Renovo Soft Top Reviver

[Holdie]

Hi all.

Anybody used this product? Have a 2003 986 with a Metropole Blue hood that, while in good condition generally, is showing it's age appearance wise - not mouldy or covered in bird sh*t,, but colour is uneven in places.

I know the product colour isn't an exact match - dark Blue is good enough for me.

Looks a bit of a nightmare to apply - with a paintbrush!! - but assuming I bite the bullet and go ahead with that I'm more concerned with the end result, not just the final appearance but have also read some comments elsewhere (not on this site) about the fabric then ending up with a harder, brittle texture. Which doesn't sound good...

Any constructive advice/input welcome.

Thanks

[fizz]

Have you done a clean of roof first?

This was mine before attacking it dry with a brush first and then using a cleaning spray. 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by fizz

[fizz]

1 hour ago, Holdie said:

I know the product colour isn't an exact match - dark Blue is good enough for me.

I know @Sanky used renovo and even though it was supposed to be dark blue, it pretty much went black. Could have been due to the application but don't know if I'd want to risk it having seen his in person. 

[Holdie]

Hi fizz

Thanks for your replies and the pics. I have to say that mine is nowhere remotely like the state yours was in pre-cleaning, but you certainly got an excellent result there. I've always found that citrus based cleaners tend to do a really good job - always use these for cycle cleaning.

Anyway, the mention of the Blue roof turning Black is enough to deter me from risking it - I'll just proceed to give it a good scrub and clean. I've got an AutoGlym cabrio care pack which is what I used to use when I had Smart & Smart Roadster convertibles and it always did a good job, so I'm pretty certain it'll result in a better overall appearance. Not looking for perfection - car was 20yrs old as of last week - so some 'character' to be expected.

I think the fact it seems the hard top has been on it most of the time has meant the soft top has been pretty well protected to date.

Anyway, thanks once again for responding.

[Codfanglers]

I wasn't a fan of the blue hood on mine and it was looking a bit faded, so used Protex colour restorer to change it from blue to black two years ago. Easy to apply, it gave a great solid, black, even finish, not hard or brittle, and it looked like new for two summers. My car lives outside and was starting to form green mould across the back this year so the roof had a good scrub with mildew killer then W5. The original blue is now starting to show through slightly along the back edge so will get another coat of Protex this year and I'll also give it a coat of waterproofing as well to see if it lasts longer as I didn't do that last time. 

The Protex stuff is very thin and watery, almost like ink and appeared to soak in but it appears now that it didn't. I think if you use anything thicker and lather it on, it could crack and look a mess and the reality is the hood material won't take a dye. So whatever you use will eventually rub off, and anything you apply will just coat the surface and will need to be re-applied every two or three years to maintain its looks. 

[fizz]

28 minutes ago, Holdie said:

car was 20yrs old as of last week

Snap... 

29 minutes ago, Holdie said:

Anyway, the mention of the Blue roof turning Black is enough to deter me from risking it

Yeah I'm the same to be honest... I quite like the blue contrast. 

 

30 minutes ago, Holdie said:

Anyway, thanks once again for responding.

What this forum is about... gobby know it alls 😅👍

[½cwt]

Blue over silver, best colour options...  Well I prefer a blue to a black roof on mine at least.

[craigjam]

I did my blue top with Renovo almost a year ago, it's definitely worth doing and I didn't find it significantly changed the colour.

I'd give you an opinion on how it's held up a year later but feels like the roof has been wet for the last 2 weeks...

 

[Holdie]

Fizz

Mine's the 2.7 facelift model. with 47,770 on the clock, which averages out to 2385 miles per year since new. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but its been regularly serviced and repaired(!) over the years by the looks of the service and works receipts. Was initially owned by a dentist, then handed down to his dentist son. He apparently traded it in when he bought a McLaren! I looked the practice up on google maps, and the previous owner's address, which were basically not much more than round the corner from each other, so not heavily driven at all. I think one or other of them had a habit of crunching into kerbs or potholes though as there were repeated suspension coil replacements and I had to get these sorted again as well before I bought it (not at my cost!). Major mistake I made though was putting a twin pipe Topgear back box on it when the original started blowing from the seams. Should have got that weld repaired as it was a quiet refined ride, whereas the drone from the current one, even with baffles in it, is too noisy and brain drilling for me. Going to buy a standard Dansk at some point. 

Apologies all - went off the roof dye topic there...

[Holdie]

9 hours ago, craigjam said:

I did my blue top with Renovo almost a year ago, it's definitely worth doing and I didn't find it significantly changed the colour.

I'd give you an opinion on how it's held up a year later but feels like the roof has been wet for the last 2 weeks...

 

@craigjam Thanks for this. I think I'll stick with a good clean and re-proof first, but interesting that you had a good result with it. Did you find it easy to get an even finish painting it on? And yes, it has been a bit wet recently, and unfortunately continuing... Well, it is a BH weekend!

[craigjam]

It was pretty easy - I tried to cover the whole roof before it dried out where I started, using a medium sized paintbrush. Sounds very similar to the Protex stuff in that it's very light and inky and soaks right into the roof material.

I also used the Renovo cleaner and waterproofer and I don't think these are any better than the Autoglym I'd been using previously.

Pictures below of before; after 1 coat; after 2 coats - I think it was much brighter for the bottom middle photo so that's misleadingly blue!

[red rocket]

Going to be doing my Stone Grey hood soon. Bought some Dark Grey dye from Scratch Dr. It comes with a 'Colour Boost' to aid dye penetration plus sponges to apply it. Have also bought a set of foam 'brushes' from Hobbycraft plus a thin paintbrush as I figure I may need something for doing the edges. I got Scratch Dr to give me RAL colour reference so I could check it against the existing hood colour. Fingers crossed it's not too dark. 

[Topbox]

Hope it goes well Peter, 👍

[fizz]

So just seen a Facebook owners page post on this... thought I'd copy and share it here for extra info and other experiences. 👌

----------

I’ve previously used Renovo on another Boxster I had. Didn’t like the finish it left, as it turned the roof a bit glossy. Thought I’d try this fabric dye. Made a brilliant job and didn’t even need to mask off, as any minor spills just wiped off with a cleaning wipe and paper roll. Took 20 minutes to do and leaves a factory natural finish. Used an ordinary small kitchen pot wash sponge to apply. Just got to fabsil it now for weather protection.

I also wiped a little bit on my seat bolster, that had some scuffing and the colour had scrubbed off. It coloured it up instantly and then I just wiped the excess off with a paper towel. re-dyed the leather a treat 👍

250ml (£10) of Royal Blue fabric dye. They do canvas dye, but it’s dark blue and thought I’d start lighter and go darker if needed. Colour booster (£10.50). Mixed half the dye with quarter of the booster, so enough if I needed a second coat, which I’ll do again before it gets garaged for winter.

 

[red rocket]

58 minutes ago, fizz said:

I’ve previously used Renovo on another Boxster I had. Didn’t like the finish it left, as it turned the roof a bit glossy. Thought I’d try this fabric dye. Made a brilliant job and didn’t even need to mask off, as any minor spills just wiped off with a cleaning wipe and paper roll. Took 20 minutes to do and leaves a factory natural finish. Used an ordinary small kitchen pot wash sponge to apply. Just got to fabsil it now for weather protection.

Brilliant!  Good to know. Thanks for posting.

[fizz]

4 hours ago, red rocket said:

Brilliant!  Good to know. Thanks for posting.

All good mate. 👍 

[red rocket]

Just to complete my part of the thread: redyed my Grey hood a couple of weeks ago using the Scratch Doctor product and result is great. The product appears quite 'thin' - from my days in the leather industry I would say more dye than pigment - but coverage and colour levelness are excellent. I  used less than 300ml for the first coat. Only did a 2nd coat because I missed a couple of spots as I worked in the garage to avoid the risk of uneven drying and possible lines in bright sunshine. For 2nd coat probably used 200ml. I  mainly used a cheap, thin 4 inch brush from B&Q with the foam brushes from Hobbycraft coming in handy for edges.  

I wiped runs off the windows with a damp cloth and found any drips which dried on glass or painwork were also easy to remove with a damp cloth. 

Here's some before and after pics which don't really show the result properly and I don't think the apparent colour change is as dramatic as the pics suggest and tones nicely with the Atlas Grey paintwork.

[fizz]

That looks excellent and your before pic looks better than most after pics... 🤣👌