The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Bed Wood Treatment

My C20 has the original bed wood and black paint. I touched up the bare spots using a mixture of lampblack and linseed oil as was done by GM. Now I am wondering what to apply over it to protect both the paint and the wood. I was thinking of using a marine varnish but is there a another product for this purpose?

For a better range of answers post this in the "Beds" forum below. Good luck with your project.

As mentioned see the bed section...........but..........This covers the options and the good bad and ugly......

http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finish_testing_i.aspx

Mar-K has done extensive testing on a lot of potential finishes. Bet you find what you need there.

Thank you. I will study this article. Rob

This is a helpful article but it appears that these finishes are being applied to new wood, not wood with paint and linseed oil on it like mine. Does anyone have any experience with tung oil?

Tung oil is great, but a lot like linseed, needs scuff sanding and reapplying occasionally and you'd need to sand your previous treatment well for it to work, it too is best on new or unfinished wood .... I don't think you'll find a permanent clear finish [like marine varnish] that will work well over linseed, need to sand that enough you'd cut into the black and so no longer have the original appearance .... [by the 60's I don't think GM was using lamp black any more, but some type of paint] .... sounds like you might best scuff what you have and rub in a complete coat of linseed oil

Bill

Best thing to do is to get a length of new wood. Use the same mixture that you touched up the bed and do the whole board.

Then mask off the board into sections and try different finishes that you will like. Then leave the board outside to be exposed to the weather and see which one is the best.

Thank you both. Now I am thinking maybe some kind of exterior wax that could go over the linseed.

Years ago, probably late 80's, we tested a Sherwin Williams clear finish that was oil based. It went directly over wood previously saturated with linseed oil. It tested very well in outdoor environments. It is no longer available from SW, but maybe another company can supply. It might be worth a search. This was a very durable product.

Mar-Ktech

Thank you Mark, this would be exactly what I am looking for. Do you have any idea what the name was or any other information? I already spoke with a local SW manager but he didn't have any product in mind. Thank you.

As I recall it was called simply "Oil based exterior varnish" or something close to that. We looked for it when we did our formal tests, but none was to be found. You will unlikely find any SW people that remember it. I suspect it is not able to be made or sold in USA. SW does provide some oil base finishes, but none compare to the old product.

Thanks very much. I will continue looking but I may just treat the wood every year with a coat of plain linseed oil. Rob

Don't know much about the linseed oil but when my truck was done 25 years ago I put a marine varnish on it and even with the bed mostly Covered with a toneau cover it peeled off with the sun the underneath lasted longer. Wounld defiantly need a uv resistant varnish .but I don't think a varnish can tolerate years of sun exposure without a redo every now and then . May be easier to oil.

If you are going to use linseed oil I would recomend boiled linseed oil it will dry much better. If you have a light colored bet linseed oil can discolor in the sun. In my opion tung oil is a much better choice. Again use the commom stuff in stores because the pure will take forever to dry. If you are having problems with linseed oil leaching out in the sun try some Naptha to dry it, I take no liability in useing that stuff be very careful. what ever you use its nice to be able to treat all sides and ends. A slight scuffing with some 00 steel wool betweens coats works nice. Do it every now and then and like me it will get better with age.

Tung oil is pressed from the seed of the chinese tung tree. It has been used to waterproof wood and ships for 3000 years. Nothing new and improved just great stuff. It's in the wood not on the wood so will never crack or peel. Start with 3 coats a day or 2 apart. rub on, wait, buff off. If you can do all sides and ends thats best. A little scuffing with 00 steel wool between coats. put another coat on now and then. It just gets better and better

Thank you both. I do think an oil is best at this point. I would consider tung oil if it can be applied over linseed and paint. I will do some more research.