99 Pre-Runner Drop-in Bed Removal

removed the drop-in on my bed to clear out what i can only assume is 25 years of dirt, small rocks, pine straw, and sand. they definitely did a number on the bottom of the bed but nothing too bad.
good news is no rust. bad news is exposed metal towards the center of the bed.



Anyone want this damn thing? its pretty much factory new. free if you can pick it up around atlanta.

So what do we think guys? my priority is keeping that exposed metal unexposed so i'm going to drop the cover back in for a couple days

I have access to essentially unlimited aerosol clear so i think in the time being i'll seal it up with that
but ultimately I think I want to respray the green, and maybe put one of those rubber mats in the back? I haul stuff regularly but nothing newtonian like piles of rocks and sand and shit. mostly furniture, parts, and tools.
I feel like bedliner is the only other option, but I guess i'm trying to avoid that.
i'm curious to hear what you guys think.

 

No rust is a huge win….mine had a hole I could stick a hand through.

I think you have a good plan - some kind of paint

 

Man that is clean under there, curious as to why you are avoiding the spray in liner route. I was planning on getting Line-X in my 1st gen soon.

 

i think the biggest reason is the condition of the paint and bed itself. if i were to get it resprayed with more green i'd only need about 4 ounces to have it looking brand new again.
Spraying liner would permanently lose me access to that paint underneath.
mostly just think the exposed paint looks great and i dont mind scraping it up and getting it redone every few years
looking to cover the bed with a cover anyway
otherwise, i've heard people talk about sprayable liners starting rust in situations where they had been installed incorrectly

 

Professional spray in liner

one of my shops does this
He sprayed front of mine(I prepped)

Let me ask him a industry standard price
Unless you wanna drive to Hou TX
Then will get you brother in law deal 100%

 

Alexwords……he is going to ask me….

Over bed rails? Lil more expensive but worth it
Those Amazon plastic covers are $100
Or
Under bed rail….cheaper bc of prep time/work
Lmk