How to tidy up a pickup bed?

[daveenty]

After a bit of advice in what to do with the bed of an old pickup truck I've been slowly working on. It's in quite good condition, with no rot or serious rust, though it's definitely looking a bit shabby at the moment as I've been doing a lot of scraping and wire brushing to get rid of all the loose bits of paint and sealant which were everywhere. It currently has a mixture of colours, predominantly a matt black/grey coating which has been put on over the original maroon and a bit of bare metal in places where it's flaked off. All I've done so far is to open up the drain holes and re-mastic a few joints around the arches, mainly to keep the water at bay.

This is the bed now: -



I am currently stuck on ideas. Initially I was going to just paint it black though soon realised that this would soon get damaged if anything were to slide around in the back. I then thought of undersealing it but dismissed this pretty quickly as I'm bound to get it wrong and it would also take an age to dry, if at all. I've not dismissed the idea of going over it with a matt lacquer/clear coat which will hopefully protect it from the weather but enable it to show it's age.

I've also been looking at Mipa Protector or Upol Raptor, both of which are specifically designed bed liner coatings and, as such, have a rubberised textured finish. Both of these are applied using a Schutz gun, usually supplied free with the package if you're buying the full 4 litre kit. These products are supplied in a black finish or, for an additional cost, can be tinted to a colour of your choice. I'd probably just go for the black as I feel colour matching would look out of place.

It's never going to be immaculate, in fact I wouldn't want it to. It's a 53 year old commercial vehicle which has had many modifications over the last few years, I'm just trying to get it to the stage where it's presentable and as reliable as possible.

Incidentally, I'm not in a particular rush for this. The tailgate is currently off the truck with my bodywork person having some attention to the myriad of dints and rot it's acquired over the years so I can't do anything to the bed until this is back on it. I also have a couple of leaks on the transmission and the interior to sort out so plenty to keep me occupied.

All ideas welcomed as there's bound to be something obvious which I've overlooked.

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

What about a plastic moulded bed liner?

[daveenty]

Smurfsarepeopletoo said:

What about a plastic moulded bed liner?

Not going to get one to fit it and I don't particularly like them as they tend to be water traps.
It's a 1970 Ford Ranchero by the way, very American.

[sunbeam alpine]

I would go with a clearcoat to protect while preserving the patina.

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

What about a couple of packs of laminate flooring, making a wooden bed floor, easily removable then.

[TwinKam]

Clear-coat to show its campaign medals, then a lift out custom-made 'duck-board'... gaps chosen to suit your intended usage, you could even felt the undersides of the slat bearers.