POR 15 Stop rust permanently?

[Marshall 357]

Any Auto Body guys out there ever use this stuff on rusted out metal? It sound too good to be true, need info, Thanks.

 

[pberry]

I don't work for a body shop but I have restored several old cars. I was working on a 66 GTO and I used some of that stuff. I believe it worked. I kept the car for 5 or 6 years and it had not rusted any more that I could see. I used it on the floor board and trunk. It set me back several bucks in 1982 or 83. I hope this helps, but I wish I could tell you more.
Phil

 

[lonejacklarry]

I've used the stuff for years. It is a little pricey but, in my opinion, it is worth it. It will degrade in the sunlight but can be painted to solve that problem.

A warning: Don't let it get on your skin. There is no solvent that I ever found that will remove it--it has to wear off and that takes awhile. Don't even bother trying to get it out of clothes.

 

[truckemup97]

It will degrade in the sunlight but can be painted to solve that problem.

That right there is the rub. I put it in several places on my Bronco, but never got around to painting over it. After 10 years, the rust is bleeding through again. So the moral of the story is: Don't be lazy like me. Finish the job!

 

[rlsbee]

I've used it for many, many years and I like it very much. I've used it on cars, equipment, stuff in the yard etc. I'll agree with others, it does not need to be painted over. Yes, it is a pain to get off your hands... wear gloves. They make an epoxy putty that I like a lot, too.

 

[caseydog]

Well I'll be the first dissenter, I don't like it. When it cures out it's a very brittle film , subject to developing cracks and chips getting rust creep from them. There have been quite a few of these coatings on the market, they are all "moisture cured urethane" , POR , Rust Bullet, MasterSeries, KBS rust seal. They are all overpriced , make wild claims and will never pay a claim on their warranty because anything that goes wrong will be a prep/application mistake.

Truthfully I think you could do as well with regular old enamel like Rust Oleum or Zero Rust , the problem with most of these is everyone ignores the instructions for prep and Rusty Metal Primer ,does one heavy coat and leaves it. Ideally you would prep to their instructions then put down a base coat of one color such as red , then cover it with black, doing this would assure good coverage because you would have to hide all the red.
For underbody protection I have switched to a sprayable bedliner product, which cures out softer and is almost indestructable, but it's not fun to work with and you have to have some equipment to apply it.

Ray

 

[cass]

I use POR 15 on farm implements and inside the tanks of old kerosene lanterns to stop leaks. Good stuff.

 

[writerinmo]

I had a body shop doing a lot of restoration work and kinda came up with my own personal way of dealing with the rust, if the body panel wasn't one that we wanted to replace (or couldn't!) I used a wire wheel to knock the heavy stuff down, then a scotchbrite wheel (Walmart is the cheapest for these) in a drill or air tool. I then used a 'rust converter' that walmart used to sell but not sure if they still do, but there are several on the market. This supposedly converts the iron oxide to black oxide. I then used a high-quality primer, then a sealer/primer like Europrime (high dollar, but we are talking quality here) then the regular paint job. I used POR in a few places, the gas tank stuff is great, I didn't care for the paint products.
To stop rust all you have to do is take away either air or moisture. Since most places have enough humidity to encourage rust, then air is the only option. This means a coating of any sort that is heavy enough to keep air/water away from the metal.
Depending on what you are working on, do not make the mistake that many do... automotive primer is NOT waterproof, neither is bondo. Fiberglass is and so is paint. You can grind down rust and even leave a little bit on there as long as you give it a good heavy protective coat of whatever paint you prefer, and I mean heavy. Most spray cans take five or more coats to equal what an automotive grade paint gun does, so hose it down, lol!