POR15 on Pot Metal?

[frankc]

I have the tail light housings out of the car, and when cleaning them, I noticed that the exterior of the housings (the part exposed in wheel well) originally had some type of silver finish that has mostly come off over the years. I would like to put some type of finish on them again, but given that the housing are die-cast pot metal, adhesion will be a problem with most products.

The POR15 website states that their product can be used on galvanized steel if etched with Metal Ready first (I have done this with good results so far). So, since pot metal is mostly zinc, I was wondering if POR15 can also be used pot metal. Has anyone ever tried this? I have searched here and Google but could not find any references.

I did find one reference stating that epoxy primer can be used as a base for pot metal - basically anything that is non-porous - which is why I was thinking that POR15 would be a suitable product. I will call their tech support on Monday to verify, but would appreciate any feedback from experience in the meantime.

Thanks

[sc_rufctr]

I can't see why not. I've used POR-15 on lots of different surfaces and I've never had an issue.

FWIW... I painted my housings with "anti-rust" rattle can epoxy. That was over ten years ago and they're still fine.

[frankc]

For those that would like to know the answer from POR15 tec support, they stated POR15 can be used on pot metal as long as you follow the normal steps for any POR15 application of:

1) Marine Clean (or whatever it's called these days)
2) Metal Ready
3) POR15

I performed steps 1 & 2 and applied my first thin coat of silver POR15 this evening. I'll apply a couple more coats tomorrow and report back if I discover any issues down the road.