Exterior Mods
I pulled off the plastic body cladding and decided to coat the exposed area with a bedliner, Duplacolor's Bed Armor with Kevlar. Got the kit on sale at Autozone for $75.
To prep out, I thought I'd fill the holes left by the cladding.
I ground out and reamed each with a Dremel tool.
Filled each hole with a fiberglass filler. Use this sparingly to save yourself an enormous amount of sanding. It's been too long since I've done body work, and trying to beat the setting filler I got sloppy.
Sanded down the excess and found that some took...
and some didn't.
I filled those that didn't with a Bondo filler, and sanded it down after setting. 80 grit. I didn't finish-sand knowing the liner would make it a moot point.
I had sanded enough.
After cleaning everything up, I masked the bodywork and removed the bumpers.
I was sure to mask interior lines as well.
I shot the grill and the driving light holes with the same bumper-black I used on the upper grill, knowing that I didn't want the hassle of trying to coat those areas with the bed liner.
I thought I'd use a small-nap roller instead of the textured roller that came in the kit in an attempt to keep the texturing at a minimum. This, instead, clumped imbedded texture in random areas, the outcome of which was pretty hideous. So I reverted back to the textured roller.
The liner went on in two coats as per instructions. I used a little over a third of the product.
I'm not sold on it yet, though Mrs. Saint likes it a lot. Had I to do it over, I'd have finish-sanded the body work and shot the whole skirt and bumpers with bumper black, but that would've been more for aesthetics than function. Considering how we use the Monty off-road, and the amount of desert pin-striping we're accumulating, this will provide some protection. Throw on the Big Horns on the Mitzu steelies and I'm sure I'll like it better.
So, it's growing on me. It looks better photographed than live, and the farther away the better.
While I was at it, I decided to take care of another issue we discovered during our Three Hour Tour. When the Monty failed to climb and we reversed back for another try, the flanges (not sure what to call them, maybe a spoiler-type thing) that extend on the bumper in front of each front wheel acted as scoops, dragging back mud and rocks with us. So I hacked them off with a jigsaw.
This is before:
And this after the cut:
And this after the coating:
and some didn't.
I filled those that didn't with a Bondo filler, and sanded it down after setting. 80 grit. I didn't finish-sand knowing the liner would make it a moot point.
I had sanded enough.
After cleaning everything up, I masked the bodywork and removed the bumpers.
I was sure to mask interior lines as well.
I shot the grill and the driving light holes with the same bumper-black I used on the upper grill, knowing that I didn't want the hassle of trying to coat those areas with the bed liner.
I thought I'd use a small-nap roller instead of the textured roller that came in the kit in an attempt to keep the texturing at a minimum. This, instead, clumped imbedded texture in random areas, the outcome of which was pretty hideous. So I reverted back to the textured roller.
The liner went on in two coats as per instructions. I used a little over a third of the product.
I'm not sold on it yet, though Mrs. Saint likes it a lot. Had I to do it over, I'd have finish-sanded the body work and shot the whole skirt and bumpers with bumper black, but that would've been more for aesthetics than function. Considering how we use the Monty off-road, and the amount of desert pin-striping we're accumulating, this will provide some protection. Throw on the Big Horns on the Mitzu steelies and I'm sure I'll like it better.
So, it's growing on me. It looks better photographed than live, and the farther away the better.
While I was at it, I decided to take care of another issue we discovered during our Three Hour Tour. When the Monty failed to climb and we reversed back for another try, the flanges (not sure what to call them, maybe a spoiler-type thing) that extend on the bumper in front of each front wheel acted as scoops, dragging back mud and rocks with us. So I hacked them off with a jigsaw.
This is before:
And this after the cut:
And this after the coating:
