I am wondering if I am going about this in the wrong way. I want to paint the interior of my van to give me a clean slate before I install the insulation, floors, walls, cabins, etc. The intent is to prevent future rust, corrosion, and mold/mildew. Also if there is something I can do to prevent thermal conductivity which will help the insulation I plant to install work better, then I want to do it. Upol Raptor liner seems to offer all this in addition to some slight sound deadening benefits. But then my friend said KBS RustSeal would work better with prevention of rust and corrosion. So my plan was to use KBS RustSeal as a primer and then paint the Raptor liner over it. Now I am wondering if this is overkill.

I have the entire interior stripped down except for the electrical. There is no rust to be found on the floor, walls, or ceiling. This van is 16 years old. Then again, I bought it from a place were it was not exposed to humidity or salt. I am in Utah and I do intend to travel from here up to Alaska as I have family there. If I just paint with Upol Raptor liner or KBS RustSeal instead of both, will not that be sufficient? I am leaning towards the Raptor liner as I have over a gallon left from spraying the exterior. But if I were to choose just one, would KBS RustSeal be the better option? After all, it is rated for temperatures from -50 degrees to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. I think Raptor liner is only good to 200 degrees. I do not know how it fairs in extreme cold.

So for those of you who have experience dealing with rust prevention, what would your advice be? Should I go to the expense of using KBS RustSeal and Upol Raptor together? Since I already have enough of the Upol Raptor, should I just it? Or should I try to sell the extra Raptor liner I have, and go with KBS RustSeal exclusively?

I sincerely need someone to level with me. I do appreciate the honestly.

Cheers,
Keightley

Not really familiar with that product however I looked it up and looked at the MSDS sheet on it. If you are talking about the Rustblast product itself what I read put that at just a rust converter. It's a phosphatizer reacting with the rust and leaving zinc phosphate as a barrier. It is not a stand alone product and must have some type of coating over it. I am not overly hot on rust converters. I'd rather remove rust (blasting is most effective) and seal off it's source of oxygen so it can't make any more rust. The Raptor applied properly should do that by itself although if this was something I was doing I would be inclined to have the blasted surface ready for an epoxy primer and then move on to Raptor. I've sanded back some old metal bits and pieces that I epoxied 28 years ago and there was no evidence of any rust coming back under that epoxy film. Again, no oxygen.....no rust.

I got RustBlast and RustSeal a bit confused. My apologies. I thought I edited my post fast enough to not confuse people. I was wrong.

If I do go this route, I will use the entire KBS coating rust prevention system. They have a degreaser that I will probably not use. I have tons of Purple Power that seems to do the trick. But I will use RustBlast as it not only converts rust but acts as a self etch primer to RustSeal. I hate sanding. Anything that will allow me to avoid sanding, I will do and hope for the best! And then I will apply the RustSeal.

So the choices I am considering and giving myself a headache over are these:

1. Don't use Upol Raptor or KBS RustSeal as I do not have rust at all.
2. Use just the Upol Raptor.
3. Sell the remaining Upol Raptor and use only KBS RustSeal.
4. Just use KBS RustSeal as a primer to the Upol Raptor on the floor.
5. Stick with my original plan and invest in KBS RustSeal on the entire interior as a primer and then the Upol Raptor.

Any advice on which way to go will help my headache. LOL

And I need to make a decision by Monday morning as I will be ready to paint then.

Cheers,
Keightley

Darrel, yep just epoxy it then go to your insulation. one thing to think about is odors from certain coatings. they may be ok then stink when they get warm. outside its never noticed but inside that small cabin it might a problem.
Jay D.

So let me ask a really naive question. Is Upol Raptor an epoxy paint? Or is the Rust Seal an epoxy paint?

Keightley

Raptor is an activated polyurethane, same as, but not as good as the professional bed liners like Rhino, albeit much thinner than the professionally applied coatings. Don't know about Rust Seal, but it will be specified on the tin, or the TDS.

I'd just go with what Jay says and put down two solid coats of a good epoxy followed by yourr insulation. Short of factory applied coatings, you won't get a better rust protection.