I don't really like POR15 and am hoping to find something better, maybe more durable. What are you guys using? Most of my other parts are powder coated read (spohn parts, or PA racing). What are some alternatives you guys have had good luck with?

Thanks.

 

I'm Interested In This Also,Not Sure Which Is More Durable, A Lacquer Or Enamel Paint.

 

Check into Zink plating
you can get yellow or silver.
the yellow/gold zink is the same stuff you see on alot of oil pans..has the light hits it. Ya can see greens. Blues. Yellows... and its rust proof for life..and cheap.. the place by me will do a rear housing for $65 if you blast it before dragging it in.... $100 total for them to do it all.

 

I used an enamel paint with hardener on mine. I forgot the brand right now, but its called Tractor and Implement paint I got from Tractor Supply. It's for farm equipment and cures nice and hard. I dropped a pry bar on mine from about 3' high by accident after it was painted and it didnt even scratch it. After 2 summers of driving, it still looks great. It's not a high gloss paint, but not really a matte either, and you can get it in several colors.

 

Tremclad Hammertone!

I just painted my roll cage with it. It's very hardy

 

Tractor paint is tough stuff. I paint all my blocks, suspension and SFC bare metal with it. A tip, buy a bunch of cheap dust brushes from harbor freight to apply it with. It will ruin a good brush quickly and since it smooths itself out, brush quality doesnt make any difference. 98 cent HF special vs $9 Purdy...

One quart at $12 will do the engine and all suspension for about two cars

 

I used a spray gun for my rear axle, never tried brushing it on anything yet.

 

So far looks like tractor paint is in the lead. Who knew.

 

I always repaint mine with the OEM paint the parts place has and you can also get it here http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-Black-Chassis-Reconditioning-Paint-1050104-Corvette-Chevelle-Camaro-Impala-/291080667357?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c5c280dd

 

Starting Bid $99.00,Wow Not Cheap.

 

Its just like anything else you get what you pay for if you think thats bad I spend around $1200.00 up on paint just to paint a car

 

My car was 3600 dollars that was back in 2006! Rear end was 2100. Next paint job will hopefully be less...

 

POR 15 is way more durable than any of that stuff... But if you insist on doing something else you are going to have to completely strip off the existing POR 15, nothing with stick to it even if it's scuffed. If it was poorly prepped and the por15 is coming off, then keep peeling.

 

this is surprising since por 15 says to overcoat it if used in sunlight.

 

Yeah, and POR15 is made to be used on poorly prepped areas. The name stands for Paint Over Rust

 

If you were willing to tear it down, I would say have it blasted and powder coated. EDIT: I am an idiot and misread the OP, but I will see if I can dig up pics of my 12 bolt after it was powder coated gloss black.

 

POR has no UV protectors in it so if you use it in sunlight it will fade unless you overcoat it with another product. But if it's used under car it holds up very well.

 

Wrong.
POR 15 paints over RUSTY, prepped, metal. The scale must be removed, ALL paint and grease must be removed, rust is nuetralized with acid and it must be BONE dry!
Por15 is great stuff, but if you can't read directions, don't bother, you'll screw it up. You must follow the prep instructions to the letter for good results.

Once por15 is cured, it's almost impossible to get anything to stick to it.
They recently introduced a product called tie coat that is supposed to allow it to be top coated with reg paint, but even their own description doesn't make it sound foolproof, so I haven't tried it yet.

Basic POR 15 with fade in uv and eventually break down after a really long exposure. They instruct to top coat BEFORE final curing using their products such as Chassiscoat. These products are not as good at bonding to metal, but are still very tough and seal the por15 and protect it from uv. Once the por15 has cured, even their topcoats won't stick to it well.

Por15 is all about tying the layers together by applying at tacky stage so that it does not inhibit the curing, but bonds to the bottom layer.

So to relate this to original post, POR 15 is the best for protecting metal, but it can be difficult to apply properly in some situations, making it inefective.

 

I agree, it is good when it is easy to apply. Upside down, is tough I think. I need to do my entire underbelly as well

 

it will stick to itself, so the trick used to be to give it a coat and then top coat it with whatever you want to use within about 30min or so.

I've wondered if there was a good way of retarding drying so you can spray it (you can get it sprayed, but I'd be suprised if you can get it cleaned out of the gun in time to keep it from getting ruined as it comes out of the can). If you're going to do the underbody of the car with it with a brush cover up well- it will drip and anything you get it on will be that color for a long time.

One of my favorites for this kind of stuff is rustolium hammered paints- fairly easy to apply, and as long as you put on a heavy enough coat to get it to dry hammered relatively foolproof, durable and when you do scratch it up just brush some on and it hides the scratches.

 

Rust-Oleum Hammertone here....turned out pretty nice and doesn't show dirt as bad as going with a standard black.

 

30 min is too soon, it will inhibit curing of the por15. You want to apply topcoat when it is past tack to "finger drag", usually about 3 hours. Not ideal for top coating still as you have brushed or rollered the por 15, so spraying color on top will only highlight the surface flaws. They do have choices of colors in chassis coat.
You can mix POR 15 with their solvent for spraying but even they don't recommend it, it makes a mess and is difficult to clean from your equipment. Definitely use a "cup gun" if you want to spray , like ones used for gelcoat. Also the fumes from spraying isocyanates are really bad for you.
All this is in their instructions that few people seem to read.

The point for the op is you will have to get all the POR 15 off before you put anything else on if you want it to last.

 

I used por15 on the entire chassis of my truck when i had the cab and bed off, prepped properly and 3 coats, seems pretty durable. even used it on the push plates for my plow with no prep and there isn't even a scratch. its taken some abuse this winter too.

i used rustoleum hammertone on my rear end and my SFC's on the Z and still looks good after two years.