I've used POR-15 on everything underneath on my '39 merc build-up. Silver on the frame and transmission & bell housing, and black on the floor (inside & out), inside fenders, rear end, springs, driveshaft, front susp. engine block & heads, etc. Car still isn't done so still haven't really tested the rust protection properties of this stuff, but it absolutely does everything else they say! Brush it on with a dollar store brush and it flows out to a super gloss like the best spray job. I put a little left-over on an anvil just for the hell of it (since it CANNOT be saved) and it WILL NOT chip no matter how much you beat on it! When I painted the frame I used a swab thing to reach all inside areas and laid it on a plastic coffee can lid while using the brush so a coat of the paint dried on the plastic lid. Next day I found it doesn't stick to the plastic so I have a coat of POR-15 on nothing. I can literally wad it up and it won't crack---It's that flexable! If this shit protects against rust as well as it does everything esle they say, I don't think you can beat it.
P.S. The POR-15 folks warn about the dangers of spraying this stuff so I don't do it. Because of how it flows out it can be brushed on with the cheapest brush and you'll never find a brush mark in it.
I hate to get involved in arguements over priducts, but if anyone is thinking about POR-15, they need the right info to make a decision. I've been using it for over 20 years. I still do. I think ift affords the most protection you can put on a part, maybe as much as powder coating, with the ease of doing it at home. AND it will stick to and stop rust in its tracks. Enjejo was right on all counts in his post. Just more of my experience here........ So what if POR has iso's, so does any modern paint. take precautions. I've found almost anything that does not have a hardener (read "iso") does not perform as well as a single component paint. I use POR on floors undercarriages, and esp the insides of panels, to protect from rust, and seal off newly welded patches. Works great for this. I do NOT use it on the outside of the car, i.e., under nice paint. I don't take shortcuts here, and wouldn't want to take a chance on the paint failing...the reasons paint may fail over it are not the rust coming back so much, but sometimes strong solvents wrinkle the edges of POR-15. Also, if you don't get the timeing right to paint over POR, nothing sticks to it, it's too hard! A cool cheat in fixing small areas of floors and trunks where a patch would be too difficult, is to put a coat of POR on, then use fiberglass matte on it, using POR like you would the resin, and build up a couple layers. A tough rustproof patch! Using POR-15, pour what you are going to use into another cup and use it out of that, reseal the original container immediately. It will last longer. It will last longer if stored in the fridge (though it may stink it up (I use the shop's fridge...beer is in enclosed container and does not pick up the odor!) Put a couple coats of plastic wrap on top of the POR in the container. Press the plastic down to touch the surface of the paint. This separates it from the air in the container, which can start to harden it. It will also help keep the lid from welding itself to the can! I sometimes use the gas from the MIG to displace the air in a partially used container of POR-15. As has been said, don't get it on anything you don't want it on! Including skin, it will almost never wash off, it wears off with your skin. I've found that Avon Skin So Soft will remove partially or mostly dry POR from your skin, though. Thinner removes it when it's still wet. I spray it only on very difficult to brush parts. I do frames with it, topcoating with either regular paint, OR POR-15's Chassis Coat. Recoat only when the POR is tacky, NOT dry, it won't stick to dry POR. I also spray seat frames with it, if they are rusty. Tough to brush paint the springs! Last, you can use it to seal up and waterproof stuff. Like wood, fiberglass, cardboard. Usefull on making your own door panels, sealing pinholes in windshield channels, etc.
I can't add too much more to what chopolds has said. I did the fiberglass deal on the wheelwells of my bracket racer. When I modded the inners I wanted a leak-proof water-proof seal. Burnouts make smoke and a big mess! Well, it never failed in over 400 passes. Never any smoke in the car, never rusted through or even surface rusted. I guess if a product can stand up to an environment of acrid fumes, rocks, water, dust and dirt, and never fail, it must be worth the $. If you have a little foresight on the project it is possible to pour the stuff into areas that even spray can't reach like the seam between the outer wheel house and the 1/4 panel. Do it soon enough and the "run-through" you get is no problem. A sqirt bottle comes in handy for this. Nat'l Parts Depot (mucslecar shit) is a POR 15 dealer. Buy it, man. You can't go wrong.
Chopolds mentioned using fibreglas matte, but for the floor of my 59 Ford, I used fibreglas cloth. Its not a thick buildup like the matte, you cant even tell its under the carpet. My kid had stepped on the floor and went thru! I bent the rusty floorboard back in place, then coated the floor with POR-15, and laid the fibreglas cloth down and thoroughly wetted it with POR. Now you can jump on it! Its Very Good. Also, I learned to use two self tapping screws in the POR container. One to pour out the top, one to admit air. I keep POR in the shop refrigerator and then it has a very long shelf life. Another thing I have done is to use t shirts and bedsheets for the cloth. I have a 50 Ford with a dented roof that held water and developed holes I store parts in the car and didnt want water getting in, so I applied POR, then the bedsheet, then wet it thoroughly with more POR. We will see how well it holds up, but I am confident that it will last many years. I put POR on a rusty fender that has sat out in the weather for 11 years as a test. it has gotten flat and chalky and can be sanded now, but there has been no rust appearing.
Geez. My head is spinning, and I'm not even near any of those fumes. Just a reminder that POR-15 virtually cannot be removed, so make sure you won't ever want to strip it down. And please wear rubber gloves. I used POR-15 once. No way I could get it off with a bead blast cabinet. I can also tell you that was the only time in my life I ever used a die grinder with a 2" Scotch-Brite disc to clean my fucking fingernails. I still have nightmares about that stuff. Really scary ones! Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
I have been using Zero Rust and not following the instruction and putting rustolium high gloss right over the zero rust and had held up great. ps how much rust oleum are you using when you add the 4 oz. thanks Ed ke6bnl
Are you adding 4oz per quart? This is a good thread with lots of good info. I have used POR-15 with good luck also but I made the mistake of sprayin it outside and I wore the stuff for a week. I use Zero-rust frequently and like it for insides of quarter panels and floors. But you have to coat it with a top coat if it is going to be exposed to sunlight. It chalks up over time. I have sprayed it on rusty frames after thinning it with lacquer thinner and topcoated it with urethane paint with excellent results. I have also used Ace brand and it seems to work good also, it just dries a little slow. I think all of these products work great it just depends on the application.
I've used POR-15 on a couple projects and been really happy with it. I've used it in the trunk of my Comet, and am planning to do the same with the floors. My only complaint is that I've lost several cans of the stuff when it dried i nthe can. I've started buying multiple pint cans, rather than one quart can. They cost more per can, but if one can dries out, you don't lose all your paint. A buddy of mine used POR-15 on the rusty wheelwells of his '85 Civic (which tend to start rusting about 5 minutes after leaving the factory), then repainted the whole car. The rust had been bad enough that even after 2 coats of primer over the POR-15 you could still see the rust pits. That was back in '98/'99, and it hasn't started rusting again yet. I used Eastwoods Extend on a '78 Nova two years ago. Ground every single rust spot on the body down as far to good metal as I could, then coated it in two coats of Extend, with a thick coat of cheap spray enamel over that. One CT winter and every rsut spot on the bottom 12" of the car had come through the paint again, at least as big or bigger than before. I'll never use Extend again.
Yep, what he sez. Isocyanates are serious stuff. Stop by and listen to me breathe sometime. Use air supply respirators.
A couple comments about POR15 based on my experiences with it. It's great stuff for certain uses, but you have to follow the instructions carefully. It doesn't seem to stick that well to new shiny steel even if you clean it well. It sticks super well to rough stuff, like something that's been sandblasted or to something that is rough due to mild rusting. But if you paint it over a piece of shiny cold rolled steel, you can chip it off pretty easily on the corners. How well it comes out seems to depend a lot on the weather. If it's a really humid day, it dries too fast and doesn't spread easily and gets a hazy sheen on it. On a warm dry day, it comes out really nice and glossy, but on really dry days it seems to take forever to harden, and because it takes so long to harden, lots of dust gets stuck in it and you get ugly runs and sags in it. It doesn't hold up well to the sun -- it turns chalky and dull after a few months in the sun. So you have to cover it up with something else like their "Top Coat" paint that does seem to hold up well in the sun, but you have to time it right when you paint it over the POR 15 underneath. If you wait too long topcoat it, the POR15 is so glossy that the top coat can't get a grip on it. But if you do it too soon, the POR15 can't harden up all the way underneath because it needs moisture to cure. I painted an old partially rusted minibike frame with POR15 followed by their topcoat, and it came out super nice. That was about ten years ago, and it still looks the same as when I painted it. I painted it with a brush, but it flowed out to look like glass. It's really tough against getting chipped. I painted the inside of a sandblast cabinet with the silver POR15 and there is no rust inside five years later except for some places on the back wall of the cabinet where the sanblasting tore through the POR15. The sandblasting cabinet sits outside. I painted the outside of that sandblasting cabinet with "Hammerite" rust preventative paint. That paint turned flat and ugly after a few months in the sun, and then tons of rust spots started showing through it a few months after that. I was really disappointed with the Hammerite paint. Even parts that were in the shade on the underside of the cabinet started to rust through the paint. I painted an old partially rusted iron railing in the back yard with POR15 about ten years ago and it looks flat now like black primer, but it hasn't chipped or rusted through anywhere. I painted my homemade gas tank and Ford 9" rear axle housing for my '31 Plymouth about eight years ago and topped them with their "TopKote" paint and they still look like new, but those parts came out streaky and runny looking because I chose to paint them on too dry of a day I guess. My only gripe with the POR15 is that sometimes it comes out streaky and runny looking. It's finnicky. Sometimes it flows out really nice and dries like glass, but other times it spreads out thick and lumpy and looks amateurish. The other thing is that if the surface is shiny, it won't stick well. I have stripped old POR15 off of shiny metal and it comes off easy with a clean and strip disk -- sort of peels away in big sheets. I think it sticks to itself better than it does to shiny metal. So make sure you have a roughened up surface if you use it. For something like cast iron or clean mildly rusty metal, there's probably nothing better. For smooth new metal, you're probably better off with epoxy primer and automotive paint. It does seem to stop old rusty metal from continuing to rust if you clean it well first and chip away big loose chunks of rust. I slopped some onto an old rusty engine hoist that sat outside for 15 years and it seems to have completely stopped the rust from growing back or getting worse. If you just want to stop rust from continuing on something you don't feel like spending time to do right (by media blasting and making patch panels), I'd recommend the POR15 . But if you're going to go to the trouble of sandblasting something down to pristine fresh steel, then the best bet (to me at least) would be to spray it with epoxy primer and a good quality single stage automotive top coat, or basecoat/clearcoat. Epoxy primer is the ultimate as far as I'm concerned. I've been 100% happy with PPG's DP epoxy or DuPont's epoxy primer. It sticks great and it's really strong. I think a catalyzed automotive paint over epoxy primer is the ultimate.
It works great on the 1 set I have done it on before. And IMO there isnt something that will hold up better. My experience with it is great, if i can lift the tires on my camaro and slam my por-15 cated k member in to the pavement with out it chipping or scratching alot its good enough for me.
I have used the permatex... Ground all the rustspots until they were smooth then "painted" the milk on. Turned the rust black. Then on went the primer. After 2 years in primer the rust has not shown back up... and I used a really shitty primer. Great stuff, I'd use it again. Question on the POR15... Do you need to wear breathing protection when you sand it? - Joe
No. Once it's cured, it's inert. The only remaining hazzard is the sanding dust, and thats no different than any other autobody sanding dust.
I much prefer the por 15 and have for years, also remember it goes a really long ways, you may not need a gallon???? i bought a gallon can to pour back into and have done about 5 floors and bottoms of diff cars and still have soe left out of a gallon. use a brush ......2 cents
Wow man, our Ace hardware is fairly dripping with young hotties too. I'm not sure if any of them sex offenders though. Por 15 is incomparable, except maybe with that stuff Wurth sells, Wurth's is a few dollars cheaper. It's cheap for what you're getting. I did the floors on my Capri with POR 15 and glassmat, I had pinholes, nothing serious, and it came out great. The floors are strong and I haven't even seen a hint of rust coming through. It's been several months now
Couple thoughts- Everything said about POR-15 is right on with my experience. POR is tough stuff, have slathered the bottom of several drivers with it, including winter cars. Prep is a serious pain but durability is amazing. I get around the open-can durability issues by only buying the tiny can "6 packs". The stuff goes so far that rarely does one coat on a project go further than one little can. Toss the can and the brush and don't worry about the paint aging. Even if the project is more than one little can, still toss the 89 cent paint brush with each can to prevent the brush from contaminanting the new can.
I have used a quart of Chassis Saver, by Magnet Paint, I tihnk it is the same as POR 15, all the above tips/info apply to this sticky stuff, even used some fiberglass cloth with it. It was $20 a quart from a local auto paint store.
OK I'm pretty much sold on the POR-15 from following this thread. A couple of questions: 1. On new metal, ie. new floorpans What do I need to do to get it To stick to thenew sheet metal 2. My car was originally undercoated. I used a propane torch and scraper and got it all off (that sucked) There is still kind of a really thin residue left over. Can I paint POR-15 right over it? How do I get the residue off? Thanks, Todd
1: Unless you're going to sandblast it, I'd use a "metal prep" solution on it first. Fresh sheet metal is too smooth for the POR-15 to get a grip on it. Most metal prep solutions etch the surface slightly and form a dull phosphide coating haze on it. Make sure the metal prep is completely dry before painting it with POR-15. If you use a non-rinsing type metal prep solution, it can take several day to dry. To find out if it's completely dry, try blasting it in one section with a heat gun. If it changes color, it's still not all the way dry or the chemical reaction between the metal prep solution and the steel isn't completed. When it's all the way dry, it should have a uniform chalky dull surface. If the surface is extra chalky after using the metal prep, you should probably scuff it up with a scotchbrite pad to remove the loose dust. 2: If your undercoating was the asphalt based stuff, "Mineral Spirits" on a rag works pretty well to dissolve what's left of your undercoating, but it might take a lot of scrubbing. When you're done, let it dry, and then use a wax remover from an automotive paint store to make sure you get rid of the oily residue. Or you could probably use lacquer thinner as a final wipe if that's all you can find. But I think if you're going to get everything that clean and you have clean stipped metal and new metal, I think you'd be better off spraying it with epoxy primer and topcoating it with paint. One big advantage to the POR15 though is that you can brush it on, so it saves you a lot of time not having to mask everything else. Put some safety glasses on if you're working underneath the floor because sooner or later you'll get a drip right into your eye and that would be really bad news. If you get it on your skin, it dosn't wash off so you have to wear it for a few days.
Just did my floorboards with the POR15.....First time i used it and it seems unbelievable and if you brush it on really nice it looks like it was sprayed....I think i'm a believer......Funny thing though, for kicks i tried sanding a sample piece and the residue from sanding is like a shredded black sock, not dust....Wierd
ok i'll be the retard of the day with this question. i have a 50 ford, last time it was on the road was 1977,one side of the body is badly weather beaten(rust divits fairly deep but the metal is still strong).I'm not making a show car out of this and i keep hearing the claims of how the por-15 flows out like glass with a high gloss.Here's where i get stupid,how bad would it look if i cleaned up the exterior and applied the por-15?,then covered it with their top coat paint?i'm on an extremly tight budget also
You talkin' about doing your whole car?....Probably work fine although if you're gonna spray it somewhere, unless you have a booth i would drag it out into the middle of nowhere because i get the feeling that the overspray from this stuff will cover everything within a 100 yards
why paint the exterior? Just prep correctly and use a real topcoat. Por 15 dries like plastic and would look kinda weird on the outside...and god forbid you ever had to do a panel repair..it would never match
I can only throw in 2nd hand information on this, but laquer thinner will apparantly allow the por15 flake off after a year or two. I know someone who had a problem with this, accoring to the folks at por you need to use metal prep before painting if you used laquer thinner to clean up the material. Alex.
Wow, I wish I had this info back in the Navy, I spent many an hour painting the Main Reduction Gear housing with Terra Cotta Red primer and machinery grey and no respirator. I'm 99% positive that had Isos' in it. This explains all the peyote visions and memory loss. Haa.
I've used Rustoleum, Krylon, and Ace Hardware paint for rusty surfaces. I found the Ace brand to be overly thin and needed more coats to get the same coverage. You get what you pay for, I guess.
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