TheSaint

I am going to retore the undercarriage on my car.
You my fellow forum members talked about POR-15 wich i am going to use.

I read about POR-15 here in norway and the store that sells the POR-15 suggested using Metal Ready before applaying POR-15.

Should i use Metal Ready first or what do you mean i should do?

I am thinking of using POR-15 both on metal and fiberglass.
Can i apply POR-15 on the fiberglass in the wheel wells?

macs65

I beleive that Metal ready is designed to be used on bare metal before you apply Por-15. If you are using it over the existing paint then Metal Ready is not needed. I sanded my frame down to bare and used it on my frame and it works great. You should also use Chassis Coat after the Por-15 this prevents the Suns UV rays from damaging the black Por-15. Without the Chassis Coat the Por-15 with change to a Violet colour after prolonged exposure to the Sun. Chassis Coat comes in a variety colours.

MiguelsC2

Thats good to know. One question, how does the paint on the undercarriage get enough UV rays to make any paint fade or discolor?
Are you sure there isn't some other reaction going on,such as curing etc..?

firstgear

this is a dumb question on my part, but how do UV rays get to the chassis when it is buried under the car???????

firstgear

by the way, when you put POR15 on, don't think that you are going to just sand it off in the future....that stuff resisted my sand blaster with glass beads....tough stuff! put it where you want to keep it because it isn't coming off in the future without a battle!

Loren Smith

Floor mirrors at the car show.

SledgeHammer 2.0

It does discolor after time. They say the black will turn pink if left out in the sun.

I did the underside of a car I have in silver. The silver has now turned brownish gold.

Here is a before and after (after about one year)

TheSaint

Maybe its best to use black for the most of the undercarriage then?
I dont know because i have never worked with POR-15 before.
The undercarriage on your car looks really good Pugly.
Do you use a brush or spray it on?

SledgeHammer 2.0

I sprayed it with a small paint gun, I painted the frame with Eastwood's Chassis Black kit. It came with a rust encapsulator and 4 large spray cans of paint. It isn't as tough as the POR15, but it's held up pretty well.

macs65

I was refering to that part of the frame that may be exposed to the sun while the hood is open, simply trying to provide complete information related to my experiance, should have explained in more detail.
There may not be a problem with the undercarrage, however Chassis Coat will leave a satin finish over the Por-15. When Por-15 dry's it leaves a high gloss finish. For a little extra work it is better to be proactive.
Por-15 is self leveling and applies with a brush. I also brush painted my block and heads with Por-15 engine orange, it turned out perfect. Check the pictues in my garage.

Viking427

Their "Metal Prep" is just Phosphoric acid ..use "Ospho" from your local Ace hardware. http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...sort=3a&page=2
Same stuff, much cheaper. I used to use TriSodium Phosphate ("TSP") from Home Depot for same until the enviro-***** (or Homeland Security ?) caused them to drop the "Phosphate" from the ingredients. Painters say its junk now, guess they should change the name to just "TS".

Sandblast the part, hose off the silica dust, spray bottle the acid (Ospho) onto the bare metal, let it sit for 2-3 minutes, hose off the acid, let the parts dry completely (they turn a light shade of green almost immediately) ..ready to paint.

POR-15 will change color over time with exposure to UV light. You'd be suprised how much sunlight reflects off pavement, water,
surrounding buildings/cars etc. up onto your chassis. That's why I only use their UV-stabilized "Chassis Black" now. Stuff's too pricey to top coat in double layers like they suggest. Chassis Black self-levels (a little bit goes a long ways) also and leaves a nice satin sheen which I prefer over the -15 gloss and is almost as tough.

As far as POR-15'ing fiberglass, it looks like the company does offer "Flexcoat" for this http://www.por15.com/FLEXCOTE/productinfo/FCGB/ but I doubt it has any advantage over other epoxy based paints since it lacks the "molecular" bonding to iron that their -15 recipe supposedly has.

TheSaint

macs65 i just had a look in your garage and your engine and car looks fantastic. You must have sprayed the engine block?

Viking427 what kind of paint do you suggest i use in the wheel wells and on the fiberglass floor?

Viking427

Non on the floors, they came "as molded" in resin tan, gray, black etc. Just clean the dirt, grime, paint and roadkill off them. I like a thick undercoating in the wheelwells if you're driving it to minimize the potential for rock chips/cracks/holes in the fiberglass and reduce tire noise.

TheSaint

I know but i really want some colour on the fiberglass floor of my car

macs65

Saint

When I redid my interior I left all of the floors unpainted, the way they came from the factory.
My inter fenders I sprayed with Dup-colour. I removed the rad and support, disassembled the engine down to the heads, block and pan, with engine still in the car I sanded it and as much of the frame and rad support as I could. I applied three coats of Por-15 engine Orange by hand, BRUSHING it on to the engine. The Por-15 engine paint is very thick and takes a long time to dry between coats, (at least in Dec in Canada) it also self levels leaving no visible brush strokes. I do have a heated garage. After the engine was completely dry I applied Por-15 to the frame and topped it with Chassis Coat black. Por-15 is very thin (just like water) self levels. When everything was completely dry I used steel wool on all of the stainless brake lines etc. The manifolds were also painted by brush with Por-15 manifold gray about 8 years ago.

I receive many comments on the engine and have won a number of awards for the engine and engine compartment.

As far as Por-15 it is a great product, as long as you pay close attention to the instructions. Particularly the one about using a coffee measurer to remove as much Por-15 as needed, clean the inter lip of the can before you reapply the lid. If you don't do this this the paint will dry and the lid will be sealed until someone walks on water again.

TheSaint

I am thinking of the undercarriage not under the carpet

Thanks you macs65 for telling me the way i should go at this.
I must say that POR-15 sounds like a great product. In my local Corvette club we have one person that ceramic coates the manifolds and headers
He is using powder and open flame doing this job. The parts have been sand/glassblasted first.

Vogie

When resealing POR 15, place a piece of plastic food wrap (Saran Wrap or other similar) over the top of the can, then replace the lid for a better seal to prevent curing in the can.