My Trackster Build

[brushcutter]

I don't know what to think, but at this point I no longer have any doubt that I should have gone with an aluminum tub. We loaded the tub and Evan and I hauled it the 25 miles to see the guy who I've been talking to about spraying it. He had given me a ballpark price of $250 to $300, and of course I expected it to be slightly higher simply because he had no idea of what it was or it's shape. We walked out, he took one look at it and asked "Have you considered having it painted?" He walks around it, looking the thing over and says (hope you're sitting down) $595 plus tax(10%). $375 of that is for the material. Or I can sell you the stuff to do it yourself for $75 per gallon, you'll need 5 gallons at least."

The main reason I was going with bed liner was so we didn't have to get the inside of it where there are so many inner and outer radii to deal with to an auto finish smooth. I am not sure exactly what I'm going to do now, but it certainly isn't going to cost $375 to get it done.

[chris davison]

How much does 5 gals of bed liner weigh and dont they sell that stuff in spray cans? what will it do if gasoline is spilled on it? and get 3 estimates.

[Coop]

At this stage of the build, you have already invested quite a bit of time and money. You could choose to find a cheaper alternative than the professionally applied bed liner, but would you regret it later and wish you had stayed with the plan? I don't know, but I'm guessing paying $600.00 to have the tub lined only represents less than 10% of your total investment? What I'm trying to say is, you've come this far, don't look at it as money spent, look at it based on what will make you happiest in the long run. I've always said, you can't put a price on your fun, if you do, it stops being fun....

Coop

[brushcutter]

How much does 5 gals of bed liner weigh and dont they sell that stuff in spray cans? what will it do if gasoline is spilled on it? and get 3 estimates.

Chris, I don't know what the weight/gal is, but would be willing to call and ask if you need to know. The way it was explained to me there is 3/4 gallon of resin in one can and it comes with 1 qt of hardener, mixing the 2 together for exactly 30 seconds produces 1 gallon, if you mix it for more time it gets thick and gives a splatter effect. It can be rolled on also. They use a H F hopper gun for application and he said "you have to have an 80 gallon compressor or similar, because you don't have time to wait on a tiny Lowes type to catch up or it will clog the gun and you'll have to get another one, so I would be rolling mine. As for the "walmart" otc stuff I get no good reports on it's durability.

At this stage of the build, you have already invested quite a bit of time and money. You could choose to find a cheaper alternative than the professionally applied bed liner, but would you regret it later and wish you had stayed with the plan? I don't know, but I'm guessing paying $600.00 to have the tub lined only represents less than 10% of your total investment? What I'm trying to say is, you've come this far, don't look at it as money spent, look at it based on what will make you happiest in the long run. I've always said, you can't put a price on your fun, if you do, it stops being fun....

Coop

Hey Coop, my concern has been future repair and how bedliner will allow for that and my guy says it can be done but is time consuming and expensive. At this point in the build I could easily be very happy to buy a pile of different color rattle cans, shake the crap out of them, stand them in various places in and on the tub and let the boys target practice on em and let that be the color. I agree about fun and prices and what not, but this part of the build quit being fun at gallon #2 each of resin and hair. This thing has gotten to be TOO MUCH of an obsession, so right now the tub is out of the shop where I can't even see it unless I go out the back. I just don't care to deal with it for now, (it came really close to playing a very long game of "stop the sledge hammer" yesterday) so I think it's best to just leave it alone for a while. Too frustrated right now!
Meantime I'm gonna do other things.

[brushcutter]

Coop and Trackster- many thanks for your words of encouragement, I really needed them. You guys are the best!
Since there seems to be no way around it and it's way too late to change course now, I'll be picking up 4 gallons of bed liner and rolling it on. I'm working a couple 10 hour days then I'll be off from the 21st -26th. If all goes well I might get it rolled on before I go back to work. We'll be camping at the shooting shack Friday and Saturday, so possibly Wednesday is the day. I still have a couple million questions before I start because I want to be sure I do this right so the $300 investment doesn't all blow off the first time I hit it with the pressure washer. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Noel Woods]

I was discussing a similar issue with a friend of mine regarding fiberglass work to be done on my Super Swamp Fox. Fiberglass work (if you want it smooth) is expensive involving lots of pricey materials as well as labor. One of my friends was so put off in damages to his fiberglass flats boat that he tried an alternative. He attached an aluminum plate to the bottom of his boat hull and then glassed it in. Over that he applied a product called "gatorheads" coating, also known on the internet as gatorglide.com , this product is super slick and matches the texture of smooth fiberglass. When you run your hand over it now the hull feels like a sheet of UHMW. You may want to give it a try as a less expensive alternative and you can recoat the material if the need arises later.

[brushcutter]

Hey Noel I visited their site but at $107+ per HALF gallon, I'll pass... just an old cheapskate here I guess... Ya know, I would sort of of like to get this thing going for less than the cost of a new one...

Had planned to get the 4 gallons today, but with the holiday and then camping Friday night, I didn't figure I would have time to do anything on it anyway, so I didn't get it... then I find out that a nephew is going to be playing in his division state HS football finals and everybody who we were going camping with is going to be out of town at the game. Although I have gone to some of his games...well...I just ain't into football that much... not even close! Oh well I'll spend that time getting more of the assembly prep done.

[295YOOPER]

cool project brushcutter.the trackers are awsome machines.would love to have one to play in the snow up here.i'm sure the bedliner will look just fine.you have made great progress already and looks great.i too get a little picky on bodywork.we are doing a lockley wrangler right now and have been doing all the bodywork lately.we want the outside to look decent but the inside will probably get the brush on bedliner liked yours.let us know how it works for ya.i think of it this way:not going to barrett jackson going to get pounded on in the woods. keep up the good work!

[brushcutter]

not going to barrett jackson going to get pounded on in the woods. keep up the good work!

LMAO! Do you ever got that right...and pounded and bounced over logs and smacked into cypress knees and...
Thanks for the kind words, I was talking with my BIL Thursday, the body shop he works at also does bed liner,(news to me...) and they can mix ANY color. Also, he told me the price I got was about the going rate, and I would have a hard time beating it by much - even at their shop. I need to do more research into working time. He told me that when the guys at their shop do one, they have 1 man mixing while another is spraying, otherwise it starts getting gummy and the gun will clog up?!? He was not sure exactly how long I would have to get a gallon rolled on before it sets up. This is something I will really really definitely really need to know before I buy and start rolling it. I'll be posting here as I learn more.

[brushcutter]

OK, gonna try this again, one of those evenings when I keep getting interrupted, tried to update twice already... With hunting season out of the way I've been doing some work on the trackster. The Honda has the dreaded tapered shaft so I adapted that down to a 1" shaft and cut in a key way, and got a u-joint turned down to go on the transmission input, will have to order new seal for that, somehow missed it on the original parts order. Got the last 8 bearings, seals and zerks installed. I still have some welding to finish up on the front suspension frame, and since it seems to either be raining every weekend(not complaining after the drought of we were in) or I have had other obligations, I still have some parts to paint. Bought grey primer to paint the tub, again, waiting on the weather and time. Doing what I can as time allows.

[brushcutter]

Stealth Gray Super Liner

Ya know I thought $595 was high to get my tub sprayed with bed liner, that was at the first place I carried it to get coated. The next shop I carried it to wanted $1500 if I was in a hurry, or if not and the guy could do it in his "off" time I could save myself a whole $200 bucks and get it done for $1300. Well now, I know y'all believe ya can't put a price on your fun and all that, but I believe different. I just sprayed my tub with 3 gallons of super liner which has a 4300 psi tensile strength. Think about this: I bought the liner $246.38, the hopper gun, a new 60 gallon IR compressor, The aluminum/stainless kit for my welder, a co2/argon bottle with contents AND a New DeWalt portaband all for a couple bucks over $1500. Now, not only do I have a freshly sprayed tub, I also have experience spraying it, and a whole lot more... THAT'S what I call fun... more tools... more capability...

stealth gray 003.jpg stealth gray 004.jpg

[jpswift1]

Now that's how you do it right there, guys! Very nice work, it turned out great. And you also have something to show for it besides just the tub being sprayed. New tools are ALWAYS great to have around.

[brushcutter]

Thanks JP, I had no idea how much work would be involved just getting the tub to the state it is in now, but I do know why Al Drewitt at Toledo fiberglass told me he "really would rather not fool with it, but if I wanted him to, it would cost somewhere between $2000-$3000". Fact is at this point I wouldn't do it that cheap. Man I had begun to think it would never be to a point where it could be sprayed. I originally hadn't intended to do the outside, but the second gallon ran out with about 3 sq ft to go on the inside, and since we had to mix the 3rd gallon anyhow we ripped the tape and paper off and had just enough to do the outer.

For anyone who is considering doing the spray in liner over fiberglass, you don't have to get it paint job smooth, just knock off the high spots because you can hide a whole lot of rough stuff with super liner -with out even intending to- it piles up deep REALLY fast. You need no special equipment other than a hopper gun and compressor that will keep up with it. Harbor freight sells the gun for $24.99 and at that price if you don't want to clean it after, just toss it. Also follow the directions on the can and don't freak out at 15 seconds into spraying it and you look in the hopper and your $75/gal liner already looks like a chunk of rock, just punch it down and keep spraying. It gets to a thick pudding consistency that quick and you will think it is going to harden in the gun but it doesn't. Wear old clothes and plan your progress from where you will start to where you will finish, watch where your air hose is or it will wipe the liner and make a mess. A swivel connector at the gun would be a definite plus.

I think I'll go to the shop and pinch myself a few times while staring at it just to convince myself that the tub is done and I can finally start putting it together.

[Noel Woods]

That machine is looking impressive Brushcutter. Should be a 1st class machine when all is paid for/work done.

[brushcutter]

Thanks Noel, and it is all paid for. If there are no surprises and I've missed nothing, I have everything I need to finish it right now. More in it than I had in the 950 but not near the price of a new Argo or Max.