Painting the floor - what to use?

[62lwbc10]

Dear all as some of you know I took out my bench seat and gas tank and have been repairing some small issues in the floor, welding etc. I am planning to paint the floor in a few days and wondering what to use. Was originally going to go with a satin type underhood black paint but I need something that has better hiding properties. A friend strongly recommended a roll on bedliner paint that would also provide better sound deadening properties . I wonder if the bedliner would be too thick. I was also considering using a rattle can hammertone black paint that would fill in some if the pitting and provide a better seal than the underhood black. Anyway, what do you guys think?

[62lwbc10]

Silly hole

[62lwbc10]

Harvested a piece from a derelict old tranny access cover

[62lwbc10]

Donor piece held in with magnet

[62lwbc10]

Mig welded in. Just need to grind

[fabguy]

That patch job looks really nice. As for the floor paint, I just wire brushed it then used under coating, then installed sound deadener on top of that. I had told the painter when he painted my truck not to worry about the floor as it was all going to be covered.
Only problem I had was I forgot to tighten the cab bolts until after I had installed the sound deadener and it was a nightmare to try to pull up small sections of it to access those bolt heads.

[62lwbc10]

Thanks fab guy yeah the repair came out pretty good. I hear you about the sound deadener but I'm going with a more stock approach. Will only have the original style rubber mat over the painted floor. Struggling with what to use and hoping someone will give me dome ideas

[mechanixman]

It looks great!
POR-15 is a great product. This stuff seems like thick paint, but guys use it on their bumpers and steps, because it's the only stuff that won't chip off or crack from road debris hitting there constantly. The only downside is it's outrageous cost.

In my cab, anywhere a shoe or boot touches, basically any opportunity to scrape off coating, I'm using POR-15.
Places like under the seat, behind the dash, and behind the gas tank/ cab corners, I'm using generic Napa undercoating. Like 8 bucks a can, and 3 cans just about took care of everything I used it on.

POR-15 Rust Preventive Paint - Black - Quart...


http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...400_0006414502

[mr48chev]

For the floor inside I'd use Rustolium (sp??) or one of the industrial enamels from the non automotive paint store. You want something that seals it from moisture and also will take some abuse. What you use for sound deadener or heat shield or don't use is strictly up to you and your ears and your body.

[OrrieG]

3M purple disc to knock down the surface rust. Welded up the small holes and a couple of small patches in the firewall below the battery. POR 15 system over areas that still looked cruddy. Then two heavy brush coats of white rustoleum oil base. I did up under the dash too. Looks clean and makes it really easy to see what is going on when wiring, etc. I did rustoleum oil base black underneath the floor with rattle can undercoating. Floor was dusty in the first photo from dash sanding.

[MidLifer]

+1 on POR-15. I used it on my 71 under my sound deadener and I figure it's a set it and forget it job. Once that stuff bonds with metal, it ain't gonna peel, chip or rust, so long as you follow the directions and prep it right.

[62lwbc10]

Thanks for all the feedback I'm gonna go with rustoleum in a satin finish. I do have some bare metal spots and i did use a little filler to smooth out some of my welds. How shall I prepare for the rustoleum? Do I need to use a primer on the bare metal and filler? I see rustoleum makes primers, in particular one for " rusty metal". What do u guys think ? Do I need to prime the metal and filler spots differently? Thanks a lot

[1958Warrior]

I'm using rustoleum on my frame ,black gloss, in the instructions it says for best results- longer lasting protection to use the stops rust primer. I used the stops rust rusty metal primer and the stops rust gloss black. give each 3-4 days to dry and cure ,says 24 hrs but I had to let it cure for the 3-4 days. I just used cheap brushes to apply, it goes on thick. It had brush strokes in it but after it dried fully it laid down smooth and hard.

[62lwbc10]

Wow I wound up using rustoleum hammertone paint (see picture). This stuff rolled on like enamel and forms a very hard coating . I used the rattle can version for the deluxe heat box but got the brush/roll on paint for the floor. I'm happy with how it looks. Time will tell how it performs

[62lwbc10]

Done

[Dan in Pasadena]

I'm planning on using the Rustoleum Hammered paint in silver and for the same reasons stated by 62lbc10 AND OrrieG. I've used the hammered paint on some steel beams in my garage with zero, nothing, nada in the way of preparation and it stuck like hell!

I put two coats on like 7 days apart - whatever the label required - it' a long time. But the pay off is its as hard as anything I've ever used that is non-catalyzed. I'll use the silver because it is light but doesn't come in white.

Whatever you use, you've gotta remember that whatever else you put on later, its got to stick to what you painted on. So THAT coating must stick tight.

A picture of where I used it in my garage:


A closeup:

[1958Warrior]

Looks real good, should last a looooong time. These trucks are getting pampered now, I think the days of being worked hard and put away wet are behind them. You got to admit that its better than it left the factory with.

[62lwbc10]

Tranny access cover

[62lwbc10]

Detail

[Dan in Pasadena]

That looks great. Did you brush, roll or spray it?

On my garage beams I used a little $2.79 throwaway foam roller.

[62lwbc10]

Hey Dan thanks a lot. Your feedback over the past year has been most helpful. I used a brush and roller and frankly it laid down better this way than when I used the spray version on the heater parts. This paint is a little tricky in that, to get the desired hammered effect consistently , you need to roll or brush ur on kinda "wet" and you can't re roll or brush on top of a painted surface once it starts to get dry. It actually dries very fast, much faster than regular rustoleum. From a chemical standpoint (I'm a chemist) it's a very different product

[Dan in Pasadena]

I'm no chemist but even I could tell its a bit of an "odd bird" paint wise. Yes, it sorta tacks up as you're painting. Many moons ago (high school & college) I sold paint for 6+ years and we'd tell people to paint "dry-to-wet". Meaning DONT "tear" the paint film you just laid down by putting your brush back in it when you dip and apply additional paint.

That approach is absolutely necessary on this Hammered stuff but as long as you're consistent about doing it, it levels (well, not "level" but uniformly hammered looking) - very nicely. I probably confused those that haven't used it yet but you'll get it the first time you use it.

Thank you for the kind words. Now, if I'd ever get back to working on my truck!