetamiyakid
The cling film/shrink wrap is pretty much useless once 'cooked' and removed. It is there to stop the dye splattering the inside of the microwave so I thought I'd use new each time to be sure. Just be careful of sealed solid lids. The pressure inside could cause the lid to pop open and that may cause a bit of a mess.
Crash Cramer
Got it, might make a steam hole and/or leave the lid off a tad bit to ease the release of the steam. Thanks for the HOW TO.
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