Herculining/ Rhinolining /Spray in bedliner
In 2002 I decided to coat the interior of the Pinz for noise reduction and to protect the body somewhat from the realities of carrying camping gear, tools, friends, and many other thing this truck will hold.
I decided to do the cab at home and then go up to a friend's house in Wyoming to complete the rear area.
Cost:
Duplicolor: $40 gallon at Wal-Mart ( I needed 2.5 gallons)
Xylol: $11
4" masking tape: don't you have some??
Respirator: $30 Home Depot
Orbital sander: $20 Home Depot (I already had one)
Sanding discs: $5 Home Depot
Tack Cloth: $5 hardware store or paint shop
---Total---------
$191
(obviously this will be cheaper or costlier depending upon the tools you have)
-----------The Cab-------------
I began by removing everything in the cab. I removed seats, axe, seatbelts, bolts, screws, power inverter....basically anything I didn't want covered with this rubberized goop.
Next, I broke out the orbital sander. This was what took the most time. I sanded every area that the herculiner would be going. I never realized there was so much room in the cab. I think I used either 100 or 150 grit sandpaper. The idea was to get it scuffed up so the stuff would adhere to the paint.
After sanding, I went through the whole cab with xylol. This is a serious solvent. You should use a respiration type mask. These are available at Home depot for about $30. This required some scrubbing because there was 30 years worth of grime in the truck. If the area isn't clean the herculiner will not stick.
At this point, I then covered any screw heads, bolts, and holes with masking tape. Once the herculiner dries, you have to remove it with a grinder. I also taped off any areas I didn't want the stuff going.
Finally I wiped down everything very well with some tack cloth. I didn't want any dust screwing up adhesion.
After clean-up I began to apply the Herculiner with the supplied roller. Remember, this stuff is toxic too, so wear your respirator. This took quite awhile to get into all the cracks and crevices. For areas I couldn't reach with the roller, I used a el-cheapo paintbrush. I let this thin ( 1/8 " ) coat dry overnight. The next day I went back and added another coat so final consistency is about 1/4" all around.
After it dried somewhat...but wasn't completely cured, I pulled off the masking tape. It would have been 10 times harder to remove if I had done it once it cured.
Finally, I had to let the stuff cure for 24 hours.
Once everything in the cab had dried I started reassembling the pieces I had removed.
-------------------The bed---------------
I basically followed the same procedure here....remove everything, sand with 100 grit, cover holes and screws, and clean with xylol.
I then drove up to Wyoming where Vern had a nice compressor and spray gun. To apply the liner we used an automotive shutz gun. These are used by body shops to spray on gravel guard and they are super cheap. The one he bought was 30$ at the local auto paint supply store.
We set up the stuff and began to get down to business.
The consistency of the liner can be improved by cutting it with a little acetone. The gun will spray at 40 to 60 psi. The lower the pressure the gloppier it is. By setting the pressure at 60 for your cover coat you can move fast. Then go back over everything at 40 to impart that sprayed on lumpy look.
This part went considerably faster with the spray gun. I recommend it if you have the tools.
Wait 24hrs....and enjoy a waterproof, scratch, and ding proof bed.