What's the deal with POR 15

[wdfifteen]

I was looking up body Schutz and kept coming up with links to POR 15. I have of course heard of it, but never used it. I used the Google machine to try to find some info on this stuff, but I find a lot of glowing reviews and a LOT of offers to sell me some, but nothing about what it actually is.
So I'm turning to the brain trust. What is it chemically and what does it actually do? Has anybody used it? What for?

[nota]

super duper modern rustoleum

paint under coat

no I have not used it

[GH85Carrera]

I have used in once in a small area. It is basically a chemical treatment to steel that is supposed to convert rust to paint like protection. It stinks a LOT, so you have to do it in a very well ventilated area, and it if gets on your skin, you will have to wait for your skin to grow new skin from underneath and the skin to fall off to get it off of you. So it bonds to skin real well.

It was so stinky, I only used it once, and in a very small area. It seems to have worked.

[Chocaholic]

The PO of my 87 Targa had a VR go bad and the battery spewed all over the gas tank. When I got it there were large areas of surface rust on the tank. I wire brushed those areas and lightly sanded. Cleaned up all the dust and coated liberally with POR-15. I don’t recall bad odor or contact issues. It left a shiny silver smooth finish that held up perfectly for years. The stuff should be painted as it’s sensitive to UV. In my case, it was under the hood and covered with carpet so I didn’t bother. It did a great job.

But no idea about chemical composition or such.

[Tervuren]

They offer lots of different products now, including UV ok.

It is a polymer coating instead of a traditional paint.

I dislike doing body/paint work, but have found it easy to work with despite that.

[Sunroof]

BULLET PROOF!! I have used it to coat my oil tank, gas tank and miscellaneous parts on my 911. Its a fantastic coating.

[Zeke]

POR 15 is a polyurethane based coating. Just like Gorilla Glue, moisture is a catalyst in the curing process. It's tough stuff and yes, there are many equivalents. The key to arresting rust is to seal it off from moisture and oxygen. Most paints are inadequate, but not all.

I have occasionally used POR 15 and fiberglass cloth to make a repair over slightly rusted metal. This is superior to polyester resin and cloth.

When storing POR 15 or Gorilla it is best to remove air from the container. I use flexible plastic containers that I can squeeze. Leave air (moisture) in there and in a month you will have unusable product. Do not get any on your skin as it will stain and not come out except with time.

[NY65912]

Just make sure to wear gloves or you'll be wearing POR 15 for a week or longer on your hands.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by NY65912

Just make sure to wear gloves or you'll be wearing POR 15 for a week or longer on your hands.

+1000 on the above. I don't know how good it *really* is vs other similar rust treatments (who tests these things?), but it will certainly not come off your fingers... It's like the superglue of paints, glues nothing but sticks to your fingers... no, I kid, I've used it a lot over the years and never had any reason to doubt it works... Never had to reapply and never saw rust return under it. Their other products are good too, the putty they have works well too... It's a little shiny though, I wish POR15 had less of a glossy finish...

[JackDidley]

When I bought my truck the frame had been steam cleaned and welded on and left out in the weather for a while. No heavy rust but lots of it. I prepped it and sprayed it with POR 15. The stuff sprays nice. Protect anything that you do not want painted. It doe not come off. Fumes are strong when spraying so a good resperator is needed. I sprayed several light coats. No need for reducer, it sprays good as is. I bought a gallon. Probably only needed a quart. Poured from the can into Mason jars and sealed up tight and it stores nicely. It is a good product .

[beatnavy]

Some people love it, some can't stand it. As mentioned (several times) there are equivalents.

I've used it a handful of times. My recommendation: follow the instructions exactly. If the prep is not done thoroughly and correctly it is very possible you will be disappointed. Also (as mentioned), keep out of sunlight, as UV will break it down. Either top coat it or put something else over it.

[Evans, Marv]

I've used it off & on since maybe the early '90s. Things I've coated with it have held up well over the years & I don't remember any applications failing. It reminds me of powder coating. I think it is(was) a urethane paint (don't know about the poly part) and needs to be used in a well ventilated area. Maybe ten years ago I had a water tank welded up and gave the fabricator some POR-15 to be painted on the inside welds. I told him to make sure there was good ventilation. He came back later on & told me the "kid" he put inside the tank had to do it in three sessions because he got too woozy to finish it all in one session. I reminded him about the ventilation & he said he forgot about that. I would imagine they've improved it since I started using it. The good thing about it is you don't have to totally eliminate the rust, but get rid of the scale, clean up the surface and apply the POR-15 when the surface has some "tooth" to it. I think it is Northern Tool that sells a "rust encapsulator" that is pretty good.

[flipper35]

I used it on an older motorcycle tank on the inside. I used the kit to strip, prep and seal the tank. Good stuff and the inside of the tanks is all silver now. Along with the garage floor where it leaked out of the tank where I taped the petcock opening and it ate through the foam it was sitting on.

Need to get some for the aluminum tank in the Cobra because there is a couple spots they did not weld it properly and has a couple pinhole leaks.

[sammyg2]

Can't hep it .... all this talk about not getting it on your skin:


https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-do-i-get-herculiner-off-of-my-hootus.18595/

[cabmandone]

My B.I.L coated a frame after I sandblasted it using POR15 paint. The stuff is pretty brittle and it will chip. I used a less expensive product called Chasis Saver. Same basic stuff.

[regency]

I've used it on my 1970 FJ40 restoration, I wire brushed the entire frame then a couple coats of POR 15 then a couple top coats of black semi gloss spray paint. I also coated the under side of the body prior to primer.

Steve

[VincentVega]

I followed the steps pretty closely, but I'm not a body shop. Seemed to work ok on my truck rockers until I found out the POR15/paint was the only thing there. Didnt stop the rusty truck, but who knows, maybe I didnt get everything I thought I did.

[1990C4S]

I think the prep product (phosphoric acid) is more important than the top coat paint. But I do like POR.

[wdfifteen]

I may end up using it on my trailer, I’d like something tough that will take a beating.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Zeke

POR 15 is a polyurethane based coating. Just like Gorilla Glue, moisture is a catalyst in the curing process. It's tough stuff and yes, there are many equivalents. The key to arresting rust is to seal it off from moisture and oxygen. Most paints are inadequate, but not all.

I have occasionally used POR 15 and fiberglass cloth to make a repair over slightly rusted metal. This is superior to polyester resin and cloth.

When storing POR 15 or Gorilla it is best to remove air from the container. I use flexible plastic containers that I can squeeze. Leave air (moisture) in there and in a month you will have unusable product. Do not get any on your skin as it will stain and not come out except with time.

Totally agree. I had a few pinholes in the rear seat buckets of my 911T due to a leaking rear window. Because I was poor at the time and the 911 was my daily driver, I used fiberglass cloth and POR15 to "repair" the area and it was impressively strong. Coated both the upper and lower surface and it was a very robust repair considering the minimal investment. It also dripped only my garage floor and I had to chisel it off. Very impressive stuff.