From vinyl to bedliner... Top question

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MassDuster

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I'm looking at a 73 duster, when they repainted the car they stripped the vinyl top and replaced it with spray on truck bedliner. You can't tell the difference unless you touch it or get up real close.

Is this a common thing to do? I've never seen that done before.

Also any potential body issues this could cause?

Not sure what the weight difference is....

Thanks!
 
I have never heard of that being done. The main issue is how good was the metal prepped beneath the goo. Painted? Could there be ugly patches under there? How will the stuff stand up in the elements over time? How easy is it to clean? Too many questions.
 
Not UV safe? Are you sure? I goes in a truck bed and often on the bed rails.

These areas get full sun exposure.

I know the spray on bed liner on my Dakota has been there for 12 years without any obvious signs of fading.
 
actually, there is a shop out this way that does it, even on roof skins.

it is great if you are building a quality driver, as little flaws can be hidden, and still looks great. ill have to stop one day and get a few pics of cars with it done
 
MassDuster said:
I'm looking at a 73 duster, when they repainted the car they stripped the vinyl top and replaced it with spray on truck bedliner. You can't tell the difference unless you touch it or get up real close.

Is this a common thing to do? I've never seen that done before.

Also any potential body issues this could cause?

Not sure what the weight difference is....

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not my preference but,
There is a guy who owns a body shop here locally who does the rhino liner at his shop. 5 or 6 years ago he sprayed his entire Durango (red) with it for advertising. It looks wild!! I'll try to grab a pic of it today and show ya. But anyway, it seams to be holding up OK. It still looks WILD!!!:happy10:
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Not UV safe? Are you sure? I goes in a truck bed and often on the bed rails.

These areas get full sun exposure.

I know the spray on bed liner on my Dakota has been there for 12 years without any obvious signs of fading.
Click to expand...

I have read that on cans of bed liner. I also have seen 2 trucks in Michigan that faded in 4 years (professionally installed); and we don't get a lot of sun here.

Maybe there is a product out there that is UV safe; I have not run into it though. As with any product -application, environment and the product itself can vary.
 
I've given serious consideration to doing this very thing to my '72 Coronet's roof ; there are so many surface imperfections ( serious pitting ) that it'd be an exercise in frustration trying to get the roof to look decent .

It was originally equipped with a V1W ( body colour is light gold ) which caused the metal to rust underneath .

Another area I'm considering having bedliner sprayed is the floor .
While the floor pans are in great condition , I just think that 'lining the floor will make it easier to keep clean . The alternate is reproduction rubber floor covers ( think : police cars / taxis ) .
 
The spray on bedliner that you buy at the auto paint stores are generally UV stable. They differ from the parts store variety in that it is a 2 part mix - liner plus hardener. Additionally, it also comes in a "tintable" variety that is actually clear and requires some color being added to it. This let's you mix the bedliner to match the truck. I've done a few of them this way and it looks pretty cool.

As far as using it instead of a vinyl top - it should hold up every bit as good as a top plus you'll have the added benefit of something that looks good and is not creating a moisture trap to create rust down the road. If you don't like it, sand it off and toss on the vinyl top.
 
Cool- thanks for the input everyone. I'm gonna let it be and see how it holds up. If it starts to look crappy with time I'll blast it and replace with vinyl!
 
LH23H2R said:
Another area I'm considering having bedliner sprayed is the floor .
While the floor pans are in great condition , I just think that 'lining the floor will make it easier to keep clean . The alternate is reproduction rubber floor covers ( think : police cars / taxis ) .
Click to expand...
I did that to my 4dr dart daily driver, its real easy to clean (just pull the body plugs and hose it out) I do get some road noise and some heat though the floor though but Im happy with the way it looks. At least the floor wont rot out due to a soggy carpet sitting on it.

I wouldn't put it on a roof though, it has a little too much texture. Just treat the rust, lay some cheap paint over it then put another vinyl top on it.
 
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