POR-15 --what say you?

[santamaus]

Is this the miracle cure it's made out to be or not? Is it flexible? If applied to a panel that flexes, will it chip off? Is there any reason why I shouldn't just dip the whole bare frame and body in the stuff and then primer and paint on top of it?

Chris

[2ManyZs]

I don't know if it's the miracle cure or not, but I can say it is not flexible. It probably would not stay on a panel that flexes.

Considering how expensive it is, dipping would be outragiously expensive. Not only that but it would end up getting into places that would make it extremely hard to remove it to put the car back together. Getting it out of all the threaded body mounts etc would be difficult at best if not nearly impossible.

Painting over the top of POR-15 requires special steps and a primer to get the top coat to adhere to POR-15.

I personally have decided not to use it on the chassis of my car for that reason only, I've already sanded the entire underside once and don't relish the thought of having to do it again. Not only that but POR-15 doesn't adhere to painted surfaces as well as it does to bare metal. Since my car still has paint on the underside I don't want to re-do the entire chassis and take it to bare metal.

I plan on using it only in places where it is necessary.

[santamaus]

By dipping... I really meant application by hand--brush or spray, it seems to resist strokes, so all the interior surfaces, underside, engine bay, interiors on the doors, etc. seem like good candidates.

If I take the car apart, is it worth going to bare metal and starting from there? If so, should I have the old paint sand blasted off, or something else?

The couple of cars I've looked at raise a question: The weatherstripping around the chrome rail on the doors (especially where it runs into the front of the door) seems pretty cheesy, and susceptable to a lot of water drainage. Is this so? Do the doors drain pretty well? Is it worth anti rust coating the interior of the doors?

Thanks,

Chris

[2ManyZs]

I believe the POR-15 adheres better to bare mtal than it does to old paint. It probably would be a good idea to have the bottom(at least) blasted with some sort of media. Sandblasting or plastic media would probably be the best.

I wouldn't worry too much about the interior panels unless you have rust, a decent coat of paint would work just as well and probably save a little time and money. The inside of the doors might benefit from a coat on the bottom of the doors but it is going to be a messy job to get it done right. Whatever you do make sure you don't get the POR-15 on your skin as it will take a long time to get it off. Use rubber gloves and an old long sleeved shirt if you plan on brushing it on in the hard to reach areas.

Using the POR-15 along the rocker panels and any seams on the uni-body would probably do wonders to keep your car form any more rust problems, if you notice there are a lot of seams that have gaps in them. The biggest problem area is where the drain for the front cowl dumps all the water on top of the front edge of the rocker panel behind the front fender. Make sure you seal this seam up, or water will continue to accumulate in the rocker panel. While I'm on the subject of the fron cowl, it may be a good idea to do this area too, take the windshield wiper motor out and put a coat of POR-15 in there. The area under there has a tendancy to rust and any holes in there will dump water into the interior.

[santamaus]

Thanks!

Chris