Bodywork, Paint, Interior, Trim, & Wiring

I have completed repairing all the rust to the body (especially the underside i.e - the floor boards) I am debating whether to go purchase a 5 gallon drum of Lizard skin or just use the Rust-Oleum (or similar) undercoating. Does anyone have advise on this? Has anybody used a combination of each?

Thanks

Art

I don't have advice. (I haven't tried Lizard Skin yet. I've used plenty of Rust-Oleum brand products, and hated every one of them so far...) But this topic interests me. To be clear, what stage are you at? Bare metal? Epoxy primer already applied? Or maybe you've shot on a coat of urethane or polyurethane paint? (I like Chassis Saver, which is basically like POR-15 except I can buy it locally in small cans.) And what application method do you prefer?

I used Lizard Skin inside, underneath and firewall. Ceramic coated the headers and exhaust. No complaints with heat build up.

Curtis:

I am at the bare metal stage. I have sprayed urethane primer on certain parts just to prevent surface rust while I mended the other body sections. Its sounds like I should just go for the Lizard skin. Did you all apply yourselves or did you take to a paint shop?

thanks

art

Art,

You can buy their spray gun and apply it yourself. Spray the sound control then the ceramic heat control after. You can adjust the spray nozzle to get the texture you want along with adjusting air pressure. You may want to spray Por15 on there before you do it or some primer. The products are water base and easy to clean up after. I'm just about to spray our GT build with it inside and underside. Great products but the cost is there, also a great fire retardant.

Art, I used and like the lizard skin. Used it inside and out. I'd recommend epoxy primer and or the chassis saver 1st to seal/protect. In our heat and with the 302 in mine, I still added cool mat on the floors and trans tunnel and ezcool on the inside of the firewall. Once I found and sealed where heat was coming in around my pedal box, I probably could have gotten away with just coolmat on just the trans tunnel.

I applied the POR15 on the underside of the body. Calvin, I remember seeing the application on your TR. I will order the Lizard skin today.
Calvin, Are you going to post pics of the application?
Thanks guys for the Input

Art

Here are the photos of the TR6 that Lizard Skin was applied + inside the fenders and doors. This stuff will fill small holes too and covers up welding for a over all better look.

I mixed microballons in with DP40 epoxy primer for do-it-yourself Lizard Skin: [forum.britishv8.org] If your at the bare metal stage I would prefer an epoxy primer rather than use the latex based Lizard Skin directly on bare metal. You could then use a color coat over the epoxy if you wanted to go that way or a spray on truck bedliner coating.

Calvin and guys:

Thanks for the info and photos. One more question. If I am using body filler to fill in some of the rough spots. Can I apply the POR-15 then susequently Lizard Skin over the body filler?

Yes...body filler then port 15 or primer before Lizard skin. You can also paint the Lizard skin. For the under side of car I painted Por 15 black paint over Lizard Skin as my underscoring. Also Lizard Skin does fill in holes and some imperfections.

Calvin - you painted POR15 over the LizardSkin or under? It's ok to be under it, but I would not recommend POR15 over it. The LizardSkin stays pliable so a hard finish will tend to crack over time if applied over top.

Hi Rob,
I called the Lizard Skin company and asked if Pro 15, or any paint can be applied over Lizard Skin products. They told me there would be no problem in doing it. They said not to apply more than 1/32 th of an inch between both sound and heat control. So in the end I sprayed 3 different paint products on top of Lizard Skin including, Por15, Por 15 heat control in the header area, and base + clear coat in the engine area.

At British V8 2012 in Texas, I was going around the Autocross track and my gel type battery grounded out In the trunk. It boiled out all the gel in the trunk, there is Por 15 in the trunk area. It did not do any damage to the paint or Lizard Skin products in the trunck.I was relieved that I didn't need to fix that area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2014 09:34AM by 74ls1tr6.

That's interesting Calvin. They told me just the opposite when I did mine. The rep I talked with said the Lizard Skin stays pliable so I could only top coat it with finishes that were similarly pliable (he gave an elasticity factor but I don't recall what it was). Maybe I'm wrong but I thought POR15 dries to a shell like hardness.

Calvin,

Although Lizard Skin told you it was ok to paint POR-15 over Lizard Skin I doubt you would have received the same answer if you called POR-15. POR-15 is designed to be painted over rough, rusted surfaces or surfaces that have been sandblasted or metal etched. The idea of POR-15's hard coating is to deprive the rusted surface of oxygen to break the rust cycle. If painted over a smooth or painted surface, POR-15 tends to lift and flake. Take a look at the POR-15 FAQs: [www.por15.com]

Please understand I'm not trying to be a jerk here and I'm hoping I'm proven wrong. I am a great admirer of your car and all the work you put into it. Hopefully the texture of the microballoons in the Lizard Skin will provide sufficient tooth to anchor the POR-15, but you might need to keep an eye on it for any signs of lifting.

Very interesting Rick and Rob.

I guess I need to keep an eye on the whole car. At this point I'm not to worried about so far as I haven't seen any paint lifting. Maybe the way I applied the Por-15 paint has saved me from not having the paint lift off. I didn't brush the paint on full strength right out of the can. I sprayed it on with my spray gun. The paint is so thick it wouldn't spray at all. Por-15 uses solvent to be thinned out, so I thinned out quit a bit to get it to spray through my spray gun. I put one thin coat to protect the Lizard Skin.

So far it seams to be working out great. I guess only time will tell if I screwed up the whole car or not?

Another note: I did spray the Lizard Skin a little different than what they suggested with their spray gun. I used more pressure at their spray gun to get the finish I wanted(more of a splattered look with less media sprayed). At first it was coming out smooth which I didn't like( sometimes it was glob looking). So in the ends results it all looked the same around the car. The finish is ruff to the feel and hard to keep dust out of it, but the texture is not smooth. So just maybe the Por-15 won't lift off. Then again it is paint in a diluted form and very thin at that.

We will see in time!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2014 12:38AM by 74ls1tr6.

I didn't realize Lizard Skin would go on smooth. Mine is rough.

I used the Lizardskin on the firewall (engine compartment and interior), interior floor and trunk area on my TR6 Also applied it to both sides of the tunnels. Used U-POL bed liner on everything else underneath (inner fenders). U-POL product was very easy to use.

Spraying Lizardskin was a bit problematic as the material I got from supplier was very thick and needed to be thinned which was trial and error (and a lot of wasted material as well as clean up).

The second batch I bought from another supplier went on much easier and more in accord with expectations using a cheap undercoating gun. I did purchase (and return) the Lizardskin gun and I have to say the pickup was much larger that the cheap gun I used. I think the only drawback to using a cheap gun in time it takes (you get more of a tennis ball pattern versus softball Lizardskin describes in their videos).

I have seen threads on people using glass microspheres mixed with latex paint. Seems like a money saving approach but I suspect would require some trial and error testing after mixing to get it right.

My next step is to coat the Lizardskin with urethane paint, clear coat, and then set the body.

Also plan to ceramic coat headers inside and out. I agree with comment that minimizing infiltration from engine compartment and tunnels will be critical to keeping heat down.

I am using a Buick 215 for an engine and don't have room for puller type mechanical or electrical fan. Suggestions on push type fan are welcome.

I like epoxy prime on bare metal then truck bed liner. Tough stuff.

...an old thread, but I have been quite pleased with the "Raptor" brand of bedliner. After having the tub sandblasted and primed with epoxy, I applied the Raptor to the underside (black) and the inside and trunk in body color (Raptor is available in a "tintable" version)

Very straightforward application.

Mark