Herculiner over KILMAT

[conoco]

Just for anyone interested. I did a lot of research on the type of flooring I could and couldn't use on my 1972. Since I use my truck to go fishing and camping every weekend and drive it in the winter, I didn't want carpet, and every vendor I looked at rubber floor for wanted 175 dollars just for shipping to alaska ( which is ridiculous) so for 80 bucs and a couple hours here is my solution.. So after a ton of reading on different forums, I went with herculiner. ( Out of all the spray on and brush on undercoating, HERCULINER proved to be the strongest and most durable when doing different tests on it) The problem was I had already laid KILMAT down and everything I had read and researched it was 50/50 about guys saying it worked awesome laying it over Dynamat/kilmat and guys saying it wouldn't adher and work. So here is my completed job.

I will say it is fully cured now and I love it. I threw my 3 lbs sledge on it to see if it would mark up and it didn't leave anything. Threw some screwdrivers and other things and it remained unscathed. With anything we do it is all in the PREP work which I can not emphasize enough. So for those interested and trying to figure out if you wanna go carpet or some other flooring this is what worked for me and it's gonna be so nice to be able to clean things easier and not have to worry about oil and fish guts on my boots. This combined with the other stuff should really kill the sound outside the cab.

*After I finished my inner and outer rocker replacement I had already brought my floor to bare metal. I sprayed it with rust prevention paint and let it cure.
* I then sprayed sound deadening over that (2 coats) . Once that dried I layed down the KILMAT. I went all the way to my firewall cover and stopped, I put 2 layers of KILMAT over the driver and passengers floorboard area as this is heavy traffic and it's pretty thin stuff after you mold it to the area.

* In my truck the firewall insulation wraps around the bottom of the fuse box and follows my AC box all the way to both cold air vents on the kick panels. I taped off anything I didn't want herculiner on.

*Now comes the tricky part and what I wasn't sure was going to work or not, Getting the herculiner to take to the KILMAT. I had a small tool that puts little divots or holes in the KILMAT. I ran this tool over the entire area to kinda rough it up a little. Not to much though just wanted to rough it up enough to get the smooth surface off there. Once I did that I then laid my first coat of HERCULINER. I brushed on my first coat with the provided brush and just enough to coat the area with a base layer so my second application would really have something to grab on to. Between the little divots and this light first coat, it provided what I needed to get the herculiner to stick. I then rolled on 3 more coats with the herculiner and decided to run it up the back and sides of my truck behind where my gas tank sits. So from my firewall to the bottom on my rear window is all sound deadening. I followed the lines so as not to see the stuff once my seats are back in. I didn't do the cab corners yet and left the coating about 6 inches away from that entire area. The last bit of body work I have is replacing the cab corners and didn't want it to melt from my tig welder anyway I couldn't be more happy and it is very durable so far. I will still use a couple thick floor mats for protection but all in all I like this better than the carpet for what I use my truck for. Hope this helps anyone thinking about going this route as I know it has been discussed often.

[dz1087]

I had insulating tape over the transmission hump in a Wrangler I Rhino-Lined. the stuff held up for about a year and then bubbled up around where the tape was. The liner didn't adhere at all and the liner started to stretch around in that area, forming the bubble. I eventually just cut out that section, pulled the insulating tape and reapplied.

Good luck.

[jumpsoffrock]

Do you see an issue with just putting herculiner over the floor on top of nothing else?

[special-K]

Had the guys saying it wouldn't work over Kilmat have actual experience with that or was this just the opinion of naysayers?

[dz1087]

Originally Posted by jumpsoffrock

Do you see an issue with just putting herculiner over the floor on top of nothing else?

Not as long as it is prepped - scuffed and cleaned with acetone or thinner.

Originally Posted by special-K

Had the guys saying it wouldn't work over Kilmat have actual experience with that or was this just the opinion of naysayers?

Since Kilmat has a similar backing to the aluminum thermal tape I used in my Jeep, I'd say there would be a lot of issues with using it. He could try scuffing the Kilmat, I suppose. The unfortunate part is that this may not become an issue for several months. Then a complete redo on the floor will be necessary.

[conoco]

Originally Posted by jumpsoffrock

Do you see an issue with just putting herculiner over the floor on top of nothing else?

That what most people do and it works great!. I just wanted the sound deadening to make the cab quieter and figured with the right prep work and time I could make this work. Turned out pretty awesome for what my goal was.

[conoco]

Originally Posted by special-K

Had the guys saying it wouldn't work over Kilmat have actual experience with that or was this just the opinion of naysayers?

From all the different forums i read and researched some of those that did this just couldn't get it to stick. I can't say how important the prep work was though. I wiped and cleaned everything with acetone and I did not use aluminum tape to cover the seams. I instead left about 1/16th of a gap between each kilmat so when I put the herculiner on i pushed it into the seam just do add more volume and something else to grab on to. I also roughed up the top of the kilmat which is the reason why this worked. The Kilmat is just a rubber butyl compound and the kilmat grab on to it great. I don't anticipate having any issues with it but with all things nothing is for sure. I will repost after fishing season this summer

[special-K]

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Who are they and what pudding I do not know

[conoco]

Originally Posted by special-K

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Who are they and what pudding I do not know

True that! Hope the pudding is good LOL