Who here has used POR-15?

[Brian P]

As I understand it, this is the best method to protect already-rusty parts. The Camaro I just bought has a "north-east" underbody, and I'd like to do my best to keep everything as good as possible. For the remaining part of the winter I'll just coat the underbody with a rust inhibiting oil, but come springtime I want to look into a POR-15 coating more seriously. As I understand the process, it goes like this:

 

- scrape off large rust flakes, debris, etc

- degrease with a suitable cleaner (marine-tech), let dry

- apply metal-ready etch (cleaner or primer?), let dry

-apply POR-15

 

I'd appreciate any feedback on results of this system. Also who sells it, and how much does it typically run?

Thanks!!

 

[slick]

You buy it directly from por-15's website.

 

Yep, knock off the flaky rust, but leave the surface rust. It is supposed to actually stick to that better than bare metal. You can use the metal-ready stuff, but I didn't. Degrease it good(don't leave any anywhere or else it will not stick from my experience). Apply it on, and let it sit. Probably the warmer it is, the quicker it will dry. Be sure to wear a long sleeve shirt that you don't if it gets permanetly stained, gloves that you can throw away(I recommend taping the gloves to your shirt so the stuff doesn't get on your arms), and maybe some sort of splash shield for your face. When I did it, I got some on my arms, and it stained for well over a month or two, after several scrubbings with various cleaners.

 

I would also recommend taping off any rubber bushings, nuts and bolts, fuel lines, brake lines, and pretty much anything that moves or is replacable. Don't wanna make them rock hard and impossible to work on.

[Brian P]

Cool thanks. I noticed this too... any validity?

 

http://rustbullet.com/Products/Automotive/Automotive.htm

[slick]

Probably just like por15. The big thing with por15 is that you will need to get the underbody stuff for the places where there will be little to no uv rays. I think it might break down or something?

 

They do sell stuff specifically for locations that will have heavy contact with the sun or any other harmful forms of uv rays.

 

BTW, do you plan on brushing it on, spraying it on, rolling it on...?

[Brian P]

Well, I'd like to think brush-on, since I'll be working under the vehicle and would like to avoid overspraying everything. However, I may use a small HVLP gun to get inside areas like inside the control arms, and other body holes.

 

Check out the video here: http://www.rustbullet.citymaker.com/f/President.wmv They have some others too. They use standardized ASTM testing which I have seen and helped perform at my job. POR 15 does "ok" in the test but not spectacular. I can also pour their coating directly into a HVLP gun for use.

 

Biggest downside is that I'll want the underbody to be black. POR 15 is a dark gray/black (fine) the other coating is silver. I'll have to paint over it.

[slick]

That would be a downfall, especially if you want black.

 

Spraying it on with a gun is supposed to be the best way about doing it, but also about the biggest pain.

 

That RustBullet stuff seems promising.

[Brian P]

the rustiest (sp?) parts are the control arms, front of the subframe, the metal that the radiator sits on, and some small spots on the tie bar. I figure a quart for brush painting, and another quart for spraying should do it. I like that I won't have to prep much, but I'm still gonna use my powerwasher with degreaser to clean everything up nice a day or so before I paint.

 

Maybe I'll use this paint on the hood too if I should ever refinish it, then use a good automotive paint on top of that. There's a few small surface rust spots from where the paint had chipped off from road debris.

[slick]

They say 1 quart of por 15 will do 1.5 cars with one coat. I guess if you do several coats all over, you may need 2 quarts.

[19Cutlass94]

Look at my cardomain. I should have some picutres of that on there from when I did it.

 

 

I brushed everything on, although I was using black. They sell a 3 step kit. the 1st part is a cleaner, the 2nd is an adhesive for the POR15 and the 3rd step is the actual POR15.

 

Slick, I did the WHOLE under neath of my car, with 2 coats, I used half a quart. That shit goes a long way.

[slick]

Slick, I did the WHOLE under neath of my car, with 2 coats, I used half a quart. That shit goes a long way.

 

Holy hell! Then the 3 pints of black I have here should cover the Bonneville I'm getting pretty damn good!

[terryk2003]

POR-15 is the shit!...just, make sure to NOT get any around the edges of the lid, because if you do, and you put the lid on...it will NEVER open again!...we had to cut a can in half with a air chisel when i worked @ the body shop......also, you may wanna wear gloves, cause the only way to get if off your hands is to wait for it to wear off...

[19Cutlass94]

I was just going to suggest that you wear gloves. I didnt, and it took weeks for it to come off my hands!

 

 

[MonteCarloChick]

Cool.. Brandon and I are going to use some POR-15 on the wagon, come spring

[Technics]

What doe's it cost????

[19Cutlass94]

Its around $35 a quart. I have no idea what the kit goes for.

[MonteCarloChick]

Isn't that info on the website?

[Technics]

100.00$ a year for complete rust proofing and no hassle's.I do my car every 2 years and keep it clean in the winter {they use salt on the road's here} Is POR 15 worth it??? It sounds incredibly labour intensive. Mike

[19Cutlass94]

Quart ( black )- $38.75

Kit ( black )- $17.25

 

 

yeah, everything is on the website!

[Brian P]

anything I can do to make the car look good underneath = win

 

Rustbullet does look good, POR15 did good in a lot of their tests as well. Just gotta decide.

[PCGUY112887]

Are there any similar solutions that come in a spray can form?

 

One of the worse spots for me is up in the crunch zone for my rear bumper... somewhere that is hard to clean in the first place let alone try to get a brush in there. I don't have the time/money/equipment to try to load POR-15 into a sprayer.

 

I rather find something in a spray can so I could just jack my car up, take off the tires, clean where I'm going to spray well, then spray under and inside of the wheel wells as well.

 

Edit - eh?

http://www.krylon.com/main/product_template.cfm?levelid=5&sub_levelid=13&productid=1790&content=product_details

[Brian P]

On that rustbullet page, if you check out the videos of the test results, the Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing compound spraypaint did 3rd best overall. I would use that over anything else if you have to spray. I probably will do this as well on areas that are hard to reach. I don't think POR-15 can be sprayed at all.

[slick]

According the side of the can of the por15 I have sitting here on my desk, you can use it in a spray gun.

[19Cutlass94]

It can be sprayed. My friend did his whole frame that way. I duno whats involved in spraying it, but he said it wasnt bad to get it ready to spray.

[Brian P]

thats cool. I'll look more into that then. Just using a mini HVLP gun should be easier than trying to brush between everything.

[GnatGoSplat]

That Rust Bullet stuff does look good. What did you decide to use?

 

I used Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing spray on the inside and outside hats of the rotors. It does seem to work and hold up well. They are right that it has very poor abrasion resistance though. I think you could probably scratch it off with a fingernail. I could be wrong, but I think anything that uses zinc for galvanic protection is going to need electrical contact with bare metal so it can only be used on clean, bare, rust-free surfaces.