Bed line a 60? (1 Viewer)

[moose5280]

Hey Mudders,

Have a quick questions about 60's. I've been an 80's guy and am considering picking up a '85 desert sand colored 60 with some dents and dings, couple of odd colored body panels, very very little rust. It also has light damage on the hood and roof from a hail storm. Not really noticeable unless you look at it from the right angle. It's pretty much bone stock otherwise.

My questions is- if I choose to fix the bigger dents then bed liner the exterior the same color as original, will that have a negative effect on it's value or desirability? Not buying it as an investment or to maximize resell, but don't want to turn it into a red-headed step child either. Thoughts?

Also, for anyone who's bed-lined a vehicle, you think it would cover (make unnoticeable) the light hail pox?

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I've done a couple of full roll on liner jobs and I personally like the look especially for a camp/trail rig. You'll definitely get mixed opinions on the subject and end the end its what you want to do. Yes, you can buff out single stage pin stripping from branches etc.., but looks like crap IMO between every cut and buff. Like I always say.. to each their own.

Liner can look like crap if done hastily and rolled too late in the final coat rolling stage. I prefer a smoother texture. I final roll earlier than most and let it self level a little more. This gives it a smoother finish that is much easier to clean. The rough the texture the harder to clean.

My last rig with Monstaliner. I'll be doing this to my UTE build hopefully once summer is over here and I can control the shop temps better.

Liner is UV stable and for 300.00 you can re-roll the entire rig on a weekend project. Dent it, bang it out, cut it out, patch it back in and roll it again....

I completely epoxy primer the entire vehicle when I do this as well. You'll get the guys that talk about pinch weld rust and inner rust coming through and all I'll say is read the sentence above and go with it... Same happens with a 5-20K paint job...

Value... I got what I wanted for this rig when I sold it and probably could have gotten more if I would have been more patient to sell.

J

 

[moose5280]

Thanks Trail. I dig the look of your rig!

 

[aviafx]

To answer your desirability question, its been a mixed bag here on ‘mud...some dig it, others don’t. Where as out and about in the real world I’ve had many people ask about the paint. “That’s a no-brainer” “makes sense for a truck” “I thought bedliner only came in black!” “it comes in colors?!”

I think there’s more value to a broader market in a restored new-paint truck, but there’s also something to be said on not having to worry about hurting new paint when off the pavement. Primed and done right monstaliner looks pretty good. Inexpensive. Can be touched up or repaired in a weekend. Might take longer to find the right buyer looking for a bedlined rig if you do ever sell it.

How large are those hail dents? Paint is thick like yogurt and will provide some coverage.

 

[moose5280]

Thanks for the insight aviafx. The hail damage is part of the reason I’m considering bed liner. Its really not that bad... just bad enough to bug a retentive guy like me. I’m sure just the body work alone to get it to paint worthy condition would be more than some minor body work AND bed liner. Besides I like the look. Seems like the best value for what I have to work with. What size of lift and tires on your rig?

 

[aviafx]

That’s kind of where I was at, each body panel had plenty of bondo that was poorly finished by the PO, bad crunch on the rear quarter.

Pretty standard around here 2.5” OME med front/heavy rear setup with 33x10.5x15 on stock rims.

 

[moose5280]

My brother does powder coating so we’d fab up a front a rear bumper and powder coat those and the steel wheels flat black. With the desert tan bed liner body, it should look pretty tight.

 

[Louis Ciccoli]

My 81 60 has a dark green liner over the entire body that was done by the PO. While I like the idea (we bought it to go into the woods with), I don't like how it was done. Many areas had rust that were just covered up. It began to bubble up in other areas, with water trapped underneath. I've since began removing it, the entire hood, driver's side and about half of the roof came off in big sheets. I will eventually peel all of it off, and repair the areas that need it (there are a couple of cancer places that need cutting out, or filling), and decide then if I want to keep the liner idea going, or paint. I thunk the biggest thing to remember is whatever you decide to do, do it right the first time.

 

[SteveH]

An awful lot of buyers won't give a bedlined truck a 2nd glance. Totally puts the truck into the 'wheeler camp, and out of the 'original' or 'nicely restored' camp. Just the way it is. I have also never seen a bedlined truck without rust creeping out under the liner, especially along the rain gutter.

 

[moose5280]

Thanks Steve... your message is exactly my sticking point ... still going back and forth. I'm one of those guys who likes things as original as possible, that'd be my concern too if I ever had to sell it.

 

[White Stripe]

Bedliner seems to trap moisture more than paint which causes rust to grow at an accelerated level compared to paint. It also doesn't reveal rust until it's quite accelerated compared to paint which almost immediately will bubble up with small amounts of forming rust. The sooner you can get to rust the easier the repair. If your in a relatively dry environment where it doesn't really snow or rain much, or no snow melt is put down, probably not as big of a deal. I don't keep tabs on the value of 60s. So can't comment on affect on value. If your worried about scratches with paint you can apply a clear bra film which will heal with light application of a heat gun.

 

[Gretsch]

Bedliner seems to trap moisture more than paint which causes rust to grow at an accelerated level compared to paint.

An awful lot of buyers won't give a bedlined truck a 2nd glance

This is the thing I have never understood about why folks do bedliner on any vehicle. I just don't understand what problem it solves. There has literally never been a situation I have ever encountered that would require the need for something as durable as bedliner on a vehicle. The only thing I see when looking at a bedlined vehicle is that the owner is trying to hide something (your hail damage being a perfect example OP), and a proper paint job was too expensive. It doesn't seem to be any better at preventing rust than normal paint, and because of how its applied, most times any rust is just covered over with the idea the bedliner will keep it from getting worse. So what does it solve? Sure I can cover over a gouge in it cheaply and easily, but knock it into something and now there is a gouge that has to be fixed. I am personally way too much of a purist to deface one of these classics by covering it over with the likes of bedliner and would not give a bedlined version a single consideration as a buyer. All bedliner on a vehicle does for me is make me wonder what other corners were cut in the maintenance of said vehicle. But thats just me. To each their own.

These trucks always prompt the "forever car fever", only to have that fever break once folks get a handle on the costs of managing one of them. Don't underestimate what its gonna take to keep any example of one of these on the road and reliable. Someday you will want to sell this beast no matter what your mindset is now. Life changes, you get older, want more creature comforts, god forbid a health issue preventing you from being able to drive it, job loss, move, etc. One thing that never changes is that things always change. Selling it will be no doubt harder covered in bedliner. I am not sure these days the buyer for one of these would see the advantage of a bedlined example. The good news is that there will most likely be a buyer for it regardless of what you end up doing. These trucks are worth the time and expense proper body work requires. They deserve that. A vote here for keeping it stock.