POR-15 is junk

[SeattleCharger]

 

[yeahitsgotahemi!]

I thought I'd chime in with my experiences with POR-15.

I've used it for several different things. I painted the bottom, as well as the interior and trunk of  my charger with it. I then top coated it with Raptor truck bed liner. I also used it to paint the bottom of my 65 Mustang several years ago. I have been neglecting that car, but last I remember it was holding up well.

The only reason I use POR 15 in particular is that its available locally. I've heard good things about Rust Bullet, but ordering and waiting for a product when I need it immediately is a hassle.  In general, I have had decent results so far with a few exceptions. My experience has been that the surface needs to be rough. I media blast surfaces and parts to be painted with it and it seems to work fine as it gives the substrate some tooth. I think top-coating it is also a good idea that helps the longevity of the product. I've used their chassis coat black as a top coat on some parts and was satisfied with the results.

To be honest, powder coating and epoxy primer is probably the better way to go. The thing I like about POR-15 is that I don't have to spray it. I can pop open the can and brush it on and be done with it, especially in areas that are not exposed, like inside frame rails, the interior, trunk ect. There are a lot of times when I want to get something coated or protected that is a small area that is not exposed and it is a huge pain in the ass to mix up something like an epoxy primer, mask off adjacent areas, put on a respirator, spray it, wait, spray again, clean the gun, ect. With product like POR-15 or any similar paint, it alleviates that hassle of using a spray gun when it really isn't necessary or cost/time effective.

I guess if I could mix up some epoxy primer and just brush it on when it isn't worth the time/effort and expense of shooting it, I would do that, but I have never heard of that being done before, and imagine that would be frowned upon. I would much rather use the rust paint then experiment with brushing epoxy on, as my experience has been that,as long as the surface has some tooth it will hold up fine. Anyone ever try this?     

[69B3RT]

I can attest to how well SEM Rust Mort and Rust Seal work. The vinyl top was removed on my Charger before I bought it, and was only primed with surface rust showing. I sanded down the roof and still had the black rust specks showing. I primed roof again and had surface rust showing through the primer couple months later again. I was only 17 years old at the time. still learning how to fix cars. I put Rust Mort and Rust seal on roof thinking I would work on the roof again later. 23 years later I finally get around to sanding the roof again. The Rust Mort was some tough stuff to sand and the roof was just like i left it 23 years ago. The car was stored outside all that time. 

[scatpack69]

what would be good for a floor pan the is solid but just has surface rust?

[69*F5*SE]

Removing as much rust as you can would be good.  You can kill the rest with Picklex 20. Picklex will also help remove the surface rust and treat the metal for epoxy primer or ZeroRust.  Spray the Picklex 20 on and scrub with a Scotch Brite pad and the surface rust will come off while killing the residual rust left behind in the pits.  Wipe off any rusty soot you can.  Once the metal is "completely dry" then you can coat with epoxy primer or the ZeroRust.  Next to sandblasting to bare metal and then epoxy priming the above will work for you.  The rust will be dead and the coating will protect against anymore rust from forming. 

http://picklex20.com/

http://zero-rust.com/

[TylerCharger69]

I've used it and...I haven't had any trouble with it.  You really can't just apply it. (kinda like set it and forget it) You still need to sand it down or wire brush it a bit in order for it to penetrate the rust properly. It also requires a top coat over that.  I use an adhesion promoter afterwards, then a sealer, then paint.  I wouldn't recommend it on rusted out cancer, but stuff like surface rust and other minor issues.  The biggest misconception some people get from this product is you can just apply it over the rust and it's done.  I wish it were that easy.   I too had to learn that one the hard way.  Just my experience though.