I will use POR-15 on all surfaces under the car. I have a light surface rust on the bottom, on the frame and floorpans. No flaking rust, just a light powdery coating on most of the surfaces. Does anyone know if I should remove all the rust with a wire brush prior to applying the POR-15, or just knock off the loose stuff and apply it? The instructions say to apply over the rust, but logical thinking would say to get the rust off and then apply it to bare metal...
the way i read this is...clean the surface...that would be...wirebrush...sand... and or wash with soap and water. (or all the above). there is no Silver Bullit in any of these rust preps.. i was steam cleaning my engine bay the other day...all the rattle can paint i had applyed before came off...i mean ...all...the guy that did my batt. box repair used ...por 15... when he finished. the steam cleaner didn't take any of the ...por 15... off. that sutff was a bitch to sand but the few runs that were there, i could lift the end and peel it up to the bare metal. the paint had no rust but i supect it was not ...degreesed... he had installed a new ...batt. tray...and applied ...por 15...over factory paint. all the por 15 and factory paint came off with the steam cleaning. now that it is bare metal i will apply some ...Rust Bullit... J.M.O. ...Ya'lls' friend Frank...
Frank, is that your car now? I didn't know you were going to tear it apart, I guess you are going to paint from the inside out.
From the POR-15 website, and on the can. It reads like you will have the best results from painting right on top of the rust... I guess I am not in a hurry, I can call the help line on Tuesday and find out for sure. I would hate to just paint it on over the rust and find out in 10 years that you were supposed to remove the rust first, and paint onto the clean, but pitted surface.
This is off their web site: WHAT IS THE BEST SURFACE ON WHICH TO PAINT POR-15? POR-15 likes rusted surfaces best. Seasoned metal and sandblasted metal are also good. POR-15 does not adhere well to smooth, shiny surfaces, but will adhere well to those surfaces with the proper preparation. WHAT IS THE 'PROPER PREPARATION'? We make a product called 'Metal-Ready'. It's a rust remover that leaves a zinc phosphate coating on base metal, the perfect preprimer for POR-15. NOTE: New steel is coated with a protective oil finish at the mill. This finish must be removed before using POR-15 or Metal-Ready. Clean metal first with POR-15 Marine-Clean, then rinse with water and dry. I'm considering doing the same thing, just waiting till after the holidays to get some from the local guy.
Kinda confusing. They say the BEST surface is "rusted surfaces", then tell you proper preparation is using the 2 other products Marine Clean and Metal-Ready... If rusted surfaces is the best, then I am ready to go after just dusting off dirt and flakes. Otherwise, I need to wirewheel it down to bare metal and use the other chemicals first. I need to do the next step correctly, since it is under the car where it will actually be in contact with the elements...
Maybe they mean that the surface is most likely "clean" of any grease and stuff if there is rust, so that would be an ideal surface that needs to be coated...
Good point (rust means there is no oil or grease on it). I am thinking either 1) light rust is rough and has gently pitted the metal, so after knocking off the flakes and dirt, it is a good place for the POR-15 to bond to, or 2) maybe they mean that after it has rusted and pitted the steel, if you grind the rust all off, you are left with a rough pitted foundation for the stuff to bond... I just need to know if I should leave the light rust or wheel it off before I paint for the best bond. Customer support is closed for the weekend and most likely will be closed on monday, so I will call on tuesday and find out what they say. I was hoping someone on here had used it and already worked through this step...
Yeah, sounds that way...It would be nice if they tell me "leave the light rust, the paint will bond with it better" as it will save me a couple hours of work. But honestly, I just want to prep the bottom of the car the most correct way possible. Being that this is one of the biggest rust areas on our cars, and I was lucky enough to snag a car without rust here, and I don't ever want to deal with a real rust problem. I figure if I do it right this time, I will never have to mess with it again, or even worry about it...
Keep in mind, I am the guy that has to jack up the engine and remove his headers to take out his spark plugs, so doing it the easy way is not my game...
Understandable... but...in my opinion, the rust found in our cars floorboards develops from the inside out, in most cases. Opinion...?
Dude, at least you have fun and have an open mind for opinions, which allows for some of us to feel ok to come back here to visit.
