Bed liner as undercoating & sound deadening.

Has any one used bed liner for undercoating & inside for sound deadening? I wondered if there are any issues to worry about. Trapping moisture or causing rust issues. It seems bullet proof but you never know. Any thoughts?

It works very well,Assuming you are using Line-x or another pro applied resin bed liner.You want the metal to be clean,No rust! Ive done floors that had pin holes after sand blasting and the liner sprayed on both sides made it solid and STRONG!!!! Its great for the floors and wheel wells.It bonds by mechanical grip-Like 80 grit sandpaper or coarser. Blasting is good too. I would NEVER use it on walls or roofs though. God forbid you need to do a repair later on and there's an eighth inch of plastic in the way! Lizard skin (brand name) works well on walls and roofs and also acts as insulation. You can make your own if you buy micro balloons and mix it in latex paint. Just scuff with a red scotch pad and shoot with an airless spray gun like a Wagner! Hope this helps!

did you spray it under the floor or on the inside?

Thanks for the good info. I had done a few vans back in the 70s & used fiberglass insulation. It collected & held moisture. I want to spray it under & over the floor. I'll try the Lizzard Skin & then double foiled foam insulation on walls & roof.

Lizard skin isnt tough enough for the floor,Line x would be the best for that

Please give me the mix ratio for the micro balloons & latex. Also approximately how many gallons of micro balloons did you use? I attempted to check it out on-line but couldn't find a site with decent information.

One thing about latex that would give me puase is it's tendency to peel off in the cold and damp.

I've heard good things about Raptor bedliner. That's what I plan on using. It's also tintable.

http://www.hytechsales.com/insulating_paint_additives.htmlit is aprox. 1/4 or 1 qt. to a gallon. it can be added to any paint, oil based, por15 or ??

Hotrodders.com has a long thread about it. Its a great site anyway and worth a peek. If prepped properly latex will give no problems and is easily removed in case of needed repairs.

That's one that I have been talking about for many years now, and just recently set up a deal to get them done with a local shop to do them. The truck completely sand blasted and delivered with a rotisserie.   His comment that as its being sprayed there is absolutely no reason to seal any of the joints like the factory does. It does the same thing, but better...
  My suggestion was and still is that our trucks do not rust from the outside in, but rather from the inside out. With that it was my thinking to shoot the inside of the truck for both water proofing, but mostly for sound deadening.  Added also the deal was that he is to also shoot the front insides of the wheel wells. The material is made to withstand rocks hitting it, and as we are sitting directly on top of the shock towers and the tires it made more sense to me to do the underside. This way I could still paint the inside of the wheel wells with a nice matching paint job, but also get the sound deadening of the under side coating.
  Recently also, talking to a distributor in depth about selling Lizard Skin.  I am VERY impressed with it and its heat protection.  At his booth, he has a two burner propane stove and uses it to show how good it works.  He puts a pan on the two burners with one side painted with the Lizard Skin heat product, on the other side its simply plain aluminum.  He then places an ice cube on each side. The unprotected side immediately melts to water while on the protected side it stays as an Ice Cube.  MY thinking is to use it on the inside of the doghouse before I insulate it and also on the roof of the cab.
Just my thinking for a very long time...
Vic

I am doing the opposite.
Got the cans for the underside as my factory undercoat is just now peeling off and the metal underneath is pristine.
Bought a gallon of the undercoating to do my bed liner via a roller.
Slightly more rubbery but should do the trick.

Just my opinion,, however EVERY Econoline that I have worked on or cut up with under coating was a mess...... I had a 67 five wndw that was so thick and peeling off in places and then stuck on other places I simply just sold it to get rid of it. I tried to use a scraper and wire wheels and anything I could think of and it was really annoying and frustrating.  Any repairs are a pain, the hdw is a pain, trying to clean it is a pain, welding or repairs are a pain,,, and it always looked terrible to me. It seemed an endless chore to try and make it look good.
  On my 65 it was clean and so every other day or so I would hit it with some de greaser at night and then nail it with high pressure the next day,, kept repeating that and finally got it to start to look good and then started to paint it. On this 67 I worked on I bite the bullet and did all the welding firstly and then had the underside sand blasted. Then as I wanted to try and keep the underside looking clean and stock I painted it first thing with BULLET undercoating paint. Its different than traditional under coating in that you cant tell it was applied and it makes the frame look like brand new. As ours is galvanized I chose the silver.  It sure makes anything that you do after wards easy to make look good. I found it almost impossible to mask and do it after everything is bolted on, and so now on any of mine or also I suggest it to customers that they just get it sand blasted from the get go,,, its so much less aggravating,,,,
 On the Spring Special that I just bought that is exactly what I will be doing,,,, I just bought a gallon of black epoxy primer today. I saw it on Foose's channel and you can top coat it six months later and or do repairs and then recoat that area. The other epoxy primers that I used you only had 7 days or you had to scuff sand every little nook and cranny or the top coat would not bond. This one is black and so I am going to leave it black instead of the silver (galvanized),,, first thing....  then off for the bed liner and the cab.  If I don't do it now, it will never get done.... and then only if I can find the time to even start on it,,, LOL...
Vic

Wow nice man, looks new.
If I were restoring mine I would be all over that for sure but what you are doing is a ton of work, nothing wrong with it for sure but I would never get to drive mine if I did that haha.
The undercoat on mine comes right off with the pressure washer, it is almost ox blood in colour and the metal is pristine galvanized underneath so I might primer mine.

Where did you get all the bulkhead and frame grommets BTW?

Mine has some rattle can type rubber undercoating the previous owner put on the front floor boards top and bottom b/c it was rusting. If you look in my 250 swap thread you can see it. Everything else is tits, but I sure wish the front wasn't like that up front b/c it makes it a pain to see what's really going on there. I've been looking into the lizard skin b/c of this thread and I think once I coat the undercarriage with kbs I'm going to do like Vic was saying and do the inside throughout but the wells from underneath. Looks like a great system. So long as you aren't just hiding something or trying to seal up some rust/cancer w/o fixing it first.

Thnx,,,, for such a simple thing as taking everything off and just doing it I think that if I weren't so busy with orders and trucks that I would have some time to get one or two of mine going again. But when some one starts with a clean blasted under frame that you can completely paint with out masking this, moving this to mask that and moving that so that you can mask and paint the other part....  too me just too much work.
  If yours will blast off with a high pressure hose that is great. You still need to get some kind of aggressiveness into the galvanized metal so what ever you top coat it with will bond. That's one part of the heavy undercoat I don't like, some parts thick and good and other parts with big chunks falling off,,, its a pain!!!!!! I did get an attachment for the high pressure nozzle setup. It sucks up sand at the same time with a venturi nozzle that sucks in the sand at the tip and goes out with the high pressure spray. Its a CLEANING MACHINE big time. I tried using it on rear ends and stuff. Too messy for me to do it all the time without a special concrete bin to catch all the krud. For someone to use it for a couple of jobs it might be okay... but it will clean and strip.
  As for the Lizard skin,,,,  seeing one ice cube on that burner plate just sitting there waiting for a cold drink,,  convinced me. I know the heat from the roof is really bad,, and some way to stop that heat from coming in in the 1st place makes a lot of sense to me.... doghouse the same....
vic
vic

Agreed!

I was researching undercoating products and found three main threads, with this being the largest.  

I thought it would be helpful to provide links to the other two for future reference as each has unique and helpful info:

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t9474-undercoating?highlight=undercoating

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t24130-old-undercoating-removal?highlight=undercoating

PERSONALLY,,, I DONT LIKE undercoating... just my opinion,,,,, I have junked, cut up and worked on a lot of trucks, and EVERY time I see undercoating,, most have done it AFTER the truck has been driven. Some parts stick really well and are very hard to sand blast off and some needing a scrapper to get take the loose stuff off.
In this picture I used a new product for me called "BULLETT" that re created the galvanized look and comes in either black or silver,, I used the silver and its supposed to be so good that paint remover will not touch it. What ever was in the paint it dug into the coating on my glasses and ruined them... ANY good product is expensive and this ran about $50 bucks a quart.
I also bought a gallon of POR 15 in sliver but the rep said absolutely to not let it get in the sunlight or it will fade??? It was the same price and haven't used it YET.
I have three trucks of mine that I am planning on doing (some day, krud),,,, a true no door panel, a five window and a Spring Special. With that, I plan on now using a two part epoxy primer first thing after blasting and then use the black primer over that on the topside, leaving the raw epoxy primer on the under side in black.
So,, the epoxy primer that I used to use on my steering columns at $125 a gallon is no longer available and now use a two part black primer from DuPont,, OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! AS it is now costing me $386 dollars a gallon. I refuse to use cheap primer on my steering columns as its the base for people to paint onto.... tried the cheaper stuff ONCE,, and never again. The paint dealer says they are giving me shop price?? and I tend to believe them but sure would like to set up a better price...
vic

You should look into Southern Polymers 2 part epoxy. I have used it on several vehicles and really like it. It lays down well. And I believe it is about $145.00 for 2 gallons. But, it does have the 7 day topcoat deadline before you have to sand it. It also doesn't chalk up if you just want to run it as an old school primered rod. I've been running my '56 Chevy with it as my top coat for 8 years now. (Plus, the owner of the company is STELLAR! You can call and talk to him ANYTIME! No kiddin!)

I understood that Epoxy primer is your 1st seal coat before high build and a poly sealing coat and that it should not be used as is due to its poor UV resistance?
I have done 2 coats of Valspar Epoxy on mine, next is high build 2-3 coats, sand back for level between each, and flat black poly coat to seal.
I sanded almost the whole exterior to metal but the dents...argh the dents and bondo lol.
I have to stop myself from going overboard as I will never end up finishing it when I just wanted to do it up in a ratrod style but it is the dents that piss me off lol.
$550 in paint total too, that line between the headlights is a jerk to get right once the front has been dented.

Used to use a cheaper 2 part epoxy on my steering columns and now using the Du Pont black and it sands NICE,, and fills really nice. 2nd coat and it looks like its top coated paint. Cost went from $100 a gallon to now $376 and some change.  Nice stuff and had planned on blasting the whole truck and hitting it with the Dupont, and then the black primier over the top when working on the dents. Leave the bottom side with the black to make it look clean before I put it back together..
vic

Yeah using Valspar 4:1 Epoxy Primer, then 4:1 high build, then a flat black sealer coat.
The high build soaks up moisture so have to clear over that.
Wish I had known about the Dupont!
The Epoxy and High Build are $200 a gallon each after adding in the reducer and resin.
The High Build is like molasses however.

SamHite wrote:Please give me the mix ratio for the micro balloons & latex. Also approximately how many gallons of micro balloons did you use? I attempted to check it out on-line but couldn't find a site with decent information.

I've been researching this topic. Lizard Skin brand is very expensive and doesn't go far in terms of walls and roof.


Found this company while researching home made Lizard Skin. A combination of radiant barrier paint and ceramic microspheres seems to be the way to go.

The company recommends the radiant barrier paint first and then the ceramic microsphere process.

http://www.hytechsales.com/insulating_paint_additives.html

http://www.hytechsales.com/prod85.html

One of several threads discussing this product elsewhere:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/alternative-lizard-skin-103610.html

Anymore and after having done a few I will always start with sand blasting at least the underside of any truck anymore. If not there is no way you will ever be able to catch up to it. With that being said I had planned on using a high quality epoxy as a base to start with. I want something that will physically grab into the metal which primer will not do. 
 Years ago I restored a 48 Ford dump truck with its original V8 flat head in it and the factory paint job always making an impression on me in that they did not use any primer anywhere on the truck?? With that being said primers are said to not grab into the metal and allow water to pass through it on the same idea as concrete does.
  The Dupont epoxy I bought and have been using on the steering columns now is the best primer I have ever used in regards to work ability and coverage. Having dripped a few of them I sanded the drips out and re shot and now they look as if they were top coated which will look great for the underside of the trucks...  only issue so far is the price at about $386 for a gallon of reducer, catalyst and one gallon of it,,, Interested in feed back on it...
vic