Bed Wood Painting Fiasco

[pjmoreland]

I purchased a pine wood set from Mar-K a few months ago for my stepside bed. My plan was to follow their guidance on painting it first with POR-15 and then with exterior enamel. The coats of POR-15 went on fine, although the surface finish ended up quite rough, so I sanded it with 220 grit prior to applying the enamel. The guidance from Mar-K didn't specify latex or oil enamel, so I purchased a can of latex. I got insecure at the last minute due to the fact that POR-15 is cleaned up with lacquer thinner, so I purchased some oil base paint instead.

This was a big mistake!

I applied the first coat of oil based enamel during the evening, so the lighting wasn't too great. I guess I didn't do the best job of cleaning up the boards after sanding the POR-15 (blew them off with an air compressor) because there were hundreds of little bumpy specks in the paint. Also, the first coat of enamel took a full week to get to the point where it was no longer tacky to the touch.

At that point I sanded the paint down to eliminate the bumps and applied a second coat of paint. Now that we are getting into spring, there are lots of bugs out, especially in the evening. I made the mistake of leaving my garage door open, and a few dozen bugs landed in the paint. Thankfully, this second coat was dry enough by the next day that I was able to sand the bugs out and apply a third coat. Within about 15 minutes of applying the third coat, ridges started forming in the underlying layers of paint due to being reactivated by the fresh paint! I called a buddy of mine who owns a painting company, and he suspected this was a result of cleaning the surface of the boards with lacquer thinner prior to applying the paint. Based on this input, I waited another 24 hours, sanded the boards again, and applied a fourth coat without cleaning with lacquer thinner first. The same thing happened again. More ridges!

At this point I was so frustrated that I placed an order for another set of wood and was planning on having my buddy spray them with whatever kind of paint he thought was best. I canceled the order a few days later after thinking about how much money would be down the drain.

I did some reading online and found a website that said oil paint can take up to 30 days to cure completely. I decided to leave the boards in an unused room inside the house for 30 days and then try again. Yesterday was the 30 day mark, so I sanded and repainted one board, and it did not wrinkle up! I sanded and painted the rest of the boards, and only one spot about the size of a quarter ended up wrinkling. I can live with that at this point. This isn't a show truck, and I plan on using the bed for light hauling, but I want it to look decent. I think I will achieve that goal.

I should have used latex. After digging around in the Mar-K document archive, I did find one document that says they used latex. Oh, and by the way, the POR-15 documentation says any type of paint can be applied over it.

I've included an image from the 1968 sales brochure. That's the look I'm going for.

[dmjlambert]

I'm glad it worked out with your 30 day wait. I think that it came out nice and that quarter size defective area probably wouldn't bother me either on a truck I planned to use. You have posted some good information, I think others will benefit from your experience with this.

[pjmoreland]

Thanks. Now I just need to fight the urge to touch up that one spot. Any messing with it would probably make it stand out more than it already does.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Thanks. Now I just need to fight the urge to touch up that one spot. Any messing with it would probably make it stand out more than it already does.

Just make that the first spot you "bugger up" when using it for light hauling!

I think it's gonna look great!

[dagnabbitt]

Looks awesome in my opinion. I didn't know that you could POR15 wood. Did I read that correctly?

When it comes to touchups: I have learned to sleep on it, always.

Again, I really like the result you got, I am sure they came with a blemish or two from the factory also!

[dmjlambert]

Yes, resist the urge! This can be your homage to the Persian rug, perfectly imperfect and precisely imprecise.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

Yes, resist the urge! This can be your homage to the Persian rug, perfectly imperfect and precisely imprecise.

I like it 😄

[Peanut74]

pjoreland, I feel your pain. I basically did the same thing you did with painting my truck. Go to cut and buff and sand though and have to touch up the paint. Then the patch paint runs and its back on the merry go round again.

Resist the urge to try and make it perfect. 90% of the people will never notice it.

[pjmoreland]

I'm not brave enough to try to paint an entire truck. I have a lot of respect for anyone who takes on that project. I will fight the urge to touch up the paint!

[pjmoreland]

Yep, Mar-K recommends two coats of POR-15 followed by three coats of high quality exterior latex paint. POR-15 has poor UV resistance, so the latex protects the POR-15 from the sun.

Here's the completed bed floor.

[notsolo]

Wow, that turned out Great.

[pjmoreland]

Thanks! It is probably a little too nice because now I'm going to be trying not to scratch it

[notsolo]

The finish is perfect, I don't know if you can get results like that with latex?

[Boog]

That turned out great. Thanks for answering the question about using por15 to seal wood. I also wondered if bed liner could be used directly on wood for lasting protection.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Boog

That turned out great. Thanks for answering the question about using por15 to seal wood. I also wondered if bed liner could be used directly on wood for lasting protection.

Seems like bed liner would work well since so many people use it in their metal beds with lasting results. I was somewhat blindly following the recommendations from Mar-K. Most of their long-term tests centered around clear finishes, so they didn't have much of a selection on painting options. One of their earlier paint tests didn't use POR-15, and it failed. The POR-15 combination they tested held up really well long term.

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Seems like bed liner would work well since so many people use it in their metal beds with lasting results. I was somewhat blindly following the recommendations from Mar-K. Most of their long-term tests centered around clear finishes, so they didn't have much of a selection on painting options. One of their earlier paint tests didn't use POR-15, and it failed. The POR-15 combination they tested held up really well long term.

I have a friend who bedlined his metal strips as well as the interior of the box sides and tailgate: but he did what you did with the wood, just painted it black. It looks really sharp.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by notsolo

The finish is perfect, I don't know if you can get results like that with latex?

The wood Mar-K painted with latex looks pretty good.

https://www.mar-k.com/PDFs/Instructi...testupdate.pdf

[67C10Step]

That looks so good you now have me considering painting my bed wood instead of staining. My truck may never look even remotely as good as yours and will certainly never be a show truck.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by 67C10Step

That looks so good you now have me considering painting my bed wood instead of staining. My truck may never look even remotely as good as yours and will certainly never be a show truck.

I absolutely love the patina your truck has. There's no duplicating that.

[georgieb51]

Just wondering if you sealed all sides of the boards. If not moisture can enter from below and contribute to cupping in the future. I am glad to see folks interested in painting their truck beds. I am currently in the process of sealing and priming my oak boards for my stepside. Glad to see another use for POR. I am using different materials that I have learned about when restoring wood boats, but basically that first sealing coat is critical.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by georgieb51

Just wondering if you sealed all sides of the boards. If not moisture can enter from below and contribute to cupping in the future. I am glad to see folks interested in painting their truck beds. I am currently in the process of sealing and priming my oak boards for my stepside. Glad to see another use for POR. I am using different materials that I have learned about when restoring wood boats, but basically that first sealing coat is critical.

I painted all sides of the boards. Are you referring to some other type of product besides paint for sealing?

[pjmoreland]

This is what the wood looked like in my old '67 after 12 years of being parked mostly outside in Colorado. It was finished only with linseed oil. I reapplied the oil a few times over the first couple of years, but then I totally neglected the wood after that. I'm hoping the paint will do a better job of preserving the wood without requiring yearly maintenance.

[sick472]

I just used stain only (Penofin Penetrating Oil Finish). I applied two coats per the instructions a coupe years ago as the wood was not installed yet. I just applied another quick coat prior to putting it on the road. The first day out to go get the exhaust installed, it rained all day. The water beaded up nicely and after I toweled it off...it looked like it did prior to the hour or so it spent in the rain. I expect a yearly oiling to keep it water resistant. I did use a couple wet coats of POR-15 on the underside which turned out really nice with respect to coverage and sealing the wood. I did not use any paint over the POR-15 as UV problems will be minimal under the bed and not visible unless laying under the truck.

[Canadian694x4]

A lot of effort on your part but I think it looks spectacular!