Back in March, in the course of the discussion about white vinyl tonneau covers, Wolfgang stated "I'd like to get one and paint it like the German flag!" This is an idea so worthy that it has cost me a couple weekends. It has also taught me a lot about the unreliability of masking tape adhesion to vinyl tonneau material, to the point where if I were starting again, I would probably do it all in brush work to start with, I have so much overspray touchup to do. The paint retention seems good, though. I used primarily Duplicolor sprays.
It is an interesting concept because you want to come up with a design that looks finished whether the tonneau is closed or open, and you also get extra credit for avoiding having to paint the zipper.
Wolfgang's idea is also food for thought about the online services that will print a photo onto fabric. I gave my wife a 6x2 foot wrap made from my photo of the lights of London by night, taken from the Shard, with the London Eye and the path of the Thames parts of the pattern. You could have a tonneau showing a road course map or a family photo or the Kennedy clan tartan or a trompe l'oeil thing where the closed tonneau is a photo of the open cockpit.
Can you tell my car is a common and unsexy color combination?
The photo shows the in-progress painted tonneau lying on top of the installed (also white vinyl) tonneau. I think all the ones that had been inexpensive on ebay are sold now.
