Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

by zot Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:19 am

Has anyone used POR 15 to repair mild to moderately rusted floor or trunk pans? I have the tools but not the skill or eyesight to weld new panels in myself. Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk? Y16PjhM

Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk? Y16PjhM

Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk? Y9sc22L

Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk? CGlpiun

by thatfnthing Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:04 am

Yep, my passenger front floor looked like photo #1. Used the kit they sell with the fiberglass mesh that you impregnate with the POR 15. Worked great and is still solid ~10 years or so later, but there's a fair number of steps and you have to follow the instructions to the letter.

by clanceman427 Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:23 am

Wow interesting option I might need to look into that myself

by thatfnthing Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:43 am

It's not the prettiest repair, and it's not for structural stuff, but it keeps the water out of the car and no one knows when you cover it with carpet. Smile

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Wed Apr 11, 2018 12:02 pm

I have used POR 15 on several projects in the past. It works good but its fairly difficult to work with. You need to use their special solvent to reduce and clean up with and if you get it on your skin its basically a 30 day tatoo. I switched over to Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator a few years back and it works as good and doesn't require special solvents for clean up and or reducing. Everything I've coated with this stuff several years back still looks freshly painted.

by Joe73 Wed Apr 11, 2018 12:16 pm

All good comments. Most people think you just "paint over rust" (POR), but its not that easy. There are several steps that you must follow before the painting part even begins. If you dont follow it to a T, you will have issues later on.

If its your only option, then follow the steps and give it a shot. Although some areas are not that easy to blast, the best cure for rust is dustless blasting and then some 2K epoxy.

by pila Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:16 pm

I used West System epoxy and fiberglass cloth, over the whole floor after welding in new pieces. If the carpet/floor gets wet, at least the metal wont..
A friend used the bed liner stuff on his floors. It gets quite hard & seems durable...

by zot Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:52 pm

Thanks for the feedback y'all! I was aware of the strict application process but i hadn't actually gotten any decent feedback from actual users who have dealt with it over time. Thanks for that @thatfnthing and @g3chevy! Thanks for your suggestions too @Joe73 a @pila! I got after it with a better wire brush and it looks like metal replacement for the front right pan is probably the route that I need to take. I'm still leaving my decision open for a little more contemplation. I have an older but unopened POR 15 starter kit and some of the fiberglass mat that I might test out on something else first.

by Hs1973 Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:03 am

Im a sertified body repair man, i have been in the business 30 years. I have worked with rust all my life since i live where rust is born, and my experience is that you cant fix rust with Bondo, fiberglass, poprivetet metal, and things like that. Only Way to get rid of rust is to replace the piece or mediablast it. If there is rust anywhere it will keep on growing and eating the metal. There is in my opinion no paint, Bondo or anything Else that you can stop rust with. Most times it is not that hard getting a floor pan replaced or getting a fender patched up right, hell sometimes guys have used more time bondoing over rust. Than it would have taken to fix it right. Rust is like cancer it will keep on eating metal till you cut it out.

by Joe73 Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:55 am

Hs1973 wrote:Im a sertified body repair man, i have been in the business 30 years. I have worked with rust all my life since i live where rust is born, and my experience is that you cant fix rust with Bondo, fiberglass, poprivetet metal, and things like that. Only Way to get rid of rust is to replace the piece or mediablast it. If there is rust anywhere it will keep on growing and eating the metal. There is in my opinion no paint, Bondo or anything Else that you can stop rust with. Most times it is not that hard getting a floor pan replaced or getting a fender patched up right, hell sometimes guys have used more time bondoing over rust. Than it would have taken to fix it right. Rust is like cancer it will keep on eating metal till you cut it out.

I agree 100 percent !! Remove it or blast it.

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:30 am

I agree, if you can media blast it down to bare metal or cut it out and replace it with new metal, you wont be sorry. But for some, neither of these is practical with a very limited budget. That's why there is a market for POR 15 and Rust Encapsulator. And there are others out there as well that work when done using their products specifically as instructed. These are permanent repairs when done correctly. Even well known paint and body guys like Kevin Tetz use these products with great results. Check out Zed Sled, a 1978 Camaro Z-28 that Kevin did a couples years back. The results speak for themselves. What a beautiful car. Check out the links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmRr8R7w1ic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8iph52bvg

by Hs1973 Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:44 am

I have seen alot of cars that have had " rust repair" here someone has fixed a gone floorpan with a wiremesh and fiberglass. Rottet out quarters with tons of Bondo. Its sad to see guys that Think rust is gone when you cant see it anymore. Same goes for grinding Down a rust spot and putting Bondo in the scar left behind, the rust wil sit in the poores and just grow under the bondo. Also using primer on rust or por 15 or whatever wont remove or slow it Down no matter what the ad says, it just makes it look better for a while.

The best Way to start on a resto is to acid dip or mediablast the Shell first. Then you will have a clean shell to start with, a couple of layers of acid etch primer first, then epoxy, and then a little Bondo where needed, then spray filler and then final paint. Then you have a car that lasts forever. And if you then go the ekstra mile and have all caveties sprayed with wax it will last even longer. When doing a floorpan or quarter, you cant be to clean every edge should be clean metal with a good weld primer on and after welding every surface should be cleaned of welds and factory primer etc and then sprayed with a good epoxy primer, then a little Seam sealer where it was original. Not Seam sealer everywhere or rhino liner Bondo or whatever guys can Think of. A patch should be welded and welds grinded back so its hard to see where old and new metal meet. All other ways is a Waste of materiale in my opinion. I know not everyone can do this but practice can get you Real close. Or pay someone to weld it for you. Just my 2 cents

by pila Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:27 pm

I agree with the part about rust not really going away. I had my '75 Elco body sand blasted while on the rotisserie, just because rust never sleeps, no matter what it's covered with or it's encapsulated with..

by zot Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:01 pm

I would LOVE to give my Laguna the V.I.P. treatment but that just isn't in the budget. I will replace what I can but right now, I'm just trying to get it back on the road so I'll have something to drive once my son gets his drivers license and takes over the car that I'm driving now. I have one friend that can help with the skills but after his job, family, and his own car there just isn't a lot of time for him as far as mine goes. The body shops here don't do "custom work". They just want bolt on and paint easy insurance covered jobs. Around here my experience is that I will pay full price for half the service so I just don't trust outsiders on my projects anymore. The last time that I trusted an outsourced job to help, my car just sat, I lost parts mysteriously, and my car wasn't in any better shape after the fact.

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Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

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Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

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Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

Re: Anyone used POR 15 to repair their floor pan or trunk?

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