Wow! How time flies!
Back in the shop today for a long day of work. The goal today is to paint, as-in bed line, the underside of the floor of the tub. Earlier this week I went to the nearest automotive store and purchased three types of bed liners/undercoatings and ran a test on what was left of my front bumper that I cut off a while back.
First up I tried the Rustoleum Truck Bed Liner. This is about as generic as they come. It goes on alright given I was using a rattle can, and it dries hard. I came back a few days later and used a screwdriver to see how scratch resistant it really was (I only had 2 coats on) and unfortunately I didn’t like the results. It would provide some basic protection but I wasn’t overly impressed… then again it was the cheapest.
Next up I tried Dupli-Color’s Ruberized Undercoating. This went on well and I think it truly would provide the best protection, but it has absolutely no resistance to to scratches. The coating will rub off with your hands. It’s not designed to hold up to scraps and scratches, but again, it would provide the best rust prevention I think.
Lastly I tried Herculiner. It comes in a roll-on application like the Rustoleum, but I tried out the rattle can. It dried hard and after several tests it proved to me at least that it was the best for my application. It resisted the scratch test the best and the adhesion seemed to be in line with the others.
For my job today I ran down to the store and bought the gallon can of it (which is about $80) and used a 2″ brush to paint it on.
In retrospect, I do have one important word of advice. When the warning says to not get it on your skin it really means it. I used gloves but I got a little sloppy and my forearms got a good striping of it. It took about 2 weeks for it to come completely off and I rubbed my skin raw trying to get it clean.
