Snow Trac Roof . . . Paint? Epoxy? Help?

Due to the desire to add some auxiliary lighting to my Snow Trac I have decided to add 6 extra lights to illuminate my night drives. 2 rubber Hella area lights will be rear facing. 2 rubber Hella area lights will illuminate the side views. And 2 PIAA high quality driving lights will face forward.

The easiest way to mount these is through the existing bolt holes that hold the roof on. The best way I can think to run the wires is to unbolt the roof, lift it off the Snow Trac, and slide the wires through the seams.

As long as I am going through the effort to remove the roof, my thought is that I really need to repaint it. When the Salvage Squad painted my Snow Trac they did a "10 foot" paint job. Meaning that from 10 feet away, it looks pretty darn good. But the closer you get the more drips and runs you notice, as well as thin spots and thickly coated areas.

So I'm thinking this is the ideal time to paint the roof!

I've seen GREY-SILVER and I've seen WHITE but I have no idea which is the original color. If anyone has a clue, I'd love to know.

I'm not sure what color I would go with, and I'm not even sure if I want to use automotive paint. I'm leaning very heavily toward a 2-part epoxy like Rhino-Liner. It is my understanding that it is now available in very light grey and white and is UV stabilized.

Anyone have any thoughts as to why I should NOT use a RhinoLiner type product?

Well.... You were the driving force behind talking me into using a spray on liner material on my KT7 and "God Bless You" I am sooooo glad I did .

One thing about it , The bed liner will hide any imperfections in the roof . It also gives a rawhide tough finish that is pretty damn durable.

I was able to have mine custom tinted to any color I wanted , so I am pretty sure they can make any color you want ,not just black,white or gray .The reflectability is very good on mine and the color match is exactly the same as the body . My 2 part liner cost $250 plus the quart of color which is more than what you had to pay when you did your undercoating . My liner was made by Sems .Maybe that is just a Califonia thing .

I don't quite understand the wire routing ????? Will there be any chance of wires rubbing on metal and causing a short as everything flexes???? I would make damn sure the wires are completely free to move without getting pinched or rubbed or you may be having a real bad day soon .

Allen

The only negative would be resistance. You might not get the same top speed that you would with a smooth finish.

You might also consider some speakers up on top, like they had on those UTV's someone posted. Wouldn't you be cool?

Doc said:

You might also consider some speakers up on top, like they had on those UTV's someone posted. Wouldn't you be cool?

Click to expand...

And a set of deer whistlers....difinitely.

BigAl said:

I don't quite understand the wire routing ????? Will there be any chance of wires rubbing on metal and causing a short as everything flexes????

Click to expand...

Just as your fiberglass tub is a 2 piece body, the Snow Tracs have bolt together body panels. Rather than drilling a hole in the side and running a wire, I figured I would just run the wire through the seam. Probably just take making a notch in the lower lip to set the wire into so it is not pinched, laying over a bit of caulk and it would give me a very nicely sealed seam.

I'm obviously a big fan of the Rhino-Liner type products. I think they are good looking and I think they make for a very durable surface too. At this point I'm seriously considering suspending the roof on a heavy wire and spraying the inside and outside of the roof with either light grey or white 2 part epoxy. I just don't see any downside to doing that.

Mighty Mouses rig will be here tomorrow afternoon so maybe then I can get a better perspective of what your doing . I say GO FOR IT !

B_Skurka said:

At this point I'm seriously considering suspending the roof on a heavy wire and spraying the inside and outside of the roof with either light grey or white 2 part epoxy. I just don't see any downside to doing that.

Click to expand...

Are you sure you want to do the inside as well? That rhino-liner stuff is kind of a bugger to clean and pretty much requires the use of a pressure washer.

I would "think" you would want a relatively smooth surface in the inside for easy wipe-down with a sponge.

When you went to visit Lyndon you saw his Trac Master that had lights mounted around the roof rim. I am essentially doing the same thing that Lyndon did. I think Mike plans on doing the same. So take a look at Mike's and see if there is a better way to run the wires, but I just don't see any real reason to drill a hole in the roof or the side to bring in a wire if it can be simply run through the panel seam that is already there.

RE: Running the wires, I would be very interested to hear what you and Mike have to say after you see his Snow Master and look at the roof perimeter seam.


I guess now I have to find the current pricing and colors of the 2 part spray epoxy from my supplier? And then add that to the project list!!!


BTW, what do you think about the color? Light Grey? White? Anyone know the ORIGINAL roof color?

bczoom said:

Are you sure you want to do the inside as well? That rhino-liner stuff is kind of a bugger to clean and pretty much requires the use of a pressure washer.

I would "think" you would want a relatively smooth surface in the inside for easy wipe-down with a sponge.

Click to expand...

Brian, I'm not really planning on throwing stuff up onto the ceiling of the cab, but my thought was to make the inside a little smoother by altering the air-pressure when I spray it.

The epoxy material finish can be altered by adjusting the air pressure. Low pressure results in a smoother material finish than high pressure. So while a bedliner might benifit from the anti-slip properties of a bumpy surface, the ceiling panels might look better with a much smoother finish, at least that is the way I was thinking of spraying it onto the top.

B_Skurka said:

Brian, I'm not really planning on throwing stuff up onto the ceiling of the cab

Click to expand...

Well... I guess my son can't go for a ride.

bczoom said:

Well... I guess my son can't go for a ride.

Click to expand...

You know that BigAl has nice fresh carpet in his KT7.
I'm thinking maybe your son might want to test out the 'scotchgard' that Allen used to protect his carpets.

B_Skurka said:

You know that BigAl has nice fresh carpet in his KT7.
I'm thinking maybe your son might want to test out the 'scotchgard' that Allen used to protect his carpets.

Click to expand...

I don't think ScotchGard would cut it.

All our vehicles, couches... are all leather. Cloth just wouldn't be the same.

BTW - I didn't know you could get a smooth finish out of the stuff.

bczoom said:

BTW - I didn't know you could get a smooth finish out of the stuff.

Click to expand...

It is not totally smooth, but it is reasonably smooth. Sort of like a vinyl car interior finish.

BTW I am leaning toward a WHITE top and cabin roof. I went out and looked at the LIGHT GREY bedliner I sprayed into one of our trucks last year. Even at light grey, it is still darker than I think I would want. If I get the white liner material I can tint it darker if I choose to do that.

Well I've hit a snag tonight. The bolts have been removed all the way around the sides and the back of the roof. But not the front edge over the windshield. Due to the slope of the windshield those are tough to grab and will require some extra effort. As it was over 80 degrees and humid, and as I still don't have the AC installed in the workshop, I gave up. But I do have a plan. The air ratchet on the top of the bolt, a nut driver holding the nut from the underside. But I will wait for a slightly cooler day, or do it in the morning before the sun warms up the workshop too much.


Still curious as to what the original roof color is supposed to be.

LYNDON posted a how to on those particular bolts. There a bitch so instead of trying to take them off just over tighten them and let them break off. He listed all the proper size tools and all.

As for this Snow Master rebuild I will not hav anything on the roof. This is more of a Sports Car Cat edition. My next one will be a Search and Rescue rig.

B_Skurka said:

Well I've hit a snag tonight. The bolts have been removed all the way around the sides and the back of the roof. But not the front edge over the windshield. Due to the slope of the windshield those are tough to grab and will require some extra effort.

Click to expand...

Bob ,
I ran into the same problem when I was trying to separate the two sections on my KT7 body . As Lyndon and Mike said , it is easier to just over tighten and snap the bolts off . Wish we were not so far apart , I would come over and give you a hand .

BigAl said:

Bob ,
I ran into the same problem when I was trying to separate the two sections on my KT7 body . As Lyndon and Mike said , it is easier to just over tighten and snap the bolts off . Wish we were not so far apart , I would come over and give you a hand .

Click to expand...

Well I hit another snag last night. Got out the air ratchet went to attack the problem with power, realized that the only metric sockets I have are 1/4" drive and the air ratchet is 3/8.

Naturally I don't have a 3/8 to 1/4 converter at the house. Probably have a dozen of them at work. None when I need them where I need them. But hey, I wanted to swing by the Sears Hardware store just to browse the aisles.

BTW, I've located WHITE 2-part epoxy spray in bed liner. It is UV stabilized without the need for a topcoat too!

So I plan on ordering that today. I'm hoping to be spraying the ceiling and the roof of the Snow Trac over the long Independance Day holiday weekend.

B_Skurka said:

BTW, I've located WHITE 2-part epoxy spray in bed liner. It is UV stabilized without the need for a topcoat too!

Click to expand...

I did not know that some bed liner sprays needed a top coat ??? Maybe I better go check what I shot on my KT7 .

Most of them do not. But some of the colors are not UV stabilized. I've only found 3 brands that had pure white. And only 1 that is a UV stabilized white.

As you have a color tinted bedliner, you should double check with your supplier to see if you need to spray yours with a topcoat. However, since you had yours tinted with automotive paint, I strongly suspect that all automotive paints are already UV stabilized so I don't suspect you will have a problem. Its worth checking, but I doubt you will have a problem.

BOB how tuff is this epoxy paint bed liner stuff? I want to use it on my decks and in the cab floor.

If you have ever seen a pick up truck that has had Rhino-Liner or one of the other commercial bed liners installed then you have seen this stuff. It is very tough and hard to damage. It is possible to damage it, but that usually takes some sharp steel object to impact the material in a scraping manner. We've cut/chipped off some of the stuff I have applied, however from what I can tell, it came off after my drivers THREW some heavy duty Magliner brand 'hand trucks' into the bed and they hit the bed shovel first. Under normal use, this stuff is like a H.D. rubber coating that is bonded to the truck bed. If you spray it down thick enough (a double application) it would actually be a very nice cushioned floor that would sound and water seal everything it comes in contact with.

I used a thin coating of it to seal the underside of my Snow Trac (only about a 1/2 thickness of a normal application) and actually inspected it this weekend. The corn field I drive through seems to have scraped up some of the underside orange paint on the leading edge under the engine area, but behind that (the plywood area) is completely damage free and that includes the steel frame under the plywood floor area.

For the roof and the ceiling I plan to use 2+ gallons of product and make a nice thick coating on both sides. It should provide some minor insulation, at least enough to prevent condensation.

My thought is that I will pull the roof, removed the pop-up sunroof panel, and then hang the roof from a cable. Having it hanging will allow me to get to all around it by simply rotating it where it hangs. I'm thinking of just lifting it about 5' into the air with cable attached to a tractor's front bucket (I'd have to mask off the tractor and cover it with tarps to prevent the spray from coating it) and doing the spraying outside the garage in the yard. It would probably be best to do it in the early morning before the sun is too hot or too strong. Then I could just drive the tractor into the garage with the roof hanging in the air and allow it to cure in the shade.

The other option would be to try the process inside the garage but I suspect the splatter and overspray would be EVERYWHERE.

As you have to mix and spray in a short amount of time before it begins to cure, the IDEAL system is to spray both sides (roof exterior & ceiling interior) at the same time. Spraying it down into a pick up truck bed is probably much easier. And overspray is a minor issue when spraying down into a truck.

BOB I belive the nuts are sae not metric.

I thought so too, but mine are 11mm. Believe me, I checked.

Realize that mine is a restoration of a prior restoration. So some of the factory parts have been replaced by the TV show restorers with non-stock parts.

B_Skurka said:

I thought so too, but mine are 11mm. Believe me, I checked.

Realize that mine is a restoration of a prior restoration. So some of the factory parts have been replaced by the TV show restorers with non-stock parts.

Click to expand...

Thats why!

Original Equipment was 1/4 X 20, which has a 7/16 Nut and is #3 Phillips. Use 6 Piont when they get tough or they will strip. when all else fails drill out the head with a 1/4 inch drill. This will work Metric or not. If one has to remove a nut that will not come off, drill a small whole in either the face or side, then crack it with a cold chisel. In most cases you can't get a Nut Cracker on, but this works. In regards to the roof lighting: I mounted all the lights on the Rain Gutter, so as not to perforate the body and have rain leaking in.Just enlarge the exsisting holes. Next I ran the wiring directly under the gutter so as to hide it. I used 1/4 X 1&1/4 fender washers, cut 2 edges off with tin snips and added an extra nut. this will actually acomodate 2 wires, one on either side of each roof bolt. The controls are all in the dash, so I used the chaseway up the center of the windshield, ran across the top of the windshield in the wiring chase for the side markers and out thru a grommet just under the rain gutter edge which prevents water from entering. It's all hidden pretty well so I doubt you can see the detail in any of the pictures I sent you. When I get back from Alaska I'll try to get a picture of it for you.

Lyndon, I'd love to see some interior photos of how/where the wiring is run for you lights.

My plan is to mount on the rain gutter too.

My new Hella light switches arrived today.

I'm thinking of making another dash panel and mounting it directly under the existing dash board. I'll have to think it out, but it would allow me to leave my existing dash completely stock. I'd then have another panel where I could mount whatever I wanted to mount without cutting or drilling the original. I'd just have to make sure it would fit properly without cutting into my knee room?

Hey Bob ,
If you pour a little gas in the gutter and light it off , You should be able to see for awhile and it will be toasty warm too ! . Then you could have a fire sale when your done .

Well just an update, but I had my shipment of 2-part epoxy shipped to my office. I finally got to work (and my foot is still killing me from the surgery 9 days ago) but the epoxy is sitting here in my office! With any luck I will be spraying it on the roof this Sunday? I know my wife has Saturday booked up with a big party at the house, so if the foot is not giving me too much grief then I will remove the remaining bolts from the front of the roof and spray the top Sunday.

I got 2 gallons, which is more than enough for the roof, probably double what I need. So I'll see how it looks with 1 gallon applied and if I think an super-thick coating will help, then I'll mix up the second gallon.