Hey guys, my 72 truck bed is starting to rust around all the seams. My plan was to use Eastwood's rust converter, follow up with thier rust-encapsulator, fill all seams with the seam sealer then coat the whole inner bed with "White Gator Guard II Truck Bed liner" anyone have any experiances, good or bad with any of these products? I've read through other post and it looks like the general concensous is that the do it yourself bed liners are not that good, unfortunatly my budget is very low. I figured I could do all this for $190.00. Thanks for any help!

 

The biggest problem with DIY bedliners is the prep work you must do. Very few people do enough or it well enough for the stuff to stick. Where as the line-x dealers I've dealt with put about 3 hours of prep into a bed with pneumatic sanders and grinders. When you get ready to lay down the bedliner, scuff the area to be done very well. Make it look like sand paper, then wipe it all down with alcohol and a rag that will not leave debris.

I don't know about the eastwood stuff, I've only tried POR15 and ospho.

 

For the prep I was thinking of removing the bed and sand blasting it, so maybe the adhesion will be good. How did the POR15 products do?

 

I think sandblasting will require a lot of cleaning and you would want pretty small media.

My experience is POR15 works well in the shade or if you coat over it. The base coat needs something to block light, but I have a Ford 9" on the back porch I sanded down and coat that has held up for the last 8 years or so. There's no rust coming up or down on it, which is pretty darn good for my back porch.

 

POR is your best bet. A friend of mine used the Eastwood converter and it sucked. I have used POR15 and it is tough stuff. But prep is the key item. Also with POR15, if its exposed to sunlight it will deteriorate it, so if you are going to top coat it with anything, you must prime it while still tacky so the primer adheres to it.
As for sandblasting the bed, if its only the inside I say go for it. But if you are going to blast the outside, then media blast it. Sandblasting tends to warp sheet metal.

POR15 will not stick to any new metal or existing paint. But it sticks well to sandblasted or rusted metal. If you sand blast, blast the bed, then blow everything off with air. Then get a good cleaner (I use PPG 320) and wipe the bed clean. Spray the POR15, wait for it to get tacky then prime. Let everything dry for a day, seam seal then either color coat or bed line it.

But I would also check the seams under the bed as well. The rust might be coming from underneath the bed.

 

Cool, thanks for all the advice! I'll let you all know how it turns out!

 

Eastwood Rust Converter does not suck. You might be confused a little between what the rust converter does vs. POR. POR is not a rust converter as it simply seals over rust sometimes working and sometimes not. A rust converter changes the rust to an inert compound and then you can coat it with other top coats of your choosing. I have several examples on the ship where rust converter was used to convert the rust after hammer and chisel. Those areas have not had any rust return and they have yet to be top coated. If I don't want to see rust return I use a rust converter, could be Eastwood A&B, Picklex or Ospho, then top coat with a good primer and then the color coat. Rust is my sworn enemy for 11 years and I need to deal with it every rainy season on the carrier so I want it dead...