[Candyman]

Hey their chris15,

It sounds like you got you have done your homework pretty well on this one. Lets see if I can cover my two cents on the options at hand, and maybe see about a better plan.

1. Personally I would probably try to stay away from dying Plexi. Its just a tough way to go, easy to get hurt while trying to dip the part in the hot water / dye solution, easy to dye the part to where it comes out too dark, warped, or wrong and damaged in some other matter at which point you could be looking at having to buy a new piece and then decide if its worth starting over again. So, to me its not the best route.

2. Tint should have no problems with sticking, and should not bubble up when applied over Plexi as far as I know. I have seen them use Custom Tint Films over various surfaces like Headlights, and Tail Lights to plastic windows on some convertible tops, high strength composite aircraft windows, and more without much incident so you should be good on this route but its up to you on if this provides you with the look your going for.

3. Buying a pre-dyed piece of Plexi is a pretty good solution but you will need a very thin piece as the existing gauge cover actually has a curve to it so if you were to mount it to just the inside, or outside of the existing Plexi cover, then you will need to bend it to match the curve without breaking the piece. Even though it may not be all that much of a radius, ultra thin Plexi is really fragile when it comes to bending it unless you apply a little heat which could then break the piece, or distort the clarity to get the desired bend. So, its doable, but their are some complications.

My best advice to you on this project at this point would be maybe to do:

1. A little more research on window tinting. Like I say, I don't see any problem with this. Tinting is done all the time on plastic, and Plexiglas surfaces, and since their are a lot of shops nowadays that have a lifetime guarantee on the film so if something ever went bad, they can fix it free of charge.

2. Or if you still have concerns over the tint sticking, you could also look into a piece of blue transparent Tinted Vinyl from a Sign Company. Its the same Vinyl they use to make stick on graphic's on cars, trucks, sign's, and so on but transparent for use on like windows, and glass doors an so on. Basically a see through sticker. You can also see this technology used on today's Wrapped Vehicles where as they use one giant vinyl graphic to cover the entire vehicle including windows with a giant advertisement. Might be an easy solution.

3. Another alternative to the project, you could swing by a good Body Shop and see if they could shoot a Candy Paint which is transparent over your Plexi in any shade of blue you want. I would say a simple part like that should be around $100 - $150 out the door with material and labor at the most which if nothing else, I always try to estimate painting higher so you could come in lower than that. Might be a little expensive, but you are guaranteed a professional paint job that should be done right, and just like the Tint, if anything were to go wrong with the paint, you could send it back, but my guess is if its a good shop you should be good to go. The only thing I always try to stress is to do a little shopping for a decent Shop to work with.

4. And last extreme resort if nothing else works, I can see about picking up a replacement cover piece from the local wrecking yard, professionally spraying it so we know its good to go, and ship it on up to you.

One way or another we should be able to figure out your project here. Go easy and let me know your thoughts on it.

Candyman