We are finally at a point where we can button this a few things up and get this thing out on the trail and do some testing.
Unfortunately this update wont be super detailed, partly because paint or bed liner really, is all quite new to me and I dont want to give advice until I’m a bit more experienced. The second reason is I was was in a big hurry so the Jeep would be drivable by the weekend and it’s just a little hard to document and be fast so I apologize if some details are missing.
I started by vacuuming the interior really good. I have to get as all of the grindings, dirt and dust out. Then every painted surface get’s wiped down with a degreaser and wax remover. I used Upol UP2002 after everything was nice and clean I started masking. Masking was also new to me and I must admit it had it’s frustrating moments. It is time consuming and sometimes just plain hard to get everything to stay where you want it. It is super critical otherwise windows will have overspray and things like the crank handles wont fit on the splined shaft. Besides good work done in masking will give you nice clean paint line and keep things looking nice and neat instead of it looking like a toddler attacked it with carton of rattle cans.
After masking was done everything was wiped down with the degreaser again. In hard to reach areas or areas that may have trouble adhering I sprayed on an adhesion promoter ( Upol Grip#4). I sprayed this stuff in corner’s, seams and on top of body filler, pretty much anywhere that was hard to clean and or wipe with degreaser.
Next we sprayed an anti-corrosive epoxy primer. This will help with preventing rust and adhesion for the bed liner. Here you can see the results after spraying.
Here is what things look like after spraying the bed liner.
Lastly it’s time to install the seats for hopefully the last time. I cut up some extra 1” upholstery foam that I got from the local Walmart for just a few dollars. The padding that came with the seat covers was very thin. Then installed the seat covers and bolted the seats back in and installed the seat belts.
With that It’s finally come to a point to spend a little time out on the trail testing this thing.
Updates on trail performance to come soon!!