Under body refinishing advice

[cactusman]

Thanks datmony...not POR15 then. Not used it myself and it is expensive so handy to get a first hand perspective

[datmony]

Glad I could save someone. You should have seen me the day I figured out what junk it is. I had spent over a month getting that body ready....... it looked so perfect. Every procedure followed perfectly.... temp controlled, humidity controlled...... applied it and it looked amazing.

A few weeks after I started to notice that something was "rotten in Denmark" as the phrase goes..... a piece of the POR was lifting off the body. I lifted it and it literally pulled off in a sheet. It looked like I had laminated the body and was removing the laminate. I darn near cried.

There is another product that I have since had good luck with for rust remediation in some other settings called Rust Bullet. It is a similar principal to the POR product but with far less prep and this amazing property..... it actually sticks to metal. :) Be prepared though..... the stuff is thick. It is silver and looks like galvanizing so you will want to put a top coat on it unless it is something covered. And you don't want to apply it overly heavy or else it gets these weird air bubbles in the finish once it dries...... but the stuff is like hard hard hard when dried.... a really good approach to areas that will be hidden and that you don't want to think about if you can't do a full on nuclear option like some of the others are doing.

If you can go nuclear..... do an acid bath at a place that can then cleanse the metal and seal it with a proper sealant. But that is obviously only in the instances such as some of the folks have been posting where it is a full tear down. If need remediation.... give the rust bullet stuff a try. I have no doubt it will buy you many decades of peace of mind. At that point.... you'll either be dead or ready for a full rebuild. :) Good luck and feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. I have done a boat load of research and a ton of trial and error on this stuff (frankly more error than trial :)).......

[265bhp]

I used POR-15 restoring my 911, 10 years on it's still as good as new, no lifting whatsoever...quite the opposite
Best
Jonathan

[rfs1957]

I tried really hard back in 2014, whilst doing the Mini shell, to get to the bottom of how to use the Rustbuster Fe-123 stuff.

It sounded great.

However, I couldn't see how it was possible to use it in our familiar classic-car context where every surface is, generally, a mixture of 1) some good original paint, 2) some good bare steel, and 3) some rusty surface that you've done your very best to wire-brush and generally abrade down so it's brown and without loose flakes.

In my experience it is often impossible to accurately and precisely use a product or treatment "A" on surface-type 1, "B" on surface type 2, and "C" on type 3, as all three surfaces are intermingled.

I went to inordinately diplomatic lengths to try to find out from the manufacturer how to manage Fe-123 in this context, as ALL three types of surface - painted, bare, and rust - go black when you use it ; but the black is only anchored properly on ONE of the three, the rust, and on the paint and the steel it will fall off.

It's all very well saying "only use it on rust" - but the edges of your rusty area are by definition either bare steel or good paint, and the instructions appear to assume you're painting a rusty oil-rig.

All I can say after a multitude of emails is that I would NEVER buy, ever again, anything from that manufacturer.

My conclusion at the time was

"the product instructions are crap, it’s hopeless for mottled/mixed surfaces since you can’t apply it to anything but rust, and since every type of surface goes black you then can’t see where you shouldn’t have applied it ; the firm doesn’t read the questions you send them, the employee you get on the ‘phone gives ambiguous replies that belie a failure to grasp the subject, and the plastic tubs are a bitch to open."

Nice business, if you can get it.

PS - and don't ever buy more than you need ; I had to throw away 5 x 1 kg tubs of the stuff, unopened, that had separated out and would no longer re-incorporate when mixed.

[mgcjag]

So you wouldnt recomend it then Rory

[288gto]

Steve, I have to agree with everything Rory has said unfortunately.
How it won some Practical Classic recommended award I will never know. You might as well use watered down pva wood glue and blue food colouring to "encapsulate" the rust.
Another E type purchase that ended up straight in the bin.

Alas there is no miracle alchemist solution that turns rust back to good metal.


Simon

[rfs1957]

And I only showed you the parts of the exchanges that were fit for family viewing !

The sad thing is that in some contexts it is probably a fantastic product ; the Practical Classics test involved painting a wholly rusty area - a deliberately rusted car-roof from memory - with successive stripes treated with different products, but nowhere on my cars do I ever come across zones that are purely like that.

So I think it's wholly inappropriate for the market it is being addressed at.

The wax-spraying gun I bought from the same people was hyped up as "modified by us, just what you need" etc but came with no instructions (just a general scribble covering all types of air-tools) and I am none the wiser about what half the little parts are for, or how to make the most of them.

I did ask for some instructions but never got a reply .......... All Firms Are Crap, Including Mine !!

[288gto]

A small selection of the tools both electric and air that I used on panels and areas too delicate for media blasting.
What you are aiming for is an abraded surface rather than a smooth polished one that will provide a good key for the epoxy primer.



Simon