Two tone paint scheme?

[91W350]

I have my 1991 W350 sanded down to bare metal. It looks like it may have had the right front fender replaced sometime. Otherwise, the body had no major dents or rust, except the drip rail that I posted photos of earlier.



I have now reached a dilemma, I am going to cover the roof with bedliner, cab seams, back of the cab and from the top of the windshield rubber up.



My plan was to do it all in charcoal and paint the rest of the truck the original light metallic blue. Now I have decided to do the bedliner over the rails too. My buddy in the Rhino Lining business has offered to do the truck from the body line area down for 200 dollars a side. I like that plan, but am afraid that it will look like a charcoal truck with a blue stripe down the sides. The windshield pillars, hood and door frames would be blue. We are talking about charcoal from the bottom of the gas cap door down.



The part I like about that is I will never have rock chips or rust problems again. Another question is whether or not to put the fender flares back on or make the sides look like an older truck with no flares?



Anybody want to chip in an opinion? My rubber door ding guards are peeling, the chrome, and I am not putting them back on. The other option would be to spray a four inch wide stripe where the ding guards used to be, then put the flares on and paint the bottom of the truck as well.



Thanks for any ideas you may want to share, Glen

 

[AKimmel]

Why do you want to spray bedliner on your roof? I'm guessing it's because of the rust these trucks are known for in the front of the roof skin. They rust from the inside out, because of a brace in the front right behind the skin that holds moisture, and its all bare metal in there. I'm guessing it must have trapped an air pocket in this area when the trucks were dipped in sealer, you find it inside area's that I know couldn't have been sprayed. When it does rust out one day, you'll be left with a bedliner shell for a roof skin, and will have a hard time finding someone to fix it. Can you imagine trying to get that stuff off to repair something. That's what keeps me from spraying the inside of the bed on my trucks, I don't want to deal with trying to get it off one day. I'm not trying to be a know it all, just wanting to let you know before you do something so permenant. Alex

 

[91W350]

On my W350 the water followed the seam sealer on the bottom of the drip rail. The brace inside has nothing to do with that. Had I not been trying to fix the pock marks in the front of the drip rail, I would have developed a serious problem. There is no rust at all, just shiny blue paint on the windshield bead and gasket lip.



I cannot find any weak spots inside the cab or on top of the roof, just that 2 inch section on the right side of the drip rail. I have seen a lot of these first gens that rusted through the top of the cab along the sides of the cab, at the drip rail. I think the bedliner will stop the problem. I may spray the inside of the roof as well, instead of a headliner, which is sagging, probably the same for the floor instead of carpet.



Are you thinking the roof condenses water inside somehow? It has to get in there somehow and I still think it is along the seam sealer that they beaded above the windshield, where the drip rail and inner cab roof meet. Once it has a small hole there, water gets forced through it anytime you drive in the rain. Mine was rusty, but when I found it, there was no hole. I broke all the weak metal I could find out with a small screwdriver. Maybe I should have gone a little farther with a light hammer and tried to break some more loose. When I quit, the metal was solid all around the hole.



I have helped him with several projects, one being a Suburban that we sprayed the headliner and roof. The difference in noise level is unreal. We have a difference of opinion on where the moisture comes from. I think it has to enter from the outside. Once it gets in there, I am sure it just sits on the edge of the roof doing what comes natural for sheet metal and water.



I agree, that Rhino Liner is some permanent stuff. We tried to remove it from a pickup that a customer ran a fork lift fork through the floor of his truck. The best thing we could find was an air chisel and just trying to skim it off the sheet metal. Once we got the bulk chiseled off, we used wood chisels to scrape the floor. It took several hours to clean off an area large enough to fix the floor.



He does a lot of fenders for street rods, spraying the bottom of the fenders so they do not get star cracks from rocks thrown out of the tire treads. He also does a lot of Novas, Camaros, and Chevelles from the sixties and seventies. The guys are having him put their car on a rotisserie and spraying the floor pans and inside the floor under the carpet. He also does the inside of the trunk and around the wheelhouses.



If it ever rusts out under the bedliner, I am guessing I will be too old to care much. The bedliner is probably tougher than the sheet metal anyway. At that point, if the old Cummins is still rattling, it might be time for a Cummins M-37 project at that point.

 

[AKimmel]

I guess I struck a nerve, but I agree if the seam sealer under the drip rail is loose, water can/will seep under the roof skin and cause rust. But, I've had 4 different dodges that I fixed the roofs on, and only one had the seam sealer coming loose under the drip rail. The other 3 just had blisters on the front flat portion of the roof. I had the complete roof skin off my 87, and could see why it rusts. It is definitely the brace to close to the skin. How moisture gets in there I don't know? I know rust proofing the hell out of it seems to stop any problems. Look through the hole for your sun visor, thats not the roof skin your seeing, its the inner brace, you'll see how close it is.

 

[91W350]

That brace is close, I noticed that before. Hopefully mine does not have any of that damage, I have no blistering on top of the roof at all. I hope it stays that way. Did any of the trucks you fixed have cab lights? That is what has me concerned on my 93. I wish it was just a slick roof model too. Glen

 

[AKimmel]

Only my 89 that I'm fixing now has cab lights. It's also the only one that rusted below the drip rail. Coincidence? I had pictures in a post a while back titled "why our roofs rust out". If you have cab lights, I would pull them out and spray rust proofing all in the front of the roof, most of it will go over the brace and on the back of the skin. This is just my opinion, coming from a paint and body background. If you bedline your roof, it's gonna be hard to sell one day if you plan on it. I would be leary of a truck that had that on the roof, only because you don't know whats under it.

 

[tugboatphil]

Glen,



I think a cheaper alternative would be to get a bunch of that "chia" stuff and paste it all over. Water thoroughly and you'll have a nice green truck... . until fall. :-laf :-laf



Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[PToombs]

Can your buddy add color to the bedliner? So the bottom is blue, or some shade other than charcoal? Just thinkin' out loud here. I personally wouldn't want the roof any darker than it has to be, sucks the sun in and cooks yer brain.

 

[91W350]

My brain is already cooked! He has sprayed some urethane paint on the liner as it cures with great results. The liner is also urethane based, so the two seem to bond much better than paint does on metal. I was just trying to control the budget a little. I guess if I am only going to do it once... .



Surely it would not be any warmer than a dark colored, like black or dark blue, truck. I would also gain a lot of insulating properties. Glen

 

[Dieselman359]

Do it

Hey that just gave me an idea for my W, its roof is rusty also, I probably ought to look for rust on it.



Anyway, those that have seen my D truck have seen that when I put my bed on I had the frame line-x'd. I think that it works great, I really gotta give props to the guy that did it because he got in every nook and cranny that he could find. Also the price that you got is VERY reasonable. Like my frame, all you gotta do is hit it with a brush and it looks new, of course yours would be more visable, all the better. AKimmel said something about resale, are you ever gonna sell it? I'm never selling mine.



Honestly I think that it would work out great.

 

[bgilbert]

Chris you better just sell me your W model, give ya your money back what ya paid for it...

 

[91W350]

are you ever gonna sell it? I'm never selling mine.

Things will have to change an awful lot around here, I do not plan to sell it at this point. I have wanted one since they were new in 1989, just never found one I thought the price and truck matched. My son thinks he is getting the 91, he might get the 93, I am pretty partial to the big blue monster. It just matches my lifestyle pretty good. I really like the old turd. I guess by the time my opinion of the truck changes, it probably will not be worth much. If I planned to sell it, I would just paint the cab and call it good. The last vehicle I really liked like this, a nurse ran a red light and totalled it for me. I was mourning that loss for quite some time, I enjoyed the insurance money though. That old Chevy Military truck was very good to me! :-laf Glen