POR-15 / 4x4labs rear bumper (1 Viewer)

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UWdave

Joined
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Looking for a little advise from the Mud hive-mind.

My details: Live in the NW, primarily wheeling rig

The current dilemma:
A - rattle can rustoleum primer/bedliner (simple, $30, Walmart is down the street)
B - Por-15 & CHASSISCOAT ($90, wait for shipping)

Is the POR worth the money? I've heard it has sticking problems to smooth metal.

$90 is for a pint of POR15, pint of CHASSISCOAT, quart of cleaner, and quart of prep. Is that enough?
 
UWdave said:
Looking for a little advise from the Mud hive-mind.

My details: Live in the NW, primarily wheeling rig

The current dilemma:
A - rattle can rustoleum primer/bedliner (simple, $30, Walmart is down the street)
B - Por-15 & CHASSISCOAT ($90, wait for shipping)

Is the POR worth the money? I've heard it has sticking problems to smooth metal.

$90 is for a pint of POR15, pint of CHASSISCOAT, quart of cleaner, and quart of prep. Is that enough?
Click to expand...

I plan on doing that with my bumper once I have it done. I will lay a base of POR15 and then a satin black over top. I have used a lot of POR 15 on my cars and trucks. It sticks best to sand blasted surfaces that it can get some teeth into I did an axle with it and only the hardest rock its would scratch it.

For a rear bumper that is fresh metal (not blasted or surface rusted) I would use there metal prep it gives it a etched look that the POR15 can then attach to. Do not get the POR15 on your skin you can not get it off once dry. Also do not get it anywhere that is threaded you will be fighting with a tap trying to clean it out once dry.

Good Luck.
 
IMHO, I think you would regret using POR. Personally, it's driving in the winter with gravel on the roads & actual gravel roads that destroys my front bumpers paint. If you don't have this where you are, than use whatever. I'd got 1 year out of powdercoat and regret the waste of money. Definitely less lwith POR-15.

Either make touch up easy (spraybomb with primer and top coat), or do it proper.

Couple of coats of PPG/generic epoxy primer would be cheaper, stronger and easier to touch up..... Top coat with a couple coats of whatever. Thats the route I'm going. Only time will tell. Good luck man.
 
POR15 will peel off like a sticker if you dont rough that metal up..I use muratic acid on two axles that I had sand blasted and two trips to DV it still holding good....
POR15 cures much much better on a rainy and cold day...
Also POR15 is sensitive to UV rays and will brake down.. so if you use it on areas exposed to sun you gotta top coat it with rattle can....
I much rather do a rattle can.. cheaper and last just as long... specially for bumpers...
 
Im going to disagree with the previous statements. I have used POR-15 on quite a few applications, and as long as you prep correctly, it is much more durable than paint, and just as easy to touch up (unlike powder-coating). It does need top-coating with either their "chassis coat" or rattle can. Chassis coats seems a but more durable, but rattle can is easier to keep nice. Another alternative is Monsta-liner. They have a "paint" that is supposedly comparable to POR-15, a bit cheaper, and easier to acquire.

Most anything is going to scrape off if you hit a rock. But for daily driving, and rock chips, and what not. POR15 will outlast most rattle can stuff IMO.
 
On my labs bumper I plan on rusteloum zinc primer and use the rusteloum oil based enamel with hardner and I'm going to probably spray both with a cheapie touch up gun. I read goods and bad about the POR. If you google "rusteloum paint job" you will see people have had good results.
 
Before I got my LC, I was active in the 240Z community, and over there POR-15 is pretty well regarded (those cars are rust traps to the extreme and unibody to boot, so prevention is a huge deal for them). As long as you prepare the surface properly (used the two prep products the same company sells, Marine Clean (wash) and Metal Ready(etcher)), it'll get a really great bond to the surface and be tough as nails... to the point where it was almost an act in futility if you decided later that you wanted to remove it. It works great if you follow their instructions.

From what I'd seen, UV exposure caused it to fade pretty quickly, but it seemed to be purely cosmetic and still seemed to be the same from a functional standpoint (I may be wrong on this, I have never performed even rudimentary durability tests on it or anything). This was mainly a problem in wheel wells, etc, that saw direct sunlight.

I've only used it with a brush, so it always looked pretty crude. I wouldn't apply it somewhere that showed personally, I'd go for something nicer on any exposed surfaces.

Also, be careful, as it cures it releases isocyanates (think cyanide), so proper ventilation is extremely important.
 
Why spend $90 for just the POR15 when you can get the $20 starter kit that includes everything? One starter kit was enough to paint both my sliders. You might need 2 to do a bumper though. My sliders were rattle canned and the front caps didn't last a week before wearing off and rusting. You can rattle can bed liner it after the POR15 if you hit it with 320 grit first. You have to cover it with something though since it's not UV rated. My sliders are hazy now after 6 months but not pealing at all.
 
As others said, POR-15 does sunfade drastically (even in our state!) - and really it's best used as a rusty metal paint (POR = Paint Over Rust), and will peel like a giant sticker off anything close to new metal, but if it has rust or good etching, it "bites" & holds excellent.

I'd sandblast the thing with coarse sand or garnet, & basecoat w/ POR-15 all the inside surfaces you can't access without removing the bumper, and paint all exterior facing portions after that with standard rattlecan black since it won't fade & look crappy like entirely coating in POR-15 would result by the end of this Summer.
 
If you have to sandblast the metal to get a descent bond and do 3 more steps, why would you use POR-15 when there are much better finishes with proven track records (PPG epoxy primer or hot dip galvanize) for the same price or cheaper? I haven't hear one complaint with those products..... From ships, frame-offs... to practically every industrial steel building.
But hey, to each there own. Good luck!
 
Personally I'd powder coat it.

I have had good luck with POR but you do need a top coat or your black will be shades of weird grey after the UV gets to it. I'm sure there are other great epoxy based paint products out there but have not tried any of them. I have a quality powder coater in my area and use him all the time.
 
Decision made:
Rustoleum Sandable Primer done last night (link, wish Walmart had the "filler primer" for my crappy welds"
Rustoleum Truck Bed Coating Spray (link)

Cheap and easy. I'll touch up as required.

On Powder Coat: I would never use again on a trail rig. My Metaltech sliders and Slee tc skid plate are less than 2 years old and I constantly have to wire brush and paint. Both the products are great, just PC isn't meant for rock rubbing.

On POR/RustBuster/etc: Too much work and money for too little return.
 
Lemme know how that works out. Pics would be nice of the final coating.
 
I just use regular Rusto rattle can primer and the Rusto textured rattle can.
My junk gets so scraped up during the year that I end up repainting at least 3-4 times a year which is cheap and easy with rattle can
 
Good move. Nothing is easier than a bit of rattle can touchup, and as you pointed out, touchup is a reality for any coating if you are going to wheel it.
 
Rattle can it. It's easy to repair and looks good. I've had my 4x4Labs bumper now for about 2 years and it still looks good. I just occasionally touch up any areas that have been scraped.
 
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