Line-X/floor Coverings or bare steel?

crab · Mar 24, 2020

As some of you know, I’m puttering with a ‘70 Bronco just to keep me busy. I have plenty of time on my hands and a fair bit of skills. I could afford to restore it which isn’t out if the question, but really I just want to make a nice driver for somebody down the road. I’ve gutted the interior and trying to decide what to do before I throw factory seats back in it. The floor has minimal rust but could use a driver pan which is structurally sound, just ugly. Here are options that I’m considering. What would be most desirable as a potential buyer?

Repair the floor and line-x for around $1500
Treat the surface rust and put in a carpet/vinyl kit for around $500 My concern is trapping water, or is that not an issue with the newer insulation?
Take the factory original vinyl floor out of my ‘77 (order a new set from DC for the ‘77) and put it in the ‘70. It has a couple cracks but in pretty nice overall shape. I realize there will be a small corner at the fuel filler that won’t fit perfect, but it will be close.
Or just leave it as it is and bolt the seats in.

ransil · Mar 25, 2020

Replace the drivers floor, treat the rust and drive it.

Pops68 · Mar 25, 2020

If you do the Linex, take lots of BEFORE pics to show potential buyers what is under the stuff, but you already know that.

unimogger · Mar 25, 2020

Fix the floor and epoxy prime, it'll be cheaper than liner and just as tough. Plus, not every buyer wants liner on the inside.

bmc69 · Mar 25, 2020

Having the entire interior of my '78 Line-Xed almost 20 years ago was easily the best thing I ever did for that truck. It looks great and has held up great over all these years of use and abuse.

It's not a show truck and will never be a restoration project.

I'm going to have the interior of the tub on my '69 project Line-Xed...or I might use Raptor which is very similar.

68Broncoz · Mar 25, 2020

I used Raptor liner on mine worked really well and lot less expensive than Linex

904Bronco · Mar 25, 2020

My suggestion would be to sand the floors down, treat the rust if needed, self etching primer as recommended by raptor liner and then shoot the floors. You can go hog wild and shoot the whole inside or just the floor. That way you don't have to replace the floor due to cosmetics and you add some protection. You can also add paint to the liner to match the body color. Agreed, take pictures before and after, so no one says you are hiding anything.

SunnDogg · Mar 25, 2020

My .02 as someone currently looking for a project to restore back to original. If it has already been Line-X'd even with pictures of the floor condition prior I have and will continue to pass. If it is a good candidate for an OE type of restoration that you intend to sell at some point I would suggest leaving that for the next person and replace and epoxy prime it. Much easier to add liner later and virtually impossible to remove and would take significant effort if you wanted to go back to original.

If it's not a good candidate for someone that might want to take it back to 100% original it might be worth your while. If you do have the means and time I would suggest you look in to Raptor liner as a DIY option which would cost significantly less and not have to trailer it back and forth.

Izzy_Britton · Mar 25, 2020

As i am someone who is currently fighting the removal of all the bedliner inside my current projects tub. i would advise to not use line-x or any other bedliner type material anywhere on your rig. sorry to sound so cynical, but after what i have been dealing with for the past 3 weeks, i too would never buy another bedliner'd project ever again, never ever!

i would repair/replace floor pan, epoxy prime, seam seal and spray a matching color, then put down a OEM style under carpet pad, and the carpet or plastic floor liner. i think if you could do all this yourself, you could do it for minimal bucks and have a nice finished repair job. However, if this was a beater/rock crawler/rustbucket, linex your heart out. but, put a ring on it as you will likely be married to it for the rest of your/its life.

MrT · Mar 25, 2020

ICON Broncos have bedliner interior, engine bay and bottom of the tubs. They seam to be able to get rid of them when they need to starting at 170k.

71 CA Bronco · Mar 25, 2020

I debated this issue with myself for months. Finally decided to Linex just the bottom. Also took many pictures to show nothing was hidden.

My reasoning for a partial Linex was given the fact the Bronco I owned back in the 80's had the floors rotted out even back then. Street signs fixed that one %). They are rust buckets so I felt a properly done (not over done) linex was the best choice for me.

I would not consider it for a true restoration but how many of us are doing that anyway.

68Broncoz · Mar 25, 2020

My 68 lasted over 50 years with the original under coating I had to scrape off. If the raptor lasts even close to that long I wont have to worry about it.

That said my Bronco will never be a case for an original restoration

Thanks

Chris

crab · Mar 26, 2020

Thanks guys. I’ve never seen the raptor liner but hear a lot of good things about it. Also like the sounds of color matching. One thing is at some point, the floor shifter will likely change. Can you blend the raptor back in later or is like line-x?

bronkenn · Mar 26, 2020

I don't think there would be a problem blending in the RL. Save a bit of it aside without adding the hardener and use it later.

ammowaster · Mar 26, 2020

So the aversion to LineX and the like is that it's frequently used to hide rust damage and bad repairs is that right?

crab · Mar 27, 2020

ammowaster said:
So the aversion to LineX and the like is that it's frequently used to hide rust damage and bad repairs is that right?

I don’t think line-x is as bad as some. It’s fairly thin and you can generally tell what the panel looks like. Unlike some of the other cold applied liners like hurkuliner or the commercial coating Armacoat. That’s what steered me away from the 77 that Sold in Florence Or a couple years ago. Not that there is anything hiding, though it was a coastal bronco and the liner was so thick it appeared to be on purpose.

How durable is the raptor liner? Will your heals wear through at the pedals?

.94 OR · Mar 27, 2020

My neighbor is needing help with a Toyota truck he is planning to use for hunting. The floor has a couple spots we will patch before applying. He wants to cold roll/spray the under side of the cab and everything inside as well. Since we are swapping cabs over, it is completely bare right now so easy to get to. He wants to go this route so he can hose it out after he uses it. Any pitfalls to this application?

MrT · Mar 27, 2020

I used Monstaliner on a Willys Jeep that generaly had no top on it and i drove it daily for 5 years. There was sand and sun on it all the time and it never wore through. I like the appearance of the Raptor liner better but I don't know about it's durability yet.

904Bronco · Mar 27, 2020

I have had Raptor liner on two Broncos, both had something on the raptor liner, factory rubber front mat and rubber floor mats from WH's. In the bed I cut to fit Marine grade carpet.

I have found it is pretty durable finish, surface preparation is very important. (If you pound on it with a hammer you can get pieces to chip off)

Finish is dependent on air pressure to the gun and distance that it is applied to the sheet metal.

Line-X/floor Coverings or bare steel?

crab

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ransil

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Pops68

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unimogger

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bmc69

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68Broncoz

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904Bronco

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SunnDogg

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Izzy_Britton

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MrT

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71 CA Bronco

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68Broncoz

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crab

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bronkenn

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ammowaster

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crab

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.94 OR

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MrT

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904Bronco

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