Before you ask, I have compared and read alot and have decided to get some POR-15 and their degreaser and prep products to work on a few undercarriage/frame rusty spots the '03 FX4 I just bought has. Just wondering how much I would need. I have a a few crossmembers that I would like to do, a few minor spots on front suspension area, and the other various typical Ranger spots underneath. I'm thinking a quart of the POR (assuming I can keep it from drying up as I use it) and I don't know...a gallon each of the degreaser and metal prep? Let me know what you think as I'm planning on placing the order asap.

I don't think I'd need their chassis black topcoat but I could be talked into it if you guys have used it and like it.

Thanks!

 

i did the entire frame and suspension with one quart of POR.

 

Nice. Did you use any of their prep stuff?

 

One quart should be enough. The prep products are very good too.

 

no but i used alot of degreaser, a powerwasher and alot of time with a wire brush but im sure it would be even better to use the prep products.

 

Yeah, its the time with a wire brush I dread but it's gotta be done...thanks for the info!

 

I need to do this too

 

A quart will be enough, and a topcoat wouldn't hurt at all. POR 15 has no UV protection so IF it gets any sunlight it will eventually fade. I personally topcoat my POR 15 with some cheap rustoleum black paint.

 

it'll fade but will it be damaged or weaken? would he have to re-do it again down the road?

 

some detergents in carwashes ive used in cleaning my vehicle seem to break down por15, and rubberize the surface. it will fog up quickly but polishes back up with some compound if you have used it in a visual place on the truck

 

if you have had yours soften in the car wash than it was not applied or prepped right because i have not been able to find one chemical that can soften the stuff. i got some on my garage floor and i have tried mineral spirits, acetone, airplane stripper, gasoline, paint thinner and several other chemicals and none of them have even softened it even a little. i do agree with having a topcoat though. it will fade after time, i wish i had topcoated mine right after i did the frame.

 

it wont turn to mush and i cant get my nail under it but eagle one or some tire cleaners will defeniately mess with por15 and give it a funny surface if you dont clean it off fast. a good wax has helped keep its shine longer

 

well maybe ill try using that to get it off my garage floor! lol its only been there for about 2 years, still looks like the day it was spilled there. ha ha

 

lol nothing will remove it, especially from an etched porus surface like concrete or something. some products may just make it look worse but wont affect the composition. you can only mechanically remove it. why dont you just por coat the whole floor ?? lol but it may be possible in some cases to get a razor under a corner of the spill and peel it up since the floor wasnt prepped

 

ha ha i thought about that but that would be one expensive floor paint! lol

 

Ordered it today and got underneath and started the tedious task of scraping and wire brushing. It's really not bad at all considering it's a 7 year old Ohio truck but some places like the crossmember where the transfer case is mounted is kinda rusty. I wont be driving it any this week so I figured it wouldn't hurt to start scrubbing on it now. I soaked the whole underneath down with a 50/50 simple green last weekend when I first got it home and washed it all out really well so once I do that again after I finish with the wirebrushing it should be ready.

 

just be sure and read the warnings on the can. wear rubber gloves, safety glasses and clothes you dont care to ruin becuase if it dries anywhere on your clothes it will never come out, if it dries on your skin it really does take weeks to wear off, i learned the hard way. lol i got it on my hair that sucked! ha ha

 

Steal whool (well SOS) doesn't even get it off your hands.

 

Yeah, definitely wear gloves. And, cover any skin you may sling or drop it on. If you don't you will be walking around with black marks for awhile.

 

Right. I've read that on a few reviews of the stuff, don't mess with it...

I can get a free Tyvek paint suit or two from my neighbor and I'll defiantely wear some gloves. As for the hair...we'll see..I hope not!

 

I got the front end areas done while I was changing shocks and had the wheels off and things apart. I did use their prep products, work pretty well. The Marine Clean reminds me of the acid stuff we used to clean boat hulls when I was a kid, muratic acid. I cut it down quite a bit (according to the directions) but you can still get that whif of the odor. Works great though. Layed down some plastic on the garage floor after that and the Metal Ready had dried and layed on 2 coats of POR...looks really good, I was suprised how thin the POR is, really easy to drip so I'm glad I had all the stuff on myself and the floor to keep from making a mess. I'll get to the rest of the middle and rear of the frame/undercarriage areas in a week or two when I'm off.

As a side note, I bought some cheapo aluminum foil type baking pans at the dollar store to catch some of the runoff from the Marine Clean, rinse, and following application of metal ready and rinse. I used a garden sprayer full of water for the rinses. Caught most of it but you will have to mop the garage floor once you are done. It really pulls the dirt out and makes a big mess. Everyhting cleaned up fine though. I had pretty thoroughly cleaned and washed the underneath of the truck out out a few times when I first got it but the cleaner they sell REALLY pulls out some filth you wouldn't imagine.

 

Yeah, the prep products are pretty good. Everything they make seems to be very messy though.

 

Im gonna por 15 my truck next summer, do you put it on everything underneath or are their parts that shouldnt be painted...besides like nuts and stuff I know about those

 

Well, you can put it on everything if you want but it apparently doesn't stick to well to anything besides rough finished metal or just rust. I'm just going around where I can find surface rust places on the undercarriage, wire wheeling the scale off, prepping, and painting those areas. My truck is in great shape underneath (as far as lack of rust) and I want to keep it that way.

 

i would only use POR on the gritty surfaces, so your axle, leafsprings, frame, and even the gas tank. I wouldn't use it on anything that's not gritty. I did my Expo leafsprings with gloss black POR, I used their prep products and all, and they came out great. For the hell of it, I also put some on my wheel balancing weights and that didnt work out too well. Even though I sanded them first, its coming right off. That type of metal is just too smooth for POR to stick to