VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood What to Paint Frame With?

My frame and rear end have some major pitting. The frame in only bad in certain areas. I plan to clean this up best that I can but was wondering what would be the best to use to fill up the pits. Paint will never do it. Will this POR 15 stuff work?

See the USA in your Chevrolet
1930 Sport Coupe

Hi 1930SportCoupe, I plan on trying the POR 15 on my frame. I heard a lot of positive feed back from other car and tractor restorers so am going to give it a try. How soon do you have to know what kind of job it does? I received my order last week but might be 2 or 3 weeks before I try it. I could let you know what I think of it. The reason I'm using it is because they say brushing it on is the way to go and that I can do myself. I also plan on driving mine quite a bit so it won't be for top show. If you e-mail them at www.por15.com they'll send you a catalog. Good Luck.

Pro 15 is good but it will not fill in pits.Its like a good coat of paint and will make the pits more noticeable.A Bondo type body filler will work fine -if the rust is blasted out of the pits.Otherwise you could Pro 15 it first and apply the Bondo over it.The Pro 15 needs to be painted over-no reason the Bondo shouldn't adhere to it.

On my 1930 Sport Coupe frame, I first had it sandblasted. Then I filled the pits with an epoxy metal type of filler, and then block sanded. I then applied about 3 to 4 coats of primer and then I spray painted the frame with black PPG acrylic enamel with the catalyst. The frame came out fantastic! :cool2:

They said at POR15 it dosen't have to be painted over unless it has contact with sun light so the frame doesn't have to be except for maybe the few parts that stick out. Like I mentioned, mine is going to be a driver so if you are going to have a show car maybe you'd want all the little pits filled up. I'm axious to see what mine will look like.

I used POR 15 on my frame and also used a top coat of their product,although you can apply any brand of top coat.I would highly suggest you put something over the base finish,plus the top coat is to be applied with the base still a bit tacky ..chef-

P.S.I painted a manhole cover in my driveway with POR15 a year ago and it still looks the same as the day it was painted..chef-

Did you use a top coat on your manhole cover? :confused:

Yes,the same as the frame with POR15 chassis black,it is a semi gloss,chef-

I beleive that if the POR 15 is top coated, it must be done while the paint is still tacky.

I painted the sub frame of my Nova with the semi gloss and it looks good. If it is scratched though it will peel off in small chunks.

My brother painted the frame for a project truck, and let it sit outside in the sun for a yer. The paint is now chalky. They do have another prouct that he can use to paint over the oiginal coat.

My experience with POR-15 is: DON'T.

POR 15 is moisture cured polyurethane paint. Since the isocyanate is aromatic it is not UV stable. I have heard that they improved the stability but do not know what it might be.

The advantage of POR and similar products is they can stabilize hydrated iron oxide (red or dark brown rust). Once you eliminate air and or water then more rust will not form. So you can paint over rust (POR) and stablilze it.

But if you need to top coat it when tacky what have you really accomplished. Why not sand blast and spray paint with etching primer, sealing primer and then top coating with polyurethane and do it right in the first place? Or take the frame to the local power coater and have them do it. Here it is cheaper to have it powder coated than sand blast and paint. And I have all the equipment to sand blast and paint myself. The materials cost more than paying someone to powder coat. No brainer as far as I am concerned.

I agree with Chipper Dipper. POR-15 is an excellent paint to use on such things as wheelbarrows, yard tools and etc. However, if you want to do a quality job on your vintage Chevy, then do as Chipper suggested....either have your frame powder coated or use a high quality primer and paint system from a name brand company, like PPG. After all, your old Chevrolet deserves the best that you can give it, whether it is a show car or a driver.

Hey Ray... "Don't" what? Don't paint over the old POR? Or don't use POR at all? I've never used it, so I have no first hand experience.

Chip: I'm amazed that it's cheaper to powder coat than to blast and paint, even after the cost advantage of doing the blasting and painting yourself! However, I admit that I haven't painted for at least a decade, and even then the cost of paint was getting outrageous. So I guess the cost differential shouldn't come as a surprise.

Still, I hesitate to powder coat. I've heard that powder coating is brittle and also doesn't hold up well to the environment. I'm still in the Dog's camp: I think blast - etch/epoxy prime - urethane topcoat is the way to go. PPG is probably the vendor I'd go with, although Dupont has some interesting materials.

I know these discussions have been on this site a few times, it would be nice to have a tech article area where "we" could work on them, polish them and keep them up to date. Maybe such a thing should be on the VCCA site.

Hi Grumpy,

I would not use POR for ANY purpose. I bought a Model "T" Runabout that had been painted underneath and other places with POR. After a year I gave up and sold the unit. You can't remove it, it looks like S***, it was totally unacceptable.

We do have a spot on the forum for the purpose you describe. That was the intent when we established the "Tech Talk".

Thanks Ray, it's this kind of advice and access to experience that keeps me in the VCCA!

This is not advise but is what I did over 30 years ago.When I "restored" my 1934 that I purchased in 1970 I wire brushed the frame and brushed on Rustoleum.Gloss black was all that was available back then.The frame was rusted but not deeply pitted for the most part.The car has been used in the summer and stored in an unheated garage in the winter.If I were were to wash and scrub the frame today it will look as good as when it was painted. This goes for various brackets etc. under the car and in the engine compartment.I have used PRO 15 for other automotive applications and for the most part would not recommend it either.Especially over loose rust.

Any other comments on Rustoleum?

I used rustoleum on the rear of the frame before I decided to do the body off. After I sprayed it on, I didn't like it at all. I think I am going to just go with a gloss or semi gloss paint after I spray it with some epoxy.

I totally dislike Rustoleum. I have never had good results with it, the paint lacks quality, and I rate it right down there with POR-15. :( :( :( :(

I don't know if Rustoleum uses the same formula as in the past but they used fish oil as part of the base. It helped the paint to penetrate into the rust structure and produce a relatively thick coat. All anti-rust paints attempt to eliminate water from getting to the base iron. If you keep oxygen and/or water from getting to the iron then you will not get rust. It takes all three to make rust. If the rust is loose the paint will sometimes bond it but may not penetrate well enough to keep water out. Re-rusting will quickly occur. If the surface is contaminated with oil or grease Rustoleum will work better that some others but likely not completely.

Since all coatings only cover the existing surface they will reflect imperfections in the surface. Because many are "high build" they will make the surface smoother than uncoated but not as good as proper surface preparation. But because they are high build are more prone to cracking from shrinkage. Modern top coats are purposely made to be low build to reduce cracking and crazing.

If you can understand the chemistry behind the coatings you can begin to understand the advantages and disadvantages in each type coating. One way to get a good working knowledge is to read the label on the can and the MSDS or other safety information. If its primary attribute is to stop rust, you can be sure that show grade surface is not a priority. If you can get an acceptable surface with a paint brush, you can be sure that it dries slowly and bugs and dirt will love it.

It ain't rocket science but it is not that simple either. Each manufacturer does things a little differently. Since they understand the chemistry of their paint systems it is best to stay with one manufacturer. It is particularly important if the coats are to chemically bond. If they adhere because of surface roughness then it is not as important but correct roughness and cleanliness is vital.