POR-15 Here are some tips on using POR-15 Restoration Products that I have used. POR-15 is a rust preventative paint and is made to stop rust. 1.Get the smallest amount you can. A quart will do two coats on a 61 Olds floor. A gallon will go a long ways. 2.It is not a topcoat as it will fade when exposed to the Sun. It will not change the characteristics of protection. 3.As far as preparation, all you really need to do is brush off the rusty chunks. It is not necessary to media blast the parts since POR is made to stick to rust. It will not stick to a painted surface. You can put it on new steel or blasted steel but it needs to free of dirt, grease, paint, oil, etc. 4.It is moisture cured so it is important to keep moisture away from it. Once you open the can, it starts to cure and that is the reason not to buy more than you need. 5.Dont put the can in a shaker that will put air bubbles in it. Dont shake it up and down. Roll the can and go from side to side. 6.I very seldom take the lid off the can. Instead, I take a nail or punch and make two holes in the lid, pour out what I need into a plastic cups, put masking tape over the holes, put it in a plastic bag, then put it in the refrigerator (in the garage, of course!) and get to work. It will last a long time like that 6 months or more. Even if it starts to get thick, it is still usable and can be thinned with a little POR Thinner, if needed. POR-15 comes in 4 colors; Gloss Black, Semi-Gloss Black, Gray, and Silver. Unfortunately, the silver needs to be opened just because of the characteristics of the paint. It needs to be stirred. 7.If you do open the can, make sure you get the lid cleaned before you put it back on the can. If there is any POR on the lid, it will not open again. 8.POR-15 looks thick in the can but you must be careful not to put too much on or it will run. 9.I have had lots of people ask me if it can be sprayed with a paint gun. We have not done that in out shop but it can be. Spray directions are on the can. I have put it in a glass jar and used propellant to spray and that worked well in an area where I could not reach with a brush. If you spray it, dont use your favorite gun as it will not come off it if happens to dry. 10.I use a foam brush or a regular paintbrush. Foam brushes work well on smooth surfaces but wear out quickly on rough surfaces. Paintbrushes are easier to get into tight or blind spots. Dont get a real cheap brush, as it will lose bristles. I use a medium priced brush about $1.00 for a 1. Brush cleaning is optional. I usually throw the brush away since it takes more thinner than it is worth and it seems like the brush always gets stiff anyway. Foam brushes will not clean. 11.Use rubber gloves. If you get it on your skin and it dries, it will have to wear off of you. It will come off easily with some thinner if it is still wet. I have spilled some on a cement floor and it usually come up when it dries by using a putty knife. 12.Drying time will vary with the temperature and humidity. I have found that it will take a minimum of 2 two hours and a maximum of 4 hours. A second coat can be applied when you can drag your finger across the surface and not get paint on your finger. It should be a little more than tacky. One tip: Sometimes I use Semi-gloss first and then Gloss Black as the 2nd coat. With Gloss, it is hard to tell where you have already painted. 13.If the painted surface will be exposed to sunlight, you may want to use a topcoat. POR will fade over time though its protection characteristics will not change. 14.As with any paint, the preparation is the key. Do it right and it will work great! 15.Questions? Let me know. I will try to help. restorit - Tom
Thanks for the nice detail about the POR 15. I am getting ready to do the underside of my coupe with either POR 15 or the Eastwood stuff which seems to be similar. My brother used it and liked it. Great idea about not opening the can. Rodshop
POR15 vs, Eastwoods Any comments? I'll be needing some rust inhibitor for my bed, bed-slats in the 59'. The rest of the body surface rust I'm going to blast! Great info Restorit Thank you, Jason
I like POR-15 better myself. Actually I'm addicted to it. I get something with a little rust and I put it on. The Eastwood stuff didn't seem as aggresive/strong to me. Hell I painted the fenders on my truck bed with it.
What's the deal with putting a top coat on? I would like to use this as I have one hell of a rusted hot rod, but I'm not down with using these colors. Can I paint with the Por 15 and then apply bondo over it without any problems? I'm just lazy and want to get out of sanding and etching.
If the affected area will be exposed to sunlight, the POR will fade to kind of a brownish color. I have not tried it, but I understand that most any paint will work over it. POR makes a primer that you can use over the POR, then paint it. Any ideas on this? If you are painting inside door panels or a floor, no topcoat is needed. You can put POR on then put bondo over it. POR makes two bondo type products that they claim work well. I have not used either one yet. Two coats are recommended to cover up any missed spots...Tom
Restorit, I bought a small can of the POR-15 manifold paint. Any tips for when I go to apply it? Thanks, Ed
The POR manifold gray paint will stick best when the manifold is sand or media blasted. It is very important to make sure the manifold is clean of rust, paint, dirt, etc. This is very critical for new headers - all the paint has to be removed by media blasting. Once it is clean, you need to coat it right away. Don't let it set for a couple days or rust will start to form again. I use either a paint brush or a foam brush and put on a coat. Wait at least 24 hours to recoat. It does not have to be heated to cure like some of the other brands but you do need to wait 24 hours before starting your motor. Any brush marks will go away as the manifold heats up. There is no shelf life limitation for the manifold paint like there is for the POR paint. I have some that is about 2 years old and still good. In addition, I have a pint that I have used for 3 sets of Y-Block manifolds and a set of 289 Ford manifolds and I still have about half of it left...Tom
Can anyone explain how a coat of POR-15 that has cured can be removed from a part without using a die grinder with a carbide cutter or a vertical milling machine? Dave Mann (602) 233-8400 http://www.roadsters.com/
I have used both Eastwood's Coro-less and Por-15. After only one season the rust started to come back threw the Eastwood stuff. Maybe the stuff Eastwood has now called Rust Encapsulator is a better formula. After two years, The Por-15 is still holding up. However, you should completely "encapulate" the part or it will peel at edges that are exposed to oxidation or existing rust. Also Por-15 contains iso-cyanates!!! Real bad stuff to inhale. A carbon mask is really not enough protection. It is recommended when using any paints with iso-cyanates to use a postitive pressure freah air system. I have heard good stuff about Zero-Rust... and I don't think it contains iso. I'm going to give it a try next. ----------------------------------------------------------- "OPOSSUM BENDERS" Central Missouri Chapter
[ QUOTE ] Can anyone explain how a coat of POR-15 that has cured can be removed from a part without using a die grinder with a carbide cutter or a vertical milling machine? [/ QUOTE ] if only one side is painted you can sandblast the unpainted side to sepperate the metal from the paint. seriously, how does one deal with future work when everything is covered with this impervious toxic shell? I'm used it on the inside and underside of my coupe body. Paul
286 merc will tell you about zero-rust soon I am sure. I've got zero-rust on my truck cab as a foundation under everything else. In my opinion it is better because you can spray it on without killing yourself and your neighbors. And patch it in easily as you do body work. I found out the hard way that you need to thin it about 40% to get it to go on thin enough to dry well. I am working on a truck that will have a pretty elaborate paint job and will see a some weather (for los angeles anyway) so I went kind of nuts. I don't want to wonder if or when rust will come through. I went over the whole cab and sprayed zero rust into the seams first with a detail gun and just wiped off any excess with some thinner as I went along. I also sloshed it around inside the doors. Then I followed up with two thin coats on everything. Now I just have to make sure that the next coat -the two part primer/sealer- is compatible and I should be home free. I wish there was more difinitive information on that - 286merc says it shouldn't be a problem though. Has anyone used a particular primer/sealer over zero-rust? I would love to follow a sucessful example.
If it was painted onto clean metal, it's not so impervious as you might think!!! I little brake fluid and "PRESTO!!!" It's all blistered and coming loose! Don't ask how I know!!!!
When I worked at a body shop we would only use POR15 on edges like: (rockers, wheel lips, "hidden areas") that are prone to rust from rock chips, etc. We would ALWAYS media blast or grind any rust on top body surfaces dew to POR "at that time" was to be used in moderation. We would also POR edges and then bondo (fill) pin-hole rust spots and that worked great. All the reasons listed above explain why its hard to use it excessively. As for the new products listed that POR is offering I have no experiance with them and someone else would have to comment on their effectivness. The website has some pretty good application info. This stuff is pretty important to alot of us!! Great post. ~j
POR15 is fruggin awesome. You can take any rusty crappy part and knock the loose crap off of it and just start brushing it on. Great for undercarriage parts that just look terrible. I like it for the inner fenderwells and stuff like that too. In all truthfulness it works ten times better on rusty metal than clean metal. If you cleaned up the metal you wouldn't even need POR15 anyways right? We had some clean stuff that we tried to coat and it actually beads up on clean metal. So we soaked the part in water and let it dry to a nice rust outside. Thean tried again. It worked! It has a chemical reaction with rust that is unreal. The only problem with POR15 is that once it is on it's there for good. No amount of blackwheels is going to be enough to get rid of it. I would compare it to a nice hard coat of powdercoating, but it actually puts powdercoat to shame. Also this stuff is VERY poisonous when sprayed. Don't try the old "aw, I don't need to wear my respirator for this little spot" shit. It will KILL you if you breath too much. I advise the brush on method. This stuff levels out like 1-shot anyways, especially the flat black. I am sold on it. It can save alot of old cars from doom. I have been told (and have read) that ZeroRust is every bit as good as POR15, minus the toxicity. It is spray safe and hard as nails. It not only attacks rust like POR15 but is prevents any moisture/salt penetration to the metal. It was developed for ocean going vessels ans NAVY fleets. Itis supposed to be better than POR15 in it's protective properties, and I think it is UV safe unlike POR15. I can't say this is all true as I have never used it, but I would like to hear from someone who has used both. Like I said, I am sold on POR15, and ZeroRust is supposed to be better all around.
I painted my '40 frame with POR 15 and their Chassis Coat using a brush. Sandblasted the frame first. It came out really nice. Be careful not to "glue in" the nuts in the cage nuts. I had to thread in a bolt and hit it with a sledge hammer to free up the cage nuts.
This is what I use now. http://www.hiqrods.com/rb.html I liked it so well, I started selling it. It will go on over paint, rust, sandblasted or new steel, and sticks like the dickens. You can leave it exposed, or recoat it with anything, enamel , epoxy, urethane, lacquer, alkyld, acrylic, anything. It can be recoated without sanding at any time up to six months. you can fill over it, fiberglass sticks to it, sands easy, fills pinholes, and can be brushed or sprayed. There was a car at Bonneville this last year that had rust bullet as the finish paint.
I used to use POR15, but I found something that works MUCH better. It's called Master Series. This stuff beats POR15 up and down, check it out! It'll save you a lot of grief. http://www.nomorerust.com
Now I just have to make sure that the next coat -the two part primer/sealer- is compatible and I should be home free. I wish there was more difinitive information on that - 286merc says it shouldn't be a problem though. Has anyone used a particular primer/sealer over zero-rust? I would love to follow a sucessful example. If I remember you used Acetone instead of lacquer thinner which created the drying problem. Nor do I understand the need for 40% reduction either, Ive never gone beyond 20-25%. Many Ive talked to have restricted air lines and fittings, creating their own problems. I use a 2.0 tip in an import HVLP gun. As far as a compatible primer/sealer I would drive to my paint supplier and detail EXACTLY what I want to do. This is no time for telephone calls. Also go to www.autobodystore.com and log into the forum. You will find several Zero Rust users as well as many who gave up that POR-15 shit.
Yah I'd like to hear someones opinion that's used both POR-15 & ZeroRust. My Olds is pretty rust free, will either of those go over & stick to the factory red-oxide finish on the floors? My buddy gave me something called "rust seal" by SEM but I haven't tried it yet... still on my to do list you know.
[ QUOTE ] Yah I'd like to hear someones opinion that's used both POR-15 & ZeroRust. My Olds is pretty rust free, will either of those go over & stick to the factory red-oxide finish on the floors? My buddy gave me something called "rust seal" by SEM but I haven't tried it yet... still on my to do list you know. [/ QUOTE ] I have not used Zero Rust so I can't say how it goes over other materials. I can however say that Rust Bullet will go over old paint without any adhesion issues. From experience I can say that Rust bullet will even stick to a piece of oily metal laying on a oil soaked wooden work bench.
Get the full blown POR-15 catalog and read the fine print. They gotcha by the balls at every step. If you want to do something YOU HAVE to buy something else first and on and on. Everything is expensive. POR is good over floorboards, no argument there but you have to follow the prep instructions. Zero Rust will go over any paint or primer. Another plus is that it is compatible with plastic fillers. This makes it nice when you have rust pits to fill; use ZR first and then skim on the mud; no worries about moisture getting thru to the steel. As far as Eastwoods encapsulator, Autorestorer Magazine ran a real life comparison article versus POR. POR did not do very well! BTW, POR changed their formula a few years ago and never told their dealers; the new version is what stopped me from selling it and switch to ZR. And POR doesnt even make the stuff; it comes from a marine coatings outfit in Mississippi. www.zerorust.com
I haven't yet used the Zero Rust products but have used POR-15 stuff alot. The silver POR will turn light green in the summer sun but can be top coated while it's still tacky. I top coated with primer to promote adhesion of paint later, not that I'd ever put real paint on anything I own. POR silver will spray ok with eleveted air pressure at the gun. As has been said here before, don't sand to bare metal first. POR-15 is too slick and hard to allow adhesion of plastic body fillers on top of it...do your filler before painting with POR products. POR exhaust paint will show rust after a few months if you were lazy like me and used a rotary wire brush to attempt removal of the rust. Hey, it LOOKED clean and shiny before I coated it...don't skip the sandblasting step before coating.. Here's a good tip... the POR silver exhaust paint will buff to a dull shine by using 0 or 00 steel wool after it's dry and cured . Looks similar to the Jet-Hot coating.
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