Body Preservation?

[NickF]

I've found fish oil an excellent product to use.

It's cheap,easy to spray and offers good protection.

You can drill small holes in areas that are out of sight and

pump in the oil, fit a rubber gromet into the hole to keep out water.

great treatment for rocker covers, doors and any voids.

Smells a bit!!

Nick

[zachb55]

I wish i would have known all this stuff earlier, i already purchased a primer and just planned on using a product called OSPHO for rust prevention, i had a considerable amount of rust on my car, nothing too bad, but most of what needed to be replaced has been... i dont really have a way to sandblast the surface rust sections.. what should i do with those? when you guys use the POR-15 topcoat did you just use a normal primer underneath or what? i still might go with this on the bottom of my car seeing as how there are lots off little surface-rust patches where the undercoating just kinda crumbled off... and i havent even gone over the back half of the car, i would really like to do this all right but im limited on time, money, and equipment to do the work with (jackstands and a blanket on the floor is about as advanced as i get) so if i were to remove the undercoating and POR-15 it up then i would be removing the rest of the undercoating with a scraper, but hey if you guys did it without too many complaints i guess i could go for it, im still not sure im even going to be able to paint out in my unheated garage when 40 degrees is about our high temp up here in SW WA during these months.

[EScanlon]

Top coating POR can be done very easily IF you do it shortly after having applied the POR.

POR's instructions state that it can be top coated with their or other products if you wait till the paint still has some "finger drag" stickiness, but NOT wet. I've done it both ways, I've top coated when it got to the finger drag AND I've scuff / wet sanded the finish after it was completely dry. In this manner , POR behaves like regular paint.

Regular Paint adheres to the base by either Chemical or Mechanical means. Chemical is when it can "melt" into the base, that is, the thinner, solvent, or propellant softens the base coating enough that the paint can then combine with the base at that level and bind to it. Mechanical is when you've scratched the surface such that there are valleys and ridges that give the new paint "teeth" to hold on to.

POR however, has it's TOP COAT PRIMER which softens the previous application enough to accept the next layer of paint. While there is a product called "Jamb-It" which will soften old paints enough to accept a new coat of paint, it is limited in it's effectiveness. I've not used the Top Coat Primer so I cannot attest to it's performance.

POR is very specific on it's recommendation for the BEST method of application. It recommends that you first degrease the surface with their Marine Clean product. This stuff WILL make your hands feel all slippery for hours afterward so use gloves, but it does an EXCELLENT job of getting rid of the greases and oils etc that will marr a good paint job. You then follow this with their Metal Prep solution which will do a good job of etching the metal as well as leaving a thin anti-rust coating on it (again, make sure you wear gloves!). I believe it's a Zinc Phosphate layer, but I may be wrong. Then you paint the POR directly onto the metal that's been prepared as I described.

In my experience, when you DON'T follow this procedure, the POR tends to "pull" or "streak" along your brush strokes. Very reminiscent of a fish-eye except that now it is a long line. The POR won't stick, and it won't cover. This happened EVERY time I tried to short cut the process and didn't Marine Clean and Metal Prep. I finally gave in and just made it part of the procedure.

You do not need to use a different primer before you use the POR. You can, but the instructions advise against that, saying that you will not gain the benefit of the POR's rust-proofing ability. What it does say, is that if you need to do some smoothing to either use their epoxy or apply a primer surfacer to the finished POR. Personally, as good as POR is, I don't know that I would use it on the exterior parts of the panels. I would rather D/A the fender to the metal, then using an etching primer, preferably epoxy, I would use that as my base, then finish the panel as needed, relying on the primer/filler/ paint combination to protect the metal from the exterior elements.

In my case, I used POR for those areas that I was not trying to do a wet sand mirror like finish. That is, the inside of the front fenders, the floor pans, the gas tank, the wiper cowl bucket, the front wheel wells as well as the valance and sugar scoop undersides. In the case of the front valance, I also used POR's "finger drag" method of applying their satin finish exterior POR, and the results are excellent.

I really like the stuff for those areas that will be hidden, but need to be protected, and that's what I used it for.

One note, POR IS UV SENSITIVE! This means that if it is exposed to sunlight will eventually gain a "milky" appearance. This is normal and not a failure of the paint or painter. If this would be objectionable then the instructions tell you to top coat it either with their exterior use products or some other top coating.

By the way Zach, I'm in Vancouver, WA. If you want give me an e-mail and we can compare notes and I can even show you a bunch of photos I took of my project.

Hope this helps.

[PetesPonies]

There are debates over the effectiveness of POR or similar products. I am speaking from a professional view. I however, like to use a material similar to, but I feel much better than POR. POR has the popularity, but I feel you will be better served with Master Series silver rust paint. 1-800-833-8933. I am not affiliated with this product, but I do use it. It is a high solids material and the company has a better system for application that really works, compared to POR. Anyway, there are places that rust paints are usefull in my eye, but when used correctly. many are not used that way and I feel POR leads you in the wrong direction. Give this stuff a try and see if you don't agree.