How much Por-15 is enough?

I used POR-15 on my last beetle, when I did a few repairs. I know it is vital to prepare first - It doesn't stick to old paint very well, even after wax and silicone remover. Also I have heard of problems, wheter product or prep related I'm not sure - I have a customer who now has to sandblast his Citroen Light 15 again, because there are rust bubbles under the POR15 layer... Makes me a bit wary, spaying POR-15 over a clean sandblasted car bady should be OK, but seems to have failed dramatically!

When I do my type 3, I'm going to sand blast, spray on rust converter (Good stuff, the kind you don't wash off with water, but leave on and paint over) then prime with auto primer, add a topcoat of black, rub, add a coat or two of stonegaurd, re-prime and then topcoat. I will then add another layer of stoneguard in strategic places where stonechips are likely. Then I'll add mudflaps :-)

Allan :-)

POR-15 is hype. Zero-rust is better.

.....................It's amazing how difficult it is to get people interested in something other than what 'everybody is using'. There was a regular poster here for a long time named Old Man who kept trying to tell everyone about Zero Rust paint. I had been using POR15 but wasn't happy with the toxicity and the trouble of applying it under certain conditions (temperature & humidity). So eventually, I decided to take a 'leap of faith' and order some Zero Rust paint. After having used it a few times, all I can say is that I'll probably never buy any POR15 again. Zero Rust is a great product!

On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 19:15:46 -0500, "Tim Rogers" ran around screaming and yelling:

old man was the body and paint guru....i miss the fellow... JT

A trick I learned, get 8 baby food jars. That will cover one quart, then you can open each up anytime and the stuff will stay good. Other wise you may not be able to open the can.

Wear major protection, including eyewear. The stuff it mean. Spraying ?? Keep those lungs clean. Hay I used the stuff on fiber glass cloth in stead of rosin and it worked great. Joe

Gary and Allen, you two are the ONLY people I've heard complain about POR-15.

And I come here alot...and to alot of other newsgroups and car restoration sites...

................You can add me to that list.

"Tim Rogers" wrote

I haven't used it, but the only kick I've heard about Zero-rust is that it sometimes takes a very long time to dry. Gary or Tim, have either of you had that problem with it? Here's a thread at the HAMB about drying issues with it:

-- Scott

I am still testing my POR-15 out. ;-)

3 years and the trailer is holding up well, but the POR-15 black topcoat seems to fade off. I tried it on some exterior body panels on my Jeep earlier this year after sandblasting........so far so good but the edges did not take the topcoat well. :-( I used it over some Rustoleum on some wrought iron fencing.............not good = peeling off. Painted Jeep engine parts with it, then topcoated it and they still look good. :-)

I want to practice with it before I restore my 70 T1. I did read an article (Auto Restorer Nov 2003) comparing POR-15 with Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator and after reading the article, I would use Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator for the exterior under the topcoat.

I just have a lot of POR-15. lol

JMHO later, dave

...............Thanks for that link Scott. It's quite informative. As is mentioned by one of the posters in that link, Zero Rust is an industrial grade alkyd enamel with a very high solids content. I've only brushed it on some small jobs so far but I couldn't get it to flow with the brush until I thinned it with one part laquer thinner to four parts Zero Rust. After I did that, it went on beautifully, covered well and was dry to the touch when I got home from work the next day. It does take weeks for it to cure completely though. With my snails pace of doing this stuff, that just gives me an excuse to slack off and spend more time on RAMVA until I'm sure that it's ready for installation (a trailer hitch for my vanagon). Later this spring or summer, I'm planning to brush it on my 66's bare pan and then on my new NOS German heater-channels that I'm hoping to get welded in and on some welded patches inside the wheel wells. Besides the trailer hitch, I've also used it on some sandblasted rusty areas on my 29 year old boat trailer with great results as well. It doesn't have the glassy hardness of POR15 but it does get pretty darn hard, eventually. I'm quite confident that it protects from rust very well but I guess it'll take a few more years to know absolutely. I'm also thinking of using it on some rusted parts of the frame on my nissan truck, but that's way down on my list of things to do...........sigh

It's normal I guess. I've used Corroless (Rust Encapsulator now) and it took a long time to "cure" also. It's no big deal, though. You can touch it, top coat it, or whatever. Just don't scratch it hard.

So where would 1 find Zero-Rust?

-- the Grokdoc Tom Malmevik all that groks is god

67 Baja "marti"

I know you can get it from

although they don't make the stuff.

"Gary H" wrote

Here's their website:

-- Scott

I tried Rust Zero and Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator. Rust Zero is better then Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator but I personally like POR better. I use SILVER most of the time and cover it with Poly black. The Silver particles that fill holes and gaps.. The instructions tell it all, don't put it on a pained surface, it is only as good as the paint under it. Never had a problem except getting off my skin. Dries fast and you do have to top coat it when it just has a finger drag to the POR be it dries or the top coat will not stick. Even POR is not what I would consider perfect but it is as close as I have found.

But even POR Can't make a exhaust pipe paint, ha. Joe

I've used another product that really works GREAT and I do believe better than POR-15. It's called Rust Bullet, costs about the same as POR-15, however you save $$$ because you don't need to pre treat the area in need of repair. I've used it and it came out great and really works!

It has been tested against many other brands including POR-15 Read up on it, pretty impressive. They specificaly make an automotive version that has more Zinc-metal particles than the normal version.

Narley Dude®