What have you done to your Jeep today?

This is a "jump" from my Jeep Talk thread about bed liners. Now that it's done, I felt a separate thread was in order with some feedback. First and foremost, thank you to all of you who commented and answered my many questions. Also, thanks to those of you who sorta shamed me into saving money and doing it myself.

Since I have a garage and a daily driver, I took my time on the prep. I did two slight mods as part of the process.

1. I cut off the brackets under the PS seat that hold the factor jack in place. I grinded that space and made it more user friendly for other items, such as a first aid kit. I also drilled some tiny holes under the PS seat, which will serve to hold my power inverter firmly in place. (That's not a complete explanation, but just trust me on that.)

2. I added some tie-downs to the cargo bad on the wheel wells. I used metal backings to reinforce them the best I could. They are not intended for extreme loads, but they should come in handy for normal day-to-day stuff.

The biggest chore on the prep was removing the Rustoleum rattle can bed liner that I had sprayed on the rim of the cargo bed. Eschew this! Only recommend this product to your enemies. Aside from the grinding of the jack bracket to smooth it down, all sanding was done by hand. I applied an etching primer where metal was exposed, and I used automotive grade painter tape and newspaper for the masking. I was careful to use double layers of newspaper everywhere. I also used thin (less than one mil) 9x12 plastic sheets to cover some of the garage floor and walls. There is overspray! It is not terrible, but I understand why people would rather spray this outside and not have to worry about overspray in the garage. I had removed my Warn bumper and tire carrier a month ago, so I had good access to the bottom rear of the TJ -- basically the part below the tailgate. After working on some rust, I sanded that area as well for bed lining. I chose to have the bed liner wrap around the corner and "tuck" beneath the rear fender flares for a clean look.

UPOL is inconsistent with its air compressor instructions. In one document it says use 40-70 PSI, and in another it says 40-60. I chose to shoot as close to 50 PSI as possible, so I played around with the gun and my air compressor until I was pretty confident it was consistently at that level.

I chose to spray the bed liner in my garage, mainly because it's now autumn and I have huge trees that are basically raining debris on my driveway. However, even with two of my three garage doors open, the fumes and the lighting were such that I decided to do the third coat outdoors. Actually, my super hot girlfriend told me to do the third coat outside. Since I want her to remain my super hot girlfriend, I complied.

I did screw up one thing, which I hope will not come back to bite me. UPOL says to wait an hour between coats for a complete "flash off." My first bottle only covered 90 percent of the job, so I instructed SHG to have a second bottle ready for me as the first one emptied. I finished off the first coat and then just kept on going....thoroughly going over the first coat without waiting the hour. However, I was careful to wait a full hour after the second coat. During that hour, I ran lacquer thinner through the spray gun, per instructions from UPOL. That negates the build-up that occurs and keeps your spray nice and consistent. That's when I pushed the TJ outside. I made SHG promise to stand guard next to the TJ to pick off falling tree debris. She did. She also helped me spot little areas that I totally missed in the first two coats. Thank goodness for the keen eyes of SHG.

The floor pans got a little extra, of course. Once I was completely satisfied, I gave a quick cleaning of the spray gun and then pushed the TJ back into the garage. I used three of the four bottles of product and hardener. I'll keep the fourth in reserve for touch-ups, or perhaps another project such as the TJ's grill.

I started removing painters tape around 10-15 minutes after I quit spraying. I'm glad I used good quality automotive grade painters tape. SHG and I removed all the tape and newspaper, and then just generally cleaned up the garage mess. Then I removed the bolts and hole plugs that I used. In many instances, I chose to keep the bolt threaded slightly into its hole, with most of the threads and all of the head taped. Worked out really well. For some other holes, I used drinking straws; where they were too skinny I wrapped tape to make them fit firmly into their holes.

The product was dry to the touch within an hour. Now it's almost 24 hours later, and I'll start adding some stuff to the TJ -- things like seat belts and door latches.

Lessons learned and general tips:
- Try to make spraying outdoors part of the plan, if possible. If not possible, take the fumes and overspray issues seriously and plan for them.
- For the garage floor, it's better to put down cardboard than plastic sheets. Your shoe bottoms will quickly become tacky because of the overspray, and then you'll stick to the plastic like Velcro....it's annoying. Cardboard would have solved that problem, as it's heavier.
- Buy a package of disposable gloves. I bought a 10-pack of "nitril" gloves from Lowes, and I used them all.
- Per the UPOL representative, lacquer thinner works just fine for cleaning the gun. It's not necessary to buy something more expensive. Acetone works fine for prep of the tub. I bought a gallon of each.
- Have a helper. Regardless of your planning, you can count on needing another set of hands during the project.
- The Raptor bottles are designed with grooves that are supposed to help you add the correct amount of hardener. I didn't trust that and used a Pyrex measuring cup out of my kitchen....it cleaned up just fine.
- This may seem obvious, but give a lot of thought to where you will spray the product so that you don't need to move the vehicle once you've started. In my case, spraying inside and outside worked out well....but I may have been lucky.
- Use small, sealable bags (like quart freezer bags) for your hardware, and be sure drop a note in each bag describing what it is and/or where it went. Be generous...use plenty of bags. They're cheap!

Thanks guys. To tell the truth, as careful as I was making notes, I am stuck. I've got a couple of brackets in the rear (something to do with the rear seat) that I can't figure out. Will look online for an answer. Again, I sincerely appreciate all the good comments and suggestions from the gang.