# Mason Dump Bed Restoration tips?



## Ziob34 (Oct 12, 2005)

its about that time to put a little work into our mason dump bed to repaint it as it has some rust and paint peeling. Don't have a proper sand blaster and those little portable ones would just take forever. Leaning towards using a hand grinder and getting what i can off then priming with a self etching epoxy which would help with some of the scratches by the grinding wheel. This is a work truck so were not looking for it to be perfect. Have any of you done the grinding wheel method? If so have you used wire wheel? Different style grinding wheel? And what have you used for paint afterwards we won't be using a spray can but probably roll on rustoleum? Any Ideas or methods you've done appreciated.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

I have done the wire wheel, then rolled on a rust paint. (Even tried POR15) Truth is once you start you do the whole thing and it becomes a yearly process. A decent paint job is more money and believe me, it is all in the prep. I did it for about 5 yrs including lining the bed with plastic before going aluminum and have not missed it one bit. The question is how many more yrs do you want out of it? And how much time do you have to put into it?


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## Ziob34 (Oct 12, 2005)

usually have quite a bit of down time in the early spring to do it......thinking of going with the wire wheel deal to strip it down best as possible then prime and paint....have you tried or has anyone tried the abrasive grinding disks instead of wire?


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## OldSchoolPSD (Oct 16, 2007)

If you want to do it right you need to sandblast it and coat it with an epoxy primer and a good paint with a urethane hardener. Once the paint has cured spray linseed oil into every crossmember and anywhere metal touches metal. 

We charge $2500-3000 to rehab a full size truck body (depending on how much repair is needed) but I would suspect you could get a mason dump done for $1500 or maybe cheaper if you take it off the chassis yourself.

Anything short of that is just putting lipstick on a pig.


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## cl733 (Jul 12, 2013)

The epoxy primer works wonders and is worth the effort totally. POR15 is really meant to be applied to rust that will absorb it, 80 grit removes paint pretty fast, and if sprayed with epoxy primer can be filled over top of with nearly everything


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

there is a place in CT. called New England Dry stripping(trumbull line). They can blast it and epoxy prime it. However you would have to repair the rotted panels ahead of time if you have them. They blasted, epoxy primed and even urethane painted my flatbed dumpbed project (new steel to remove the mill scale).


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## Ziob34 (Oct 12, 2005)

its a work truck so its obviously going to get banged up scrtached etc every year and need touch up.....doing it the right way costs money and i'm not sure if dump bed is worth doing it full blown unless i can get a buy locally to sand blast it. I've tried those portable sand blasters they just get clogged and take forever.


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## Ziob34 (Oct 12, 2005)

anyone ever try those portable sandblasters i did once and it took forever and got clogged all the time. I'm going to self etch epoxy prime it and then probably use a paint like imron for the top coat just have to figure out what method i'm going ot strip it down (portable sand blaster, pay someone to sandblast, or grind and wirewheel it.


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## cl733 (Jul 12, 2013)

the ones that gravity feed arent worth their money, they waste your sand and need a big compressor to keep them running and the consumeables wear way too fast and and make them even more unacceptable, the small 50-100 lb pressure pots you buy work just like the big boys do , they have a ceramic nozzle and are really efficient with the sand or glass or what ever you use, you still need a decent compressor to run it


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## Ziob34 (Oct 12, 2005)

yeah i had a smaller pressure pot you definately need a bigger compressor to keep it running otherwise you just run out of air and need to stop often or the line gets clogged. Ever try the suction type? never have seen them with air hose on the gun and then a suction hose in the pot of sand.


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## JB1 (Dec 29, 2006)

I have always sent it out to get blasted and painted, the last time was a couple of years ago and was $700.


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