Paint/Coating suggestions for beach truck

[transam617]

So this is my first thread on this forum and I should probably give a little intro before asking my question.

I have had my 81 k10 shortbed for about 10 years now. I love the truck but it has some serious body rust issues. I have taken it off the road because of that and it really should be fully rebuilt for other reasons too.

My plans for the drivetrain and suspension could be covered in other threads but what I was hoping to get suggestions for is the body.

I plan to use the truck on weekends year-round as a cruiser/parts getter - so not many miles a year. I do live in MA though so I fully expect to see sanded/salted roads. The real concern I have though is I would like to drive it a few times a year to the beach in NC. I love it there and love driving on the beach so the salt water envornment is a concern. Lastly I dont want anything near fancy for a paint job. I would actually prefer to have just bedliner or similar topcoat so I can recoat anytime in case of damage. The body isnt going to be smooth anyway since I will be welding patches (poorly most likely) all over due to the rust.

So my question is what kind of paint/coating system should I be using for that kind of enviornment that would last the longest? I was going to do a frame-off/panel paint job and I was thinking that Zinc-Chromate\super tough primer\bedliner or other super durable topcoat would be my best bet for supreme durability.

Thanks for any suggestions on this - and also thanks for the great site. I've already learned a ton from just reading threads

James.

 

[Deuling]

Patch it, get everything sealed up really well on the front and back sides. Zinc chromate and then id go with a spray on bedliner or roll on. Something catalyzed with hardener. Bedliner would hide your patches really well.

 

[transam617]

Yeah - thats what I was thinking. Is there a group of catalyzied bedliners/coatings you reccomend? Also I am not sure what to put on after the zinc? I would think you would want some sort of good primer to put on before the topcoat of rough stuff?

Ive heard of POR15 and the off the shelf bedliners (duplicolor, herculiner...), and also the pro systems (linex...). Im not sure which one of these would last the longest essentially getting sandblasted with salty sand a few times a year.

I wonder if there isnt some kind of marine coating for boats that I should be looking at. Maybe something they use for navy/marine landing craft or something

 

[Deuling]

Duplicolor and herculiner are not catalyzed as you dont put a hardener in them. I bought the blsck kit from www.sprayonbedliners.info . Its the liner extreeme stuff and. iLike it. Did the whole inside of my blazer with half a kit. Comes in a ton of different colors also. Ryoken is the guy to talk to about the primer. I thought the zinc chromate stuff was good to paint over as it grabs the paint alot better.

 

[diesel4me]

POR-15 only works well if some rust is left on the metal,to "activate" it...I've tried it on sandblasted parts and it holds up only as well as rustoleum when there is no rust to convert...but it is extremely durable and does resist re-rusting well,only thing is you must topcoat any of it exposed to sunlight as it has low UV ray resistance and will fade and degrade over time--I believe they now have UV resistant formula POR-15 now to prevent that...the biggest drawback to using it is the cost,its very costly..but what paint or coating isn't today?...............................................................................................I dont care much for undercoating,it lets rust begin under a bubble in it,next thing you know there is a severely rotted area under it thats completely gone...its only good for new trucks IMO....I've seen many trucks with perfect looking frames here from the 60's and 70's that had nothing more than used engine oil applied to them regularly,even ones driven in winter...makes me wonder if its worth the expense and labor of painting a frame or the undercarriage...

 

[ryoken]

POR15 is a band-aid at best... leaving rust is never good...

zinc + a good 2 part urethane primer + a quality topcoat paint + a catalyzed bedliner likes Al's, etc is pretty hard to beat for tough durability..... a quality paint over the primer, before bedliner will make it vastly more durable...

 

[transam617]

Thanks for the replies. Ryoken, you think I would really be better off putting a paint between the primer and liner material? I thought a catylized primer would be enough. Could I use a single stage paint? I wouldn't want to put clear under something so crude as bedliner...

 

[blazinzuk]

I would never do a bedliner on the outside again. A small scratch you don't notice and it really opens it up for rust and you will never see it. I mean never see it. Plus bedliners for paint never look good for too long and they are hard to clean mud off of.

IMHO they take more to keep looking good than paint.

I would do a decent paint. Its not hard to weld in patches good just takes a bit more time.

Bondo ( or similar much better products) is not a bad thing in your case, just make sure you don't put it on too thick and don't ever put body filler over rust.

 

[ryoken]

Thanks for the replies. Ryoken, you think I would really be better off putting a paint between the primer and liner material? I thought a catylized primer would be enough. Could I use a single stage paint? I wouldn't want to put clear under something so crude as bedliner...

absolutely, it seals everything that much better.. a more complete finishing system... albeit at greater cost..

and sure, a single stage is fine... even if it's just a black seal coat under black bedliner..

 

[transam617]

OK.

Zuk - the reason I want bedliner type topcoat is I want something more durable than paint for sand and stone impact or branch scrapes.

Ryoken - is there any high build bedliner type product you know of that would get used on something like a zodiac boat or other boat that sees lots of beach duty?

 

[ryoken]

not a bedliner type product really... there are many nonskid apps on boats, but not on bottoms usually... and boat stuff is generally gelcoat/polyester based.. textured stuff is either mold-made or particles in the mix...

you can make your own.... I do boat decks all the time like that... a good catalyzed paint like an Imron or Awlgrip with nonskid particles in it...

but a catalyzed liner like Al's, Line-x, etc will probably be your most cost-effective choice if you want a textured liner type finish...

 

[blazinzuk]

OK.

Zuk - the reason I want bedliner type topcoat is I want something more durable than paint for sand and stone impact or branch scrapes.

I totally understand that but I know a couple folks who have done it and honestly the best way to do it is to go get it professionally done, they usually offer some sort of warranty against scrapes etc and will fix it for you when its scratched. In addition to that I don't think anything but the most expensive diy liners are as good as linex or rhino.

Like I said I have done a zuk that I had, didn't like it, I don't even remember what I used it was some years ago and was a catalyzed product like some of the newer diy bedliners are. We did a truck bed at the same time and it worked awesome there.

Later I helped a buddy at a linex place he did his whole burb it looked great for about 2 years and he scratched it plenty, it was in for warranty stuff every month or so. Never really really matched exactly but that was ok. After a couple of years he regretted it, took too much work to make it look good, was chalky and hard to wash mud off of.

Just my opinion though it may work great in your application.

 

[ryoken]

I'm certainly no fan of full exterior bedliner gigs... it just looks TOO hillbilly imo... lower 1/2 is one thing, whole rig, not my thing..

and as Eric points out, they all fade, wash like cr@p, etc...

 

[transam617]

Im just going to do alot of work repairing rust on this thing (cab is like swiss cheese) and I dont want to do it ever again.

I dont really need it to be non skid - I just thought a good thick layer of the stuff over everything would be great for impact and abrasion resistance. Kind of like dipping the truck in that plastic they use for tool grips.

 

[ryoken]

well, way more critical to an impervious finish in it lasting, is the rust work being done correctly initially.... once thru a quality topcoat, any damage/penetration to that, can easily be taken care of, prevented.....

unattended to rust underneath? that'll spread and be way more destructive than anything new can do..

time to invest in a decent sandblaster/compressor...

there are also many chip guard/schutz products that can be incorporated into a finishing system too on lower sections to help prevent chip issues, etc down the road...

 

[transam617]

Yeah I already have the compressor and blaster, saving for a welder. And reading Brody's thread has helped immensely.

Would these chipguard products perform better than a catylized bedliner for a topcoat?

Lastly - Imron or Awlgrip sound very durable from the pamphlet and word of mouth standpoint, but how hard and expensive are they to repair? That seemed to me to be one of the nice parts of bedliner - if it scratches or abrades away, just prep a little and spray some more.

 

[ryoken]

Would these chipguard products perform better than a catylized bedliner for a topcoat?

debatable, i suppose.. most are put under a clearcoat.. as with anything, prep is key, any finish will scratch/chip if scraped/hit the right way..




Lastly - Imron or Awlgrip sound very durable from the pamphlet and word of mouth standpoint, but how hard and expensive are they to repair? That seemed to me to be one of the nice parts of bedliner - if it scratches or abrades away, just prep a little and spray some more.


no harder than any other single stage paint.... and it depends on how unnoticable of a repair ya want.. actually it'd be WAY harder to blend bedliner in and have the repair be unnoticable....

.....

 

[transam617]

No need for unnoticable - I actually dont care how it looks. I'm sure my welded up patches wont be perfect, I just want everything to last as long as possible - ugly as it may turn out!

Think construction equipment or Marine beach landing craft. They must coat that stuff with something different than automotive primer/base/clear right? Actually I think I remember the Imron site saying they do alot of OEM construction equipment.

I am imagining driving around normally on weekends and not doing any damage till winter comes. Then I could be out forging through the next big snowstorm with giant tree branches blocking my road. That might be some big scrapes to the frame or rock sliders I plan, not to mention any branch scrapes on the body. Also, the salt and sand kick off the tires usually beats the h*!! out of the inner fenders and undercarraige. I think I will fit some mud flaps but I want to coat all those parts (basically the whole truck) for the longest life I can.

I dont imagine anything can stand up forever with no maintenence so I had also planned on recoating from time to time. To me that all sounded like Bedliner type product would be the best fit. I guess I hadnt ever considered high end paint being so easy to recoat.

Al's Liner (their website says) can be recoated, and can be applied to be relatively smooth making scuffing easier. I would imagine that if it isnt too expensive it would be cheaper in the long run than Imron/Awlgrip topcoat???

Sorry for all the hypotheticals but people on here are just so darn helpful

 

[ryoken]

I'm not sure what your looking for me to tell you.. yes, Al's will be cheaper than Imron or Awlgrip..

zinc is probably the best etch primer you could run.. epoxy primers are tough, but don't sand well.. nothing air-dried will ever be as tough as a catalyzed resin, yada...

I worked in a resto shop at a concrete company resto-ing mixers, cat dozers, tri-axles, planes, etc.... that's what every one was done in, zinc, good primer and Imron... and believe me, having stuff last was our #1 priority..

I'm sure someone will be along as say x, y or z is used on bridges, the space shuttle, etc and is God's sperm, but that has been my experience...

 

[transam617]

Just looking to gain experience vicariously through the internet - just like everyone else


So how often would you have to repaint something like a dozer or mixer? Every season? Is it easy to spot repair Imron?