The Hardnose version looks a bit pricey, would it be overkill?

The POR-15 looks good, it treats the metal somewhat and looks as if it would work well in areas where rust had been. I think NJ Greenbudd is using it on his engine housings.

 

So you could put that stuff right on top of the stock paint couldn't you?

 

It's pricey, but it works well.

Yes, it can be used over a previously painted surface if that paint is in good shape. Obviously, any damaged areas would need to be properly prepped.

 

Yea, I don't plan on using undercoating because I know of the problems it has. The bedliner still seems to be my best choice just because of it's easy prep and it's cheap. This isn't going to be a show car, so I'm looking for something that will be easy to do and won't take me a week just to prep. I've seen a few bedliner engine bays and like the look. If I was building a show car, I'd obviously completely remove everything in the engine bay and do it the right way, but for a daily driver, there's no point.

 

Well actually, there is a point.
Although you needn't take the complete "show car" approach, doing the job halfway is still a considerable amount of work and in the end, will you have a result you can be happy with?

Besides, what about the next owner?
Will he think "wow, someone really saved me a bunch of work" or "that bastard PO totally ghettoed out this bay and now it's going to take twice as much work to make it right"?

Just as Aaron has a disclaimer on his site about proper junkyard etiquette- don't shred a car getting what you want, the next guy might be looking for the part you're breaking- I think the same attitude should apply to your car in general.
If you always approach your work with the idea that someone will come along later and judge it, your level of expertise will rise and the next buyer will be pleasantly surprised.

For an example you need look no further than the threads about removing cranky caliper bolts...just imagine if you had been the guy who put them in before and, as a matter of routine, painted on some anti-seize. Couple of years later, someone will be quite thankful.

What goes around, comes around and your daily driver might be destined to be someone's true love.

 

Hehe. j/k man. I actually agree with all of what you said.

 

That was my Hello Kitty rant for the month.

 

I agree with everything you've said here, and I understand it completely. I know it's going to still be a decent amount of work, but the nice thing is that I don't have to worry about the surfaces being perfect like if you were laying down base/clear coat paint. The bed liner will be much easier to prep for. I understand completely the pros/cons about going both ways, and have decided the bed liner would be a better route for my setup and ideas.

Now the thing about the next owner purchasing the car. This car is probably going to be in my posession for many years. I'm building the car up ATM to be a daily car because I love the rotary engine and how the car drives. The car has 111k on it now, and I know it's got a few years left in the current engine. Once the engine is low on compression, I plan to rebuild and port it and continue using it for a daily car. The only time I can see this car leaving my posession is if I get ahold of a nice TII to replace it, and have a Honda or BMW for my daily car. Even if that happens, I'd love to keep the car around to use as a gravel road runner/fun car to do things with, so who knows.

I guess I'm just one of those guys that thinks a nice flat black paint job looks good, so maybe that's why the bed liner wouldn't bother me. I guess it's all just a matter of opinion.