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What would you guys recommend painting my frame with? I was looking into por 15 but some guys say it was pealling of.The truck isnt going to see winter or salt but it will be exposed to rain and mud, At the moment it still has the factory undercoating on it and it is just starting to show its age... o and its a 1976 f150 ranger xlt form claifornia
Do not use POR 15 as paint. It will peel. It is only meant to be painted over rust. It doesn't stick well to clean metal. Powder coat would probably be the best option. You could always just have it painted with a good quality paint, but I would go for the powder coat. It will probably cost a bit more but it will last forever.
I considered powder coating the Pumkin's frame when I started the restoration but decided against it for two reasons. I've seen quite a few "bad" powder coating jobs where the rust starts to form under the powder coat and starts to bubble up. Unfortunately there is no way I know of to tell good from bad untill it happens. You have to go on reputation and even sometimes that doesn't work out too well. The second reason was if powder coating is chipped or damaged it's not a simple matter to "touch it up" and be done.
What I finally decided on was paint. I sandblasted the frame then sprayed it with two coats of Rustoleum red rusty metal primer followed by two coats of Valspar semi-gloss black Industrial Enamel Coating.
Here's how it turned out.
I've done two frames as mikeooooo describes. Works well and costless easy to touchup. Once the mud hits it will never look the same whatever the finish so take lots of pics first.
I'd stay away from undercoating because if you ever want to take it off its a pain. Rattle can is the way I'm going. With clear coat over the top to keep it shiny and clean.
I"ve used some products from Eastwoods. I'd sandblast the frame and get it clean, spray on 1-2 coats of epoxy primer OR Eastwoods has Rust Encapsulator in spray bombs with I think is much like an epoxy primer then I'd top coat with 2-3 coats of Chassis Black (Eastwoods spray bombs). You will be able to touch up the frame later if it starts to rust aroudn the rivets or if it gets chipped. Simply touch up with the Rust Encapsulator and top coat with the Chassis black. I"ve used these products on my frame and am happy with the results. You will hate yourself if you have it powder coated - it will chip, water gets under the coating and starts popping off all the powder coat with no convenient way to touch it up or seal it up again. Save your money.
I por15'ed my highboys frame and axles when I did it up.
Its all about how ever much money you want to spend.
What I'd recommend? Strip the frame, blast it. Get it powder coated. Oh wait thats not very practical I guess. But thats the best you can get.
If you don't want to spend that much.
Blast the frame, spray it in some air craft grade Emron.
Still to much? Clean it up and POR15 it. I used por15 and then top coated it with their black chassis coat. I torture this stuff because all i do with my highboy is fourwheel it. Half the time it doesn't get washed. I prepped the surface correctly using their degreaser and metal ready or w/e it is called. And mine has a couple spots that have peeled. But to be honest I'm not sure if it peeled off or a scraped it off. Anyways, its an easy fix. Thats the good thing about por15 is its real easy to touch up if you need to.
And if yer a real cheap ***. Go clean the frame, go to lowes and get some bedliner in a can. Also easy to touch up.
Overall, POR15 is hands down the toughest paint I've ever used. And I bought a gallon of each the por15 and chassis coat (which was way to much). I plan on using it again myself and would recommend it to anyone thinking about purchasing it.
I used the POR-15 when I rebuilt Old Blue. I also used it on my old Datsun 280Z when I rebuilt it. The important thing is to get all grease, etc off the areas to be painted. If you read the directions, it will tell you that much as well as to cover it with regular paint for protection.
The Datsun and Old Blue have several coats of Gloss Black Hot Rod paint purchased from Auto Zone over the POR-15. Ten years on the Datsun and three years on Blue and still no peeling.
I have had good results with red Rustoleum primer and SG black Rustoleum top coat. Also good results with Eastwood rust Encapsulator primer and any quality topcoat.
What are you starting with? A bare frame lends itself to different methods/products, as does the equipment you have to work with. POR-15 doesn't like clean bare metal as it's name implies (Paint Over Rust).