Chevy Express Van Conversion / Rust

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keightley

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Well, I have gutted the interior of my 2003 Chevy Express Van.  I need to do one more pass over with the degreaser and then I will be ready to paint.  But I am wondering if my plan might be a bit overkill.  So I am here to ask those who are more experienced in rust and mold/mildew prevention as well as thermal conductivity mitigation.  

I have painted the exterior of my van with Upol Raptor.  I chose this paint because it protects surface against rust, corrosion, salt, damp and extreme temperatures.  It gives a scratch and stain-proof surface.  It is waterproof, flexible and helps deaden sound and vibrations.  I saw a youtube video of a man who used it on his own Chevy Express.  His van was already built out so he did not do the interior of his van.  But he did comment that he would have done so the interior of his van was not already finished as it helps with sound deadening.  So I bought enough Upol Raptor to do the interior as well.  A friend is helping me with the paint job.  He has had much experience in painting vehicles.  And a lot of what I have done to the van exterior may have been a bit excessive as he is a perfectionist. Case in point, we sanded the vehicle down much more than the man in his video did.  Took me two weeks to do it to my friend satisfaction.  The guy in the video just took a day to sand down his vehicle and has had no problems with the liner flaking or cracking which was my friends primary concern.  

Anyway, my friend suggests I use KBS RustSeal as a primer to the Upol Raptor when I do the interior.  This will cost me an extra $170 to use KBS coatings three step process in which the RustSeal is the last step. As a side benefit, there will be no sanding involved. Now looking into KBS RustSeal, this may be a good idea.  KBS coating website claims all the same benefits as Upol Raptor except for sound deadening.  It forms a permanent non-porous barrier against moisture and oxygen which is strengthened by repeated exposure to moisture.  It is mold and mildew resistant.  There is a high abrasion and chemical resistance.  It repels fuesl, oils, most acids and alkalis.  It will not crack, flake or peel.  It can withstand temperature ranging from -50 degrees to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is a flexible coating that allow for expansion and contraction.  And it is lead free as well as VOC compliant.     



But the thing is this.  There is no rust in the interior of my van.  So I am wondering if using both products is a bit of an overkill.  Maybe I should go for overkill in this area as it will prevent further headaches down the road?  So the choices I am considering and thinking way too hard on are these:



1. Don't use Upol Raptor or KBS RustSeal as I do not have rust at all.

2. Use just the Upol Raptor.

3. Sell the remaining Upol Raptor and use only KBS RustSeal.

4. Just use KBS RustSeal as a primer to the Upol Raptor on the floor.

5. Stick with my original plan and invest in KBS RustSeal on the entire interior as a primer and then the Upol Raptor. 



What do you all think?  I need to make a decision of which way to go by Monday as the metal will be all prepared to paint.  All advice and comments will be appreciated.



Thanks,

Keightley
 
Get a quart of rustoleum oil based primer and a quart of Rustoleum oil based paint scuff the interior surfaces and paint with a small "hot dog " size roller....ans enjoy your van !!!
do a you tube search for " rolling on the tremclad "
 
I'm guessing she has seen that raybuck page since there is a question (posted last year) on that page by 'keightley'....

Personally I dont see much benefit in using the super expensive coatings on the interior....yeah, you want a nice paint job but the interior is not normally exposed to all the environmental factors that the exterior is exposed to. 

If you decide you DO want texture on the floor, you can buy bags of tiny glass beads to add to your paint...they will give the floor the texture you want...again, if you want texture.

A lot of the interior will be covered or hidden later, and as you said, there is no rust there now....I would prefer to keep the interior nice but also 'healthy'...

My 2 cents.
 
Why go the trouble of painting the interior when you'll most likely be insulating (if you do it right) over the skin and then putting up some type of paneling or covering over the insulation? If you are worried about sound deadening, buy some Fat Mat and place it directly on the steel inside the van. 1/2 to 2/3 coverage is really all you need to make a HUGE reduction in rattles and road noise. Once you put in the insulation, it will become even less.
 
That blog post on company's website Raybuck really upsets me. At first I believed what was written and it did distress me as I bought enough Upol Raptor paint to do the exterior and interior. Then I did some more research into MDI and found something very interesting. MDI is in everything! It is in paint. It is in flooring. It is in your furniture. It is everywhere. Yes, MDI is dangerous when it is in liquid form so you do need to wear PPE when working with it especially if you are working with a material that is sprayed. But once the material has cured, it is harmless or at least I found no mention of the long terms effect of cured MDI to human health. Well, that is not necessarily true. Raybuck a distributor of Lizardskin states there are long terms effect with no reference to where they obtained that information. Even after learning all this, I still considered using Lizardskin. But I would need 10 gallons of the ceramic insulation to properly coat the van. That will cost me $935. This makes me think that telling people that MDI in truck bed liner used in the interior of their vehicle will kill them is a scare tactic to convince people to buy their product. This type of scare tactic I do not appreciated. So before anyone admonishes me to do my research, they should probably take their own advice.

As far as Upol claim that their raptor paint is VOC compliant, this is true. Utah has followed California and has mandated that all paints sold to the consumer must meet low VOC limits. The Upol Raptor truck bed liner I bought is 1.7 VOC. And yes, it is a lead free paint. Just check out the MSDS. You will find that lead is not one of the ingredients in the paint.

Keightley
 
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