The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed bed board paint

Mar-K has a good article on their website about various bed board finishs and a test of how they stand up to the weather and time. But what do they recommend for an original finish on the boards? I have heard that the factory used linseed oil and lamp black. Although I have little idea what lamp black is and no idea where to get such an item. The only original boards I have seen looked like they were stained black, the grain could still be seen. Would such a finish hold up?

I have heard the oil and lampblack choice and also that the boards were painted. Both may be correct depending on the year of manufacture. I used Rustoleum Satin Black on my pine boards with good results but then this is not a work truck any longer.

We used POR15 on one of the wood finish tests and topcoated it with Behr water base enamel. We used gloss but could have used satin. So far it has held up well, but it has only been less than 6 months continuous outdoor exposure. 3 coats of POR15 and 3 more coats of Behr makes a pretty thick coating but the grain texture still shows slightly. It is obviously a paint not a stain and would not pass for a stain like the original.

We have no recommendations about how to copy the "original" black stain look you describe. I had a customer that mixed Thompsons Wood Protector with some kind of carbon black powder until he got the stained appearance he was looking for. He was an elderly man who had always been in the body shop business so he knew how they did it in "the day". As I remember he was pleased with the result, but its been years and I have not seen the truck since.

Mar-K will send small samples of our bedwood for a UPS charge to readers who want to experiment with finishes.

Mar-Ktech

You can get a tube of "Lamp Black" in any old time hardware store in the paint dept.