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#Post#: 94802--------------------------------------------------
Canvas preservation, recolouring and reproofing
By: Roveerman Date: November 30, 2014, 2:32 pm
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Winter is coming!
Or the preservation of a canvas tilt
When driving along in your land rover feeling everything is
right with the world and god is in his heaven, have you ever had
that sudden cold shiver run down your neck?, and I don't mean
the one about realising its the better half's birthday, I'm
talking about the one caused by a drop of rain water leaking
though the canvas, if so read on and this might inspire and aid
you to remedy it.
The tilt on my land rover has done sterling service over the
years but the last winter has taken its toll, this is no
pampered restoration sitting a a large garage but on the kerb
24/7 come rain or shine and said drip caused me to take a closer
look at the tilt.
Not very close inspection revealed quite a few holes, mildew and
general wear and tear. Closer inspection revealed a situation
that needed sorting while the weather was good and excluded the
cost of a new tilt.
To be honest some of the materials used I already had in my shed
the only real outlay is in the recolouring dye, the other items
used were as follows
Fabric cleaner and canvas proofer from Storm, others are
available but I've heard that the cheap option of using Thompson
brick sealer is not such a good idea as the recipe has been
changed, Renovo soft top reviver and window polish, Copydex and
some off cuts of canvas kindly supplied, for a small donation,
by John Clarke of Exmoor Trim.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/34531c656ce1b5705d6c1f5f1923fca4.jpg[/img]
The idea for this article only came to me after the initial wash
and scrub had taken place, as you can see the cleaner not only
removed dirt, bird lime, mould and algae but also some of the
original colour as well and this is the closest before and after
shot I have.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/38c8025042d8ff2f6dff5015222c0cd0.jpg[/img]
The hood was wetted with a hose and the cleaner mixed into a
bucket of water and sponged on, I then set to with a scrubbing
brush to shift the stubborn dirt and algae. Rinsing off with a
hose after showed how much muck had come off by leaving a green
Land Rover out line on the drive after I had finished and a
considerably cleaner but streaky tilt. A second going over with
the cleaner help even the streaks out and shift the last of the
grime.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/19a8858fe93464e6578552653baa4d62.jpg[/img]
I cannot recommend Renevo window polish highly enough, having
used it for many years on the rear window of my late lamented
(sold not scrapped) MGB I knew this was the stuff to use.
After digging around I the back of the shed I came up with the
bottle and set to work on the window. It's easy to use and works
like a metal polish, which I suppose it is, just a bit finer,
pour onto a rag, rub onto the window and buff off with a clean
cloth and repeat till you are satisfied.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/563532192a871c8ef7b56e474684c563.jpg[/img]
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/e11d0b89d9751ba614a2c0d9dfe1c655.jpg[/img]
Now that the tilt was clean and I could see where I've been it
was time to start on the repairs. The off cuts of new canvas
were cut into appropriate sized patches and covered with copydex
and placed over the holes in the canvas, I have toyed with the
ideal of sewing as well but the number of patches has put me
off. If they start to peel I might rethink and sew them after
all.
The dark spots are from either the mildew or oil I can't make my
mind up. The idea of this was to make sound rather than pretty
and if I can get a few more years out of this tilt, that will do
me.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/618c17f04d815253b0abc71a4bbe6776.jpg[/img]
Now I know the paint job is not the best but the streaky finish
does let the side down so I started to look into recolouring the
canvas, I know dylon is a big name in fabric dying but there's
no way I'd ever get away sticking this in the washing machine. I
have dyed large bits of canvas before in a cleaned out bin but
the finish had a more camo feeling and took a lot of rinsing
before the dye stopped running. Renovo to the rescue, this is
the only recolouring product I could find, it's brushed on and
when dry colour fast. The only thing is the limited colour
available, dark blue, dark red, dark brown, black and of course
dark green. The green is no where near the karki of the original
finish and I did toy with the idea of the brown. On the back of
the rear side flap I tried a test patch to see the effect, it
goes on well and gives an even finish, it comes in 1/2 and 1Ltr
bottles, 1Ltr is supposed to cover "a large roof", what ever
that means, so I purchased 2Ltrs. The 2ltrs was more than
enough to cover the canvas with the recommended two coats, the
application was fairly easy and I would say doing it on the
vehicle could end up with plenty of the dye on the ground as
it's very thin and watery, Renovo do have video clips to show
how to apply on their web site and I used a 2" brush but feel a
larger one may have made the job quicker.
After the first coat the colour was still a bit streaky and the
dark spots still showed though, the second coat has evened the
finish out and I'm happy with the result. I do wonder how it
would have gone on if a spray set was used.
The tilt it's self does not appeared to have shrunk any but it
is a lot stiffer and rougher but I expect it will soften up as
it flexes.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/91ce16da322c1665274c18b244a8ab00.jpg[/img]
I've had to wait a few days now before the final stage of
waterproof treatment is applied and I'm glad to say that the
recolour has not run or reacted to over night rain.
Now the not so good news, the canvas proofer that I planed to
use has not taken to the tilt, in that it has just beaded on the
surface and run off. Now I'm not sure if this is a product
compatibility issue or the storm canvas proofer has gone off, I
bought this four years or more ago and it has been stored in a
shed (hot in summer, freezing in winter) and it looks like it
might of separated out, it looked curdled, a bit like milk, it
did improve after a vigorous shaking but still had a few lumps
in.
The only waterproofer I was able to get locally was fabsil, this
has gone on very well, soaking into the canvas and not reacting
to the renovo dye at all. The fabsil smelt very strongly of the
silicone that it is based on and the instructions recommend up
to six hours drying before exposure to dampness. I used two
litres and starting with the top section and applying the fabsil
so that it wetted out the canvas and applying slightly less on
the sides, I only just had enough to finish the job off.
[IMG]
(HTM) http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy193/roverman40/90635f0b5376801bb91773bf0b38717d.jpg[/img]
The final result is I now have a uniform dark green tilt without
any holes that repels water like a well wax paint job and will
keep me dry what ever next winter throws at me.
#Post#: 94803--------------------------------------------------
Re: Canvas preservation, recolouring and reproofing
By: Mendit Date: November 30, 2014, 2:44 pm
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That's well informative and will see me doing the same come
spring thanks for taking the time and pictures will tag this for
later
#Post#: 94806--------------------------------------------------
Re: Canvas preservation, recolouring and reproofing
By: 982knn Date: November 30, 2014, 2:53 pm
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Thanks for posting that info...
I too have wondered about the Renovo dye..
Mark
#Post#: 94824--------------------------------------------------
Re: Canvas preservation, recolouring and reproofing
By: NoelC Date: December 1, 2014, 9:26 am
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Very interesting. :thumbs:
#Post#: 99238--------------------------------------------------
Re: Canvas preservation, recolouring and reproofing
By: Fluffle-Valve Date: October 12, 2015, 3:39 am
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Planning on doing the same this year, before the winter sets in.
That is a good write up and very informative, thanks for that...
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