Looking for opinions

[76WAGON200]

I am in the process of soda blasting my truck body and would like to apply a durable undercoat to prevent any future rust. I have asphalt undercoat (The stuff that's been around forever) and the shutz gun to apply it. Cheap, easy to apply and reasonably durable if applied thick enough. This is the option I am leaning toward.

My other thought is to use polyurethane box liner. Overkill or the way to go? It's not that pricey if you do it yourself. Just a roller and brush needed. Has anyone gone either of these routes and has anything to report?

Brand names? Tips and tricks? Recommendations?

[ddarnell]

The bedliner requires an undercoat, at least primer. So I'm sure that would provide the best rust protection.
I did my entire truck in U-Pol Raptor Liner and it makes a great finish. I did however use a primer.
When I did my frame I used Ospho on the bare metal, primed and then painted with a semi gloss enamel.

[DODGEBOYS]

Por15

[Brier_John]

POR15 is expensive, but made for this purpose.

[Desoto61]

A good primer should always be your first coat. If you have it blasted to clean metal not sure I'd go for POR15 as it's name means "paint over rust", some of them don't do as well without that surface to adhere to.

For the underside I'd let them use something that will give the metal some "tooth" so you get a good mechanical adhesion (or scuff it with some 80-120 grit paper) and then ideally a good epoxy primer. Most of that stuff has a "window" where you can top coat with your choice of material and the epoxy will bond to it.

Both the asphalt/rubber undercoats and urethane bed liners are easy to touch up but not as durable as something like the U-pol or similar that is a multi-part mixture that cures chemically, but if you ever needed to remove them you're in for a lot of work.

I ended up using something like the U-Pol stuff (called Bob's or something weird) but while it's nasty to apply it's really tough stuff.

Either way it's a good idea for more than just protection, they also help deaden sound, which is actually a third option. Look at Lizard Skin or similar, it too is water based for easy clean up but designed for either heat or sound and yes you can use both together. It's probably about as durable as the asphalt urethane coatings but designed to also deal with heat/sound.

[W_A_Watson_II]

I agree if its blasted clean a good epoxy primer rather than por15. I used por15 on my M37 frame after having it blasted and where there was rust pitting the pot stated on the metal good, but where there was no rust pitting the pot did not adhear to the clean blasted steel.

[The Other Ross]

Google "Zero rust "

[76WAGON200]

Thanks for the advice fella's. I am now a little wiser. I googled the Zero Rust and that sounds like the ticket for my situation. I am not going to blast the entire box and cab, just the areas that tend to rust so I will coat the blasted areas with Zero Rust and box liner them with U-Pol. The rest of the body surfaces can then be sanded down and spot treated as needed then primed and painted with a good epoxy primer and paint. This should accomplish what I need for protection without breaking the bank.