How to: make your faded pink General Grabbers red again

I used a DupliColor Hot Tires paint pen. I have to give credit where credit is due... It was Birdman's idea and like most of his ideas it was a good one. I was unfamiliar with the product, but it worked great.

Be sure to clean AND DRY the tires really well first. Took a ton of shaking the pen while compressing the tip to get the paint to flow (like over 10 min!) I finally ended up pulling out the felt tip and jamming a coathanger in the reservoir... This seemed to make the paint finally flow. Make sure to have plenty of paper towels handy to wipe excess paint from the white outline on the red letters as you go. The process is tedious and time consuming, but worth it... I for one don't want pink letters on my tires.

Obviously I'd recommend letting the tires sit in place overnight once the paint is applied... Unless you're going for some wily tie-dye look.

Link to product:

Dupli-Color HT200 - Dupli-Color Hot Tires Tire Paint Pens - SummitRacingEquipment.com

Here are some photos, click on the attachment links. Notice the difference in color between the words General and Grabber and you can see its a big improvement once the letters are treated.

View attachment 8239
View attachment 8240
View attachment 8241
View attachment 8238

pics no worky.
says i should contact an admin.
should I PM you Bo?

glad it worked out.

6.2 said:

pics no worky.
says i should contact an admin.
should I PM you Bo?

Click to expand...

Yes, PM me lol. I was trying a new method of posting them from an iPhone, I guess it didn't work because I can see them but evidently you guys can't. I'll fix it later when I'm at a computer.

Ah ok makes sense

You using
Tapatalk?

6.2 said:

Ah ok makes sense

You using
Tapatalk?

Click to expand...

Tried writing the post in TapaTalk, and attaching the images in TapaTalk, then copying the text and image code, switching over to Safari, pasting the text and image code in the standard vBulletin text input window and hitting Submit.... Wanted to see if the pics would come out full size instead of scaled down like TapaTalk attached ones always are.

Now when I view this thread in Safari I get little links to the images that I can view big pics from. When I switch back to TapaTalk those image links disappear. Sounds like you guys can't see anything either way though, so my lil experiment was all for naught.

Bo, I don't know how it happened, but your photos ended up on the jumbotron during the basketball game on TNT.... ;-)

Oh Stop It!! Why would you not want Pink! You Big Brute You Vicious Brute You! I think Pink send such a statement---yes you are tough but not TOO tough if you know what I mean! Oh just Drop It with this Pink Bashing!

I feel better know--going out for a Latte made with soy of course because I am lactose intolerant and then out for PINK pinstripes!

I know this is extremely old, but instead of creating a new thread, I figured I'd add in here. Instead of using the paint, I used some "Bleche White" tire cleaner on my wheels. At first, when I was brushing the tire the red letters started to run and I thought I had really messed them up. Surprisingly though, when I washed the product off, the Red Letters were back to be a nice deep red. I didn't get pictures of my most faded tire, but I did get pictures of the process to show you what it looks like so if you end up doing this you know the running red from the letters is "OK".






Product sprayed on. Be careful when applying as this stuff is pretty potent and could mess up your paint.


Wheel brush


"Oh shit...."


More "oh shit..."


Rinsed off. Back to being a deep, vibrant red again.


Product used


Looks like active ingredient is sodium metasilicate. Don't know what it is, but it's definitely potent. Try to do this when it's not windy. If you get a whiff it's like breathing in ammonia.

Two of my red letter tires have turned to almost white. (Pinkish white, but closer to white) I was planning to have all four of the them flipped to black-side out for $100, but I think I will give this a shot first.

I wish he had posted a before pic, so I can see how faded his were compared to mine. If it works for mine, I will post a before and after pic. Otherwise, I am going to bite the bullet and have them flipped for $100.