UCRed

I am ready to order POR-15 for my frame. I have a few questions for those who have used this product. The frame is sand blasted. I know I need their prep system. But did you folks top coat or not? Did the black fill in the little dimples? Any problems you had or things that you learned that would be helpful. What about inside the rails? Sorry for so many questions but I want to do this right

Bobchad

Mine was done with the frame on unfortunately but I don't have the skills to do a frame off.

I degreased, coated with metal ready, rinsed this off and when dry put a coat of POR15 on it followed by a top coat. Failure to put a top coat on is not fatal, it will simply oxidize and turn, I think, brown. You will still have the protection.

The stuff is pretty thick and will fill in small indentations. As I recall, it was not perfectly smooth with a brush application. If you are going to spray, make sure you follow the directions for spraying otherwise that coating you see on the car is what will be in your lungs and that is a bad thing.

Bob

Chris@VetteFinders

Why don't you have it powder coated. I believe there are several in the Pittsburgh area. I think there are a few places out toward New Kensington.

vettfixr

If you're going to paint it on with a brush get yourself a supply of cheap brushes from your local home center. It's easier to just throw them away when you're done that to try and clean them. And get a box of latex gloves and wear a long sleeve shirt when you apply it. If you get any on your skin it absolutely positively will not come off until the skin wears away. Keep that in mind when you have your face under it or you'll be very embarassed for the next two weeks explaining your sudden outbreak of black spots to people. :yesnod:

Eddie 70

When you pull out how much you want to use, don`t put it into a plastic solo cup. This is how I know. I was painting the a-arms and had what I thought was enough to do the job. Turns out that I had way plenty to do the job. Well I left the leftover in the plastic Solo cup and when I went back to look at the a-arms the next day, POR-15 was every where. I have since then gotten a small chili can and use it whenever I need to use the POR-15. :D

Edzred72

All advise above is great. For about $2.00 you can get small plastic re-sealable hefty containers to put the POR in while your painting. Seal it up.. go have dinner, and it will be fine when you come back. Any food store carries them. I've used it on lots of parts, and it came out very smooth when applied with a decent brush. The silver is tough to work with though. The silver additive tends to streak. (Stir often) Good Luck!! :cheers:
Eddie

Ken74Conv

This past spring I did my frame from the firewall forward while I had the engine out. I also did all the front suspension & steering components as I had them out for rebuild. Everything got (2) coats of POR-15 and (1) coat of chassis black. I found that the POR-15 alone did not give a uniform looking finish, plus the top coat protects it from fading. I also found that disposable foam brushes worked best. They are cheap and you just toss them.

UCRed

Thanks for all the info. I am going to order tomorrow. I talked to the tech line and they told me to use the tie-primer and then paint the color I want. I hope things go well or I'll be blasting again. Does anyone know how much por 15 a frame will need? Should I order the 4 quarts instead of the gallon so it will keep?

Green76

UCRed,

Definetly buy the POR-15 in the quart cans instead of a gallon can, POR-15 starts drying really fast and they tell you to pour the paint in a smaller container when painting.
High humidity makes the paint dry relly fast.....

I don't think you need a gallon to cover the frame with 2 coats, it goes a long way, but I could be wrong.
Ulf

UCRed

I ordered the POR15 yesterday. The tech rep that I talked to this time, said that I did not need the tie-coat primer to paint over it. He said to either wait until the 2nd coat dries and then scuff with 600 then apply the urethane primer. Or wait until the 2nd coat is tacky and mist spray the urethane primer. What have you folks done when you top coat? If this stuff is supposed to be so tough how do you scuff it?

NHvette

I'm getting ready to order some,too - for birdcage resto.
The frame is a ways off.

ALuminum Oxide sandpaper will chew into solid steel, so it should be plenty
hard anough to scuff the coating. I have heard of people just spraying Krylon semi flat black over the POR15 - maybe before it fully dries.

Search the archives - there were lengthy posts that were'nt long ago.

Good luck - and hope to see your good results.
:seeya

Brett K

Well, I did things a little differently when I did a frame last year. I applied it with those foam brushes and it worked realy well, almost as if it were sprayed. You might want to try both to see which result you like better. I would work a few minutes with por-15, then while it was still tacky I covered it with a semigloss black. You really don't need primer at all if you do it while it is tacky. If it dries you will have to use their product so it will stick. I prefer this way because their primer is a powder blue color. When your top coat gets scratched up I didn't want that color to be visible everywhere.

Also, as already said, cover your skin. If you will be lying under where you are working wear goggles. My dad ruined a pair of eyeglasses which got covered in little black specks that won't come off. DOuble up on the gloves too.

UCRed

Brett,

Did you spray with a gun or cans? Did you do a section at a time? Not sure I understand? :confused:

Brett K

Actually I would switch on and off every 20 minutes or so, which may vary for you depending on how the product is drying given your temp/humidity. I timed it so that I could put a topcoat on while it was still tacky. I used Krylon semigloss in a can. I didn't see a need to put anything more expensive or durable on...the only purpose it is serving is as to provide cover from the sunlight so it won't fade. We used it on a plow truck that is used daily especially in the winter on salty roads. It still looks good. I used the por-15 primer on the plow assemble and the exposed light blue under all the scratches looks nasty.

UCRed

Brett,

Thanks for the help. Especially about the blue primer. I would have been totally P#$$ed if I would look under the car and see blue scratches. I already purcahsed the paint to spray in a HVLP gun. Plus I have all the suspension to paint as well. I just need to determine the pot life and plan properly to spray it while the 2nd coat is tacky.

tippi58

Used POR 15 and metal ready for my frame and radiatior surround. I just used the frame paint.. Looks really good but it isnt what I would call "mirror finish" Damn good stuff though.:):

Suggest you buy a number of their small tins as it saves opening a big one and having tons left over. If you want it to keep overnight a tip I had was to take some plastic gladwrap and put over top of can before hammering the lid back on. Make it two or three thicknesses as it seems to slow down the hardening on exposure to air. I bought cheap brushes and just disposed of them afterwards. Use gloves as it sticks like sh.. to a blanket although it will wear off skin after 2 -3 weeks. :cool: :cool: :cool:

Pedro'74

I do the same, and it turns out great. However, the same is not true for their chassis paint. I've tried to brush it on, but got brush marks everywhere---really funky-looking. I tried it twice on a small part, and both times I had to remove the paint, b/c it was just too ugly. Next time I'll do like you guys---forget their paint, and go with plain Krylon over POR-15.

Dumb question: how can one open a (new) can of POR-15 without having to literally destroy the lid?

-Pedro

LemansBlue68

I used the semi-gloss POR 15 and sprayed it on. I used two and a half quarts to do three coats. Don't bother with the semi-gloss. The way it flattens out is really unpredictable. Sometimes it flatens out just right, sometimes it looks too glossy, or blotchy. The overspray was a nightmare--IT GOT EVERYWHERE--even on my wife's car which was almost 100 ft down the driveway. The wind blew it from my garage all the way down! Buy it in quart cans. Once it starts to set up, it gets hard really fast. I'd hate to lose the rest of a gallon that way, it's too expen$ive! Buy extra empty quart paint cans to put the left over in. Once it gets in the rim of the can, it glues the lid on--no matter how careful you are to put plastic between the lid and can like the instructions say. Like Pedre74 said, the lid always gets messed up when you try to take it off. Although my frame looks pretty good, and the finish is rock hard, the next frame I do (if there is another), I will powdercoat!

My overall opinion of POR 15 is that its pretty good on smaller parts, or in situations where nothing else will work OK (like lightly rusted parts that can't be completely stripped), but I won't use it in another frame off resto.