Doing the Herculiner DIY roll on bedliner

it says wipe the bed down with acetone before painting on the bedliner but ......

I need to tape off so do I tape off after the acetone wipe down or tape it first so the acetones doesn't get on any paint not being covered over?

just never used acetone before so I am unsure if it will eat up the glue on the tape and/or mess with the paint finish if it gets where its not supposed to be covered over with the bedliner.

im using regular masking tape to tape off the bed rails

the acetone doesn't say much at all but it says it will "soften or damage plastics, synthetics, and other finishes" so .....

 

Do a simple test on something else before doing your bed.

 

well herculiner recommends to use acetone as a surface prep before painting but

the thing I don't know about is the order to tape off before, or after I use the acetone

and of course if acetone is safe on painted surfaces not to be covered up by bedliner is a problem

I don't exactly have a spare vehicle laying around to test on and lets just say whats left of the inside of the bed, I couldn't tell if the acetone stripped the finish top coat off of it or not lol

 

Acetone 'melts' paint, at least in my experience. When painting I usually use Isopropyl or Denatured Alchohol.

 

Acetone will eat the tape and keep it off the paint you don't want to bed line. Why don't you just use mineral spirits to wipe it down ?

 

Wipe it down, then tape. The acitone is removing dust and oils so you get better adhesion of the Hurculiner.

Whatever you do, make sure this job is done outside. It really stinks bad and will give you a bad headache.

 

according to herculiner, using anything other then Xylene, mek, or acetone as a cleaner prep can prevent it from bonding to your bed. specifically says use no alcohol, paint thinner or mineral sprits

thanks guys,

its happening outside under a carport so other then maybe getting buzzed and a headache I should be fine.

I pretty much thought the acetone would eat the tape but its strange the instructions don't say anything about it. guess they assume its common sense but I learned long ago never to assume anything.

I will not use the acetone on the bed rails, but after im done, i'll just use the still damp acetone rag to "carefully" give those a light wipe down only where the bedliner will cover. sure don't want any messing with the paint or dripping on my fender skirts and ruining them

 

Yeah, you want to use any solvent that evaporates completely with zero residue left over.

Acitone is cheap, too.

 

I feel strange doing this because this is the last thing I need to do before putting the taco up for sale, but im already missing her even though I don't have a need for a truck anymore.

after this she will damn near be a brand new truck, I replaced everything on her from bumper to bumper that wears out so technically other then the mfg date, it is new

 

I meant just test the tape with acetone.

 

Just tape after wiping it down - the surface will be plenty clean still as long as you're not eating a really greasy pizza while masking and drip pizza oil everywhere lol. When unmasking there will be a sweet spot where the paint is dry enough not to run at the edges, but not dry enough to break the tape. I'm sure the bedliner manufacturer has a window for this. It also wouldn't hurt to scuff up your bed before cleaning it with some 220-320 grit sandpaper, some scotch brite scuff pads or use an orbital sander if you have one - that will make sure the surface is easy for the paint to adhere to, although I'm sure that paint is made for strong adhesion.

 

also wear one of these if you're going to be around vapors for awhile:

$24 3M P95 Respirator, Half Face, Disposable, Spray Painting, Pesticides, Construction, 53P71, Large Size

https://www.amazon.com/3M-07193-Car...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8FDRSKF5PXCN09X78C3N

Well worth the cost to save them brain cells...

 

There's the key word. Find someone that has Prep-All and use that if you're unsure.

But if you want to use acetone, which I think it would be more beneficial, you'll be applying it using a sponge or diaper cloth. Which you won't soak so much that it drips as you wipe parts of the bed down. Don't worry about the tape being there, you won't be so close to it that the acetone in the applicator will drip and touch it.

 

As long as your not wiping gallons upon gallons the acetone isn't going to effect the tape that bad. Specially a 3m blue tape... You'll be fine.

 

All these suggestions are really good, but when I was painting professionally I'd always sand and clean (degrease) my work before masking it off. That was my process. It still is. It's not going to matter a whole lot in the end - I can't see anyone's advice screwing up your results. The primary thing is unmasking at the appropriate time and that will affect your final result more than the intricacies of when you clean, sand, or mask - especially with that product. Look forward to seeing pics of the results!

 

thanks guys, not too worried about brain cells, hardly any of those left after smoking tons of pot when I was young, that definitely killed most of em lol. anybody says pot aint bad for you just needs to find old pot heads like me that have trouble remembering shit I did just yesterday

im just using acetone as a prep wipe so damp rag not wet just to remove any dust or whatever is still there.

got it all taped up and ready for the last wipe down but taking a break for now, didn't expect the taping was going to be such hard work?

 

Hard work taping makes easy work painting. Brain cells probably have a higher survival rate with THC than with solvents - using paint thinner to remove film left over from a previous owner's tint job on my 08 almost knocked me out when I thought I could do the hold my breath method. Then there was the time when I was young and didn't know any better and the a-hole (I reserve that term for the select few I believe earn it) I was getting work from didn't tell me we were spraying that day and said I could wear a bandana over my mouth and nose while I got to spray stain on 30+ windows in a 3 story mansion we were working on, but felt like I smoked 10 packs of cigarettes by the next day - never worked for him another day. Those fumes are f'ing strong in confined areas. If you're out doors or in a big garage they obviously won't be nearly as concentrated.

 

well here are the before pictures with the 4runner replacement for the taco sitting in back ground

 

well first coat is done, this stuff doesn't go on as well as I thought, the sponge roller almost pulls as much liner off as it leaves on, had to dab a few spots with roller to cover up the color. sure hope the second coat covers better or I think I might have to go behind after the second coat is dry and spot dab a few places where color shows through

 

my review on this stuff so far is:

this stuff looks like black oatmeal but it definitely goes on as thin as paint so the spray on stuff is much better (the linex spray in liner in my chevy was a full 1/8" thick) but at 4 times the cost you get what you pay for I guess. for $100, this is plenty good value for what it is but if I had a truck im putting stuff in every day I would say spray on is the way to go, for weekend warriors who just want extra protection and a nice looking bed, this is good stuff.

also, you seem to get much better coverage dabbing it on with a brush then using the sponge roller and im not seeing much if and texture difference between the two different types of applications

EDIT - well 5 hours later its dry to the touch but still way too tacky to try another coat, this was out of direct sunlight in 81 degree temps all day. will do second "final" coat tomorrow