POR 15 question

[JRSutton]

Friend and I are doing his truck over - 47 ford 1.5 ton dump body. We're going to paint the back end - the frame and dump bed.

Most of the metal back there is actually new, but never painted and lots of surface rust. Rear axle/differential/suspension is all original and in great shape, but rustier.

We're not going for show quality - but we want it to look good and be reasonably durable.

Neither of us is really looking forward to bringing everything down to shiny metal through sandblasting or wire brushing either. That'd be a huge job we'd like to avoid.

We're thinking about wire brushing to get rid of loose stuff - then using por15.

Anybody have experience with the stuff? Is it any good. How does it apply? can it just be sprayed on?

what's it look like when done? Should we count on painting over it with a top coat? If so - does it need to be primed first?

Would love to hear other's thoughts and opinions.

 

[glennster]

I use,it, it is a good product . Be advised, if you get it on you and it driies, its not coming off. Get the thinner for it. If you spray it, watch out for overspray, it wont come off. Wear a shoot suit, rubber gloves, hood and a respirator. There is a special primer for top coating.

 

[GlenIdaho]

POR 15 is a good product and is very tough. The down side is that it does not have UV protection and if left to the sun will fade. It can be top coated using their "Tie Coat Primer". One thing that I noticed is that even brushing it on it flows out to a nice smooth finish.

 

[Rod (NH)]

That's a good choice for what you're considering, in my opinion. I've used it before on a snowblower. It's brutally tough stuff. Don't expect to sand it after a day - it'll destroy the sandpaper. You can spray it but it's rather toxic, being a moisture-cured urethane. An air-supplied respirator should be considered a necessity for spraying. I agree with Glen. POR15 is the easiest brush-applied paint I have ever used. It flows out exceptionally well.

If you don't want the flat finish after exposure to sunlight, then topcoating can be done. I've successfully avoided using the special POR 15 primer by using epoxy primer applied within the short time window (4 hrs as I recall) of the POR15, then topcoating with an automotive acrylic urethane. Make sure you download all the detailed instructions from the POR15 website and follow the preparation procedures (in addition to wire brushing the loose rust off) and the time windows between coats carefully. I found it difficult to get two coats of POR15 plus a coat of epoxy primer on in the same day to meet all the time windows but it can be done if you do all the prep work beforehand. Still makes for a long day though.