Thought you all would like to know that I just finished spraying Duplicolor bedliner on my undercarriage. It really came out great. I really like the look! It has a gentle orange peel finish, and is satin black in color.

It also did a great job covering the ground down welds on my patches. Can't even see them.

Got it on ebay along with the special spray gun for about $70. The gallon was enough to do the undercarriage, trunk, and passenger compartment.

Don't know how it's gonna hold up, but I'm expecting that it will be very durable.

I used Rhino Liner on my inner wheelwells. That stuff is tough as nails, and is a great choice for the underbelly of your ride. It should also help act as a sound deadener, sort of like undercoating , but much better looking.

Any good suppliers for the stuff?

..."Duplicolor Truck Bed Coating", ...you can find it at your local Walmart (in the automotive section of course)
You can get it in the spray can too.

...the stuff works great, ...I've been using it on wheel wells for quite some time... :thumbsup:

Rich....is it possible you can post the link to the e-Bay auction that you won? Was the guy a dealer selling this product or was it just a one time thing with a guy that bought it on accident and wanted to unload it? If it's a dealer, I'd like to look at his other auctions to see if he's selling more.

Thanks.

I have always heard bed liner material does not hold up on the underside of a vehicle. It wasn't intended to take the daily pounding.

Checkout materials like Lizard Skin - http://www.coollizard.com/ or a product offered at Ziebart stores made especially for that application.
It also acts as a great sound deadener.

I plan to use one of these on the underside of the cab on my '67 Stepside pickup restoration :D

I don't see how the bedliner would have any problem holding up under the car. It takes less of a beating than in a truck bed. Not directly in sunlight all the time, no bricks, boards, rocks, etc.. being hauled on it. I don;t know about the heat factor though.

After I read this post last night I kept debating on if I should dis-assemble my project and coat the bottom. I just sealed all the seams and painted the bottom of the car and frame all black. I used 3m undercoating on the wheel tubs (not happy with it at all). The new formula sucks by the way, not sure if that applies to people in states other than California (we always get the short end of the stick).

So what prep work did you have to do before applying the bed liner? Did you paint or primer the metal first? Any suggestions on getting undercoating off? I really wish I would have thought of doint that before I got to the point I am now. Maybe I should just masked the frame off and coat the sheet metal. How much does the bedliner weigh?

Yeah, I'm with CamaroMan on this one... exactly what kind of beating would your undercarriage be getting?

Yeah, I'm with CamaroMan on this one... exactly what kind of beating would your undercarriage be getting?

Tire smoke maybe. :) Only thing I can think of is exhaust heat, but I doubt it would be any more subject to damage than typical undercoating.

I would think the pelting from rocks, stones and other road debris along with rain water etc being pounded on the underside.

That is more then the inside of a truck bed would take IMO.

Just my $.02 on the matter. I've discussed those coatings with two different shops in my area and both do not suggest bedliner material on the underside of a vehicle ;)

I have had Rhino lining in my '91 Dodge Dakota for years now... it takes quite a beating. The only time anything ripped through it was when we had a motorcycle fall over in it and the handlebar gouged through it. I don't think that the minor amount of road debris you encounter with daily driving will do a thing to the bedliner on the undercarriage... unless you live on a long gravel road... but then your rocker panels will go long before the lining on the undercarriage.

OverAnxious,
I am not doubting you, I just want to understand "WHY" it is not a good idea. Did the shopd give you a reason as to why they don't recommend it?

There is no doubt the bedliner is stronger and tougher than paint, so either way you will get damage from rocks, etc... My main concern would be in melting from exhaust heat or if it can't handle oil, tranny fluid, etc..

OverAnxious,
I am not doubting you, I just want to understand "WHY" it is not a good idea. Did the shopd give you a reason as to why they don't recommend it?

There is no doubt the bedliner is stronger and tougher than paint, so either way you will get damage from rocks, etc... My main concern would be in melting from exhaust heat or if it can't handle oil, tranny fluid, etc..
The explanations were the same. There are other products out there that cost much less and give you better sound deadening capabilities bed liner material is capable of.
Those were the two main points each brought up.

Personally, I'd use one of the products I mentioned above over bed liner material. Just my $.02 :D

That lizardskin stuff looks pretty good... but I've bought plenty of things that sounded like something good, until you actually try them... for example, since it is ceramic, wouldn't that eventually crack up or craze from flexing and vibration?

One thing I wasn't thinking about with the bedliner on the undercarriage was the eventual leaking of oil & gasoline on it. Since the bedliner is a petrolium based product, then oil & gasoline will cause it to break down over time. I have spilled gasoline on my bedliner several times, as well as some oil. It has cleaned up nicely, with just a little bit of dulling in the area... but then it was cleaned up pretty quickly after it happened.

Sounds interesting but would be a bear to remove if it started flaking or if it didnt hold up. I'm leaning towards POR-15 for the undercarrage of the 69. If that works out, I'll do the 68 too.

I know I'm not overly gifted with smarts, but what's the purpose of this coating on the underside of your rig?

I'm the guy who started the post. Let me try to explain my reasoning.

First, I purchased from sshoppers8scn on ebay, but they aren't listing any bedliners presently. Might want to contact them. Of course, they aren't the only ones who sell it.

Second, duplicolor is not a petroleum based product. It can only be thinned with acetone. I used it for three reasons: 1) I repaired several rusty places with new metal, and I didn't want to go through the hassle of putting body filler over my work, so the duplicolor covered it over beautifully; 2) I didn't want a perfectly smooth or glossy finish, and this stuff has a mild orange peel appearance; 3) The gallon cost me less than $40, and did the underside, the passenger compartment, and the trunk. I'd say that's pretty cheap, and I'm a frugal kind of guy.

Third, I had sprayed POR15 first, but I didn't like the look at all. So I roughed it up and sprayed the bedliner (I bought the sprayer from the same place for $18.50). I really like the look. The gallon weighed about 10 pounds.

Camaroman7d, I think you could get good results, even on an assembled car. You might have to remove some components (the more the better), but you can mask the rest and wirebrush everything down to a stable, rust and oil free surface.

As far as how tough it will be, I don't know yet. But as someone else said, if it can handle a truck bed, it should be able to handle under the car. But I can tell you, my car ain't gonna see no gravel roads or rain. But it will see some tire smoke!

Any suggestions on getting undercoating off?
Maybe I should just masked the frame off and coat the sheet metal.

Royce;
I used a Heat-Gun and some solvent to remove the undercoat from my son's F-100.
The stuff had been on there for many years, so removing fairly new stuff (that is what your referring to correct?) really shouldn't be to hard.
If you need to borrow an "Industrial" heat-gun just let me know... :thumbsup:

I coated the cab bottom and several other inside areas on his truck with the DupliColor product. This the 3rd or 4th truck project I've used it under and they have all held-up very well. Our '73 F-350 is used off-highway often and the underside cleans right up with a garden hose.
I used this under our former race trailer to cover up the bottom of the plywood floors as they were allowing water through on long hauls. It was still there after @4 years when we sold the trailer about 3 years ago.
Surface prep was pressure wash and wipe with degreaser before rolling the stuff on. We didn't spay because we couldn't get the trailer high enough in the air to stoop under with a gun... though it would be to messy to crawl around spraying.
This stuff sticks very well and I've never had a peeling problem with it.

I would think you could strip, degrease and lightly sand/scuff the inner surfaces and then coat without any further work.
Rolling or spraying would be up to you, I've had good results with both. If you roll it you can control coverage and thinckness well and use a second coat in areas if needed.

Hope this helps;
John

I used the Duplicolor bed liner in my trunk a I'm pleased with the results!

They also have it in spray bombs. Available at Walmart!

Very good information. The underside of my car is 100% new metal (frame and all). I sprayed it black, but I know that will get beat up over time. I didn't think about rolling or brushing it on and that may be a very good option and leave less of a mess. Looks like I will have to really think about this. I like the idea a lot.

John thanks for the heat gun offer. I have a heat gun that should do the job. I think I will wait until I finish up the firewall and steering. I can then roll it over and out it up on the rack (good friend has a rack). I should then be able to pull the rear wheels and mask off the rear end/brakes, etc... I only want to coat from the firewall back.

I will have to double check the NHRA rule book as well, they do not allow "coating" on roll cages, but I am not sure about frames/chassis.

I used the Rhino-Liner on the front and rear inner fender wells on my '68. It's been on there for three years and is holding up great! I have Yokohama A032R competition tires (i.e. rediculously sticky!!) and these things are just wrecking the paint on the body below the belt-line!! They pick up every stone and whip it against the body 100MPH!! While the body paint's getting trashed, the wheel wells are holding up great!

I used the bed liner b/c this car has all new metal and I couldn't find any other product that would "build" to the thickness of the factory sound deadener without applying 100 coats!! I have under coat guns etc... but the standard products won't build fast enough. I'd use it again!

This stuff cuts with Xylol!! It's really hazardous stuff! Use it in a well ventilated area and wear a respirator!!

Paul D.