12 replies to this topic

[andyboy!!]

I'm thinking about covering alot of my car in this stuff - basically anywhere you can't see such as under the front wings, a panels etc etc, under\behind sills and valances, possibly in the boot too.

Is this a good idea?

[lrostoke]

Painted the whole of my underneath in it, seems to be doing ok under there.

[andyboy!!]

Mines being restored now, so it will have a mixture of fresh and old metal.

Did you buy the marine clean\preparation stuff aswell and how much did you use of the por15? Did you topcoat it at all.

Sorry for all the questions!!!

[jonny d]

I used this magical stuff and it is great but you must use metal ready on the clean metal for it to get a better grip this paint is meant to go straight over rusted metal(scrape off the loose stuff first)

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

ive got it for my subframes, only done the front subframe and it seems pretty good stuff but i found the metal ready to be pretty useless to be honest, i tested it a few times and its never converted rust, i just used kurust and painted it directly over anything and it seems to have stuck well enough, looking back i probably should have etch primed it 1st its not cheap though which is the unfortunate side

[dklawson]

Metal Ready is not useless, it is just a custom blend of phosphoric acid. You have to degrease the surface 100% first (Marine Clean or some other strong caustic cleaner) followed by keeping the metal soaking wet with Metal Ready until it forms a uniform dark matte grey finish. Do not let the Metal Ready dry on the surface. After the dark matte surface forms, rinse with clean water followed by blowing the surface dry and towel drying. Any light flash rust that forms is typically removed with prep solvent and will not impact the durability of POR.

I have used POR a lot. However, I do not consider it a panacea for all rust. To get good results from POR you have to invest a lot of time in meticulously preparing the metal. It does not adhere well to smooth metal, you need the surface to be rough either from previous rust damage or from prolonged acid etching with the Metal Ready. If you want to top coat POR you have three options: 1) fog coats of your topcoat primer while POR is still tacky, 2) POR's Tie-Coat Primer, or 3) some new product POR has come up with to etch and prime their coating.

Of the three priming methods, I have tried 1 and 2. I have always gotten the best results by spraying heavy fog coats of my topcoat primer on the POR while it is still tacky after the second coat is applied. You don't want a solid coat of primer at this stage, just a heavy fog. What you are trying to achieve is a bond between your primer and the uncured POR but you want to leave a fair amount of the POR surface open to air so it can off-gas during the cure process. Wait a couple of days after that and apply a normal coat of your primer followed by your topcoat.

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

how long do you need to keep soaking the area in the metal ready for then for it to work? cus im extremely willing to try again on a day when im not working

thanks and sorry to hi-jack the thread by the way

[jonny d]

just follow the instructions on the bottle I treated a set of reverse rims with this stuff and it has kept the rust back after 4 years so far also the smooth metal that I didn't coat with the metal ready on the underside of the car has made the por 15 easily removable (peel it off) but with the treated parts it is stuck fast, but you must follow the instructions to the letter and it is brilliant stuff

[dklawson]

As Johnny D. said, you have to follow the directions carefully. As for how long to let the Metal Ready to do its job... pay attention to the color of the metal as the acid works. The darker grey the surface turns... the better. If you let the surface start to dry with the acid on it, the surface will start to turn white. Don't let that happen. If it does, gently wipe the white off with a paper towel soaking with Metal Ready. Let the stuff work again until you get that dark grey surface. If the metal is smooth and not grey you will be able to peel the POR off like Johnny D. said.

[andyboy!!]

cheers for all the adive.

After speaking to some people in the know my whole front end is going to be changed so it will all be clean metal.

Presuming it is welded in place with the black coating it comes with...what steps hould I then follow? Or is there a better method (paint it before welding it on)?

Do you have to do the metal prep and the por in the same day or can you prep the car as instuctions with metal ready and then put the preventative stuff on the next day?

Thanks
Andy.

[dklawson]

First, that black coating that will be on your new panels may be best to leave alone. Try to remove it with lacquer thinner. If it is NOT affected and stays securely on the panel, you probably have OEM or Heritage panels that have excellent anodic primer. The anodic primer adheres extremely well and I would use it in preference to POR. Just lightly sand it to roughen the surface before applying your topcoat primer. If on the other hand the black primer is easily removed with lacquer thinner, it is cheap stuff applied only to protect the panel in storage and replacing it with good primer is a must.

If you are doing the welding, invest in a few cans of "weld through primer". You will have to strip the primer/paint off in the areas you are going to weld. However, you can apply weld through primer to those areas to protect the metal as much as possible.

As for the Metal Ready and POR applications... they can be done days apart. The amount of time is dependent on your local temperature and humidity. In humid climates the Metal Ready treated panels will eventually develop surface/flash rust. Obviously that will happen slower in dry climates. POR itself cures through exposure to humidity. It will cure faster on warm humid days. Therefore, since you are supposed to apply two coats of POR, it really is better to prep the panels on one day and POR coat them on another day.

Do not forget my warning about applying topcoat primer. You want to put the fog coat of your primer on top of the POR while that second coat is still slightly tacky. That means you need to start painting early in the day to insure enough time is available to apply two coats or POR and a primer fog coat.

I will repeat again, POR is not a great primer for bare, smooth metal. Even when the new metal is acid etched POR doesn't adhere as well as etch or epoxy primer. Were I in your position, I would only use the POR in areas that no one will see. For the exposed outer surfaces of the panels, the Metal Ready still makes a good treatment for primer application... but I would use epoxy in preference to POR.

[sonikk4]

With regards to the E coat as previously mentioned do take care as to the quality of it as it does vary. If its a nice black coating that is slightly shiny and looks nice and evenly coated then happy days (heritage panels come like this.) However if its a dull grey colour then think about removing it.

Magnum panels are normally this colour and its rubbish. On our front panel it was flaking off in places and was very uneven. If i was you take some reasonably coarse wet and dry or even a wire brush and if it lifts easily then remove it completely.

[andyboy!!]

Yeah...they're magnum panels and it's peeling now.

I'm not doing the welding. So...if I get it welded and he also primes it in the usual way...then I could put the POR stuff on after that...I just want maximum protection...