Aftermarket Product ReviewProvide questions and answers about aftermarket parts for the Third Generation F-Body.
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I have used POR15 in the past and was less than thrilled. It's a pain to work with and doesn't stick easily to old paint. So I decided to try something different. I saw this mentioned some on here so I ordered 2 small sizes to play around with. I bought 1 original and one black coat.
I just replaced all me front steering linkage, and while this car will never be a super clean highly detailed show car, I figured the stuff is brand new with NO rust so might as well keep it like that.
The original stuff is silver and very different from POR15. It's thicker for one. It paints on easily enough. You have to do 2 coats with a 2-4 hour drying time between coats. I also wanted to do a test on something ridiculously rusted just to see. I chose the fuel filter bracket. Mine is probably about 35% lighter than stock due to the amount of rust that has flaked off.
Prep - On the new steering parts I did basically none. Just cleaned them off with high strength cleaner degreaser. For the bracket, I hit it with a rust remover wheel, and then a wire wheel. It was in worse shape than I thought. I never got down to bare metal in some spots. It is DEFINITELY not pretty to look at, very lumpy still. After that I used some POR15 left over Metal Prep.
Application - I used a small bristled brush. It went on fairly easily. It is thick so if you are not careful there may be some brush strokes. It was good enough for me though. I planned to top coat it so I let it sit overnight as per instructions. Be sure to do this outside or in a VERY well ventilated area as the smell is quite strong. Gloves and work clothes are advised since like POR15 if you get on you, it's staying awhile.
Results - the next day it was fully dry to touch and handle. It left a very hard and seemingly durable finish. It is silver and looks like "aluminum" paint. No gloss to it. I was quite happy with the results.
next I applied the black top coat. This is thinner and only for a top coat. It reminded me of POR15, but required no prep to the silver coat. If you wait more than 72 hours you will have to rough it up with sandpaper. I found it easier to get into rough surfaces using a foam brush, however the brush tends to soak up the paint quite a bit. This dries to a gloss black like POR15 but will stick on old paint with minimal prep and is not harmed by sunlight.
For the fuel filter bracket I decided to use regular old spray can Rustoleum as the top coat. Again I did no prep, just sprayed on. It remained tacky awhile longer than it would have on bare metal, and the first coat seemed to blend in slightly to the undercoating of the silver Rust Bullet as there were some of the metallics showing through. I applied a second coat after about 1/2 hour which completely covered it in black. Basically I wanted to do a half *** job on a severely rusted part, since I figured that would be a good test of durability under less than perfect conditions. I also wanted to see what a top coat with ordinary paint was like so that any color could easily be used.
Overall I am quite happy with the product and will definitely order more when I do the entire underside of the car. I am planning on using the left overs to do touch up on my rear before putting that in, and the underside of the rockers before putting the subframes in since it will be next to impossible to do after. I obviously can't comment on long term rust protection or durability as I just finished this today, but I would recommend anyone to try this product for themselves. I absolutely prefer it to POR15.
It's been great. The fuel filter bracket and front end components look basically the exact same as when I installed. I also painted, with NO prep what so ever an old axe head that was laying near the garage... basically just put on the excess that was still on the brush when I was done. It looks like I painted it yesterday and it's been sitting outside in the rain/snow since last year.
I'd recommend the foam brushes for a smoother coat. Summit Racing now stocks it... I'm just about to order some more actually.
Last edited by Jay; 06-14-2008 at 10:25 PM.
Reason: added a few thoughts
Just to update this, I painted my entire front end after sandblasting and this stuff is as hard and tough as nails. i dropped a bunch of brake fluid on it and it didnt even loose its shine. Very good product. Used it out of a spray gun
So am I correct that the base is silver, but you can paint over it with any color or kind of paint?
Thanks
TA
Well no, the original was silver and i used that on my rear end with some top coat black spray paint, held up pretty good. But now they have the black color as well and thats what i used on the front end.
I just used some to paint an area I couldn't get to before while my trans was removed and I must say, the silver base coat looks like it won't deteriorate any time soon. The only surface prep I did was degreasing it. I top-coated the silver with the 'black shell' paint they also offer. It may have been due to cold temperatures (my heater ran out of kerosene) but the black shell chipped off pretty easily wherever I nicked it while re-installing my transmission. When I apply it to the rest of my trouble areas, I will have a better review of it.