Duplicolor DIY vinyl cover paint job

Color-tastrophy!

The Foxwing Awning by Rhino Rack / OZ Tent is one of my favorite purchases for the Landy to provide much needed shelter from the intense Florida sun and frequent rain. It will forever have a sentimental place in my heart as I bought it last year at the Overland Expo East and my first time attending. It rained nearly the entire weekend of the Expo and since it rains almost daily during the summer in South Florida, buying an awning for the rig made perfect sense. The awning is well made with durable fabric and came with a thick vinyl cover (shown below) in an Army green type color. Unfortunately the green cover didn’t match the rest of my silver and black Land Rover but surely Rhino Rack made the cover in a standard black, right? Wrong! It only comes in one color and after getting off the phone with Rhino Rack customer service, I knew it was DIY time.

Here is a quick step by step guide of how I painted the cover black:

The Foxwing Awning cover as it comes from the factory

Grab yourself a table and a 2″ x 6″ piece of wood to support the cover

Mask off areas you don’t want to paint and give it a thorough cleaning with 90% alcohol to remove any dirt and oils

Head to any auto parts store and buy a can of Duplicolor “Adhesion Promoter” and one can of your favorite color “Vinyl & Fabric” paint

Apply 3 light coats of the Adhesion Promoter and let dry for 10-15 minutes in between coats

Don’t rush it!

Wait 1 hour after the last coat of the Adhesion Promoter and then apply a very light coat of the Vinyl and Fabric paint

Wait 10-15 minutes and apply another coat of paint for a MINIMUM of 3 coats

Ooh baby, looking waaaaay better!

UPDATE:

I was super happy with the outcome of this project as it completely changed the look of the awning to match the rest of the LR3. Since I live in the blistering heat of Miami, it was hit or miss on how long the finish would last. Nearly a year later and the paint is still looking great! Ok, there are a few nicks in the paint and it’s not quite as shiny when first painted but overall it held up better than I had hoped for.

Charactor Approved!