por 15

[revjim]

would you use this to paint headers or an engine or engine bay??? Your expereinces. Also, what about the inside of the cab? Is this as good as a paint finish? Thanks

[Bugeyev8]

as to engines and headers they have specific types for those, check their web site

as far as engine bay and cab floors, it depends on how you apply it and your expectations, it runs easy either way and dries so slow that you get alot of time for stuff to fall in it

I used it inside all my doors and fenders as well as the entire cab floor, I personally would not paint an engine bay with it

[markeb01]

I’ve read where some people had good results with their manifold paint, although I’ve never used it myself:

http://www.porcan.com/usa/hightempcoatings.asp

I never read that regular POR-15 can tolerate the heat of headers or exhaust manifolds. It may hold up well on an engine and would be worth researching. I’ve read posts where some guys love it, and others have had dreadful experiences painting engine blocks. Don’t know if that was product failure or bad prep.

My experience has been it holds up fantastic on interior and under hood areas. For chassis parts that are exposed to rock chips I’ve found Zero Rust does a better job and lasts longer. POR dries rock hard, but if it does get chipped moisture can be trapped under the fractured surface causing rust to form underneath. Zero Rust (in my experience) doesn’t chip, but I don’t believe they offer a high gloss finish like POR:

http://www.zerorustusa.com/

Most of the POR-15 paints are not designed to be exposed to direct sunlight without a second topcoat like BlackCote or Chassis Coat Black, or FlexCote. I’ve used their Stirling Silver paint with great results. It has very high solids. I painted my gas pedal with it about 5 years ago. All it needs is a quick wipe and it looks like new again. My clutch and brake pedals were painted with regular POR-15 about 15 years ago and still look nice and shiny:



POR has isocyanates in it so I only apply it by brush. If you’re going to spray it you should be using breathing gear because isocyanates can be absorbed through the skin and eyes. By comparison Zero Rust has no isocyanates so it is relatively safer.

If you do use POR, mind the directions which recommend removing a quantity of paint from the can and sealing it back up. They point out to never get any paint in the groove or the can will be permanently sealed, and they aren’t kidding. Also if you get any on your skin and don’t remove it before it dries, it will be there for a week or so until it wears away, so wear gloves and be careful not to spatter any on your face.

[jocko]

concur with bugeye - i would not either. The idea of POR 15 is great, sealed for eternity and all, but personally I would only use it on the frame and inside stuff like bugeye mentioned. I WOULD use POR 15's engine and header paint for those specific applications, but not the basic black POR 15 on something that heat cycles like an engine or headers. Just about the only thing I've ever found that lasts on headers is a real ceramic coat. It's not cheap, so sometimes I just choose to let em rust...

Also agree with bugeye that it's kinda messy to use... Another good option for interior/floor, etc that you might consider is lizard skin or shark skin - they both seal like POR 15, but they seem like a better option for interior stuff.

Lookin forward to seein how you go!

[65GMCFirstride]

As for using POR-15 for the engine bay and inside of the cab i would only recomend applying it inside the cab and if you have rust on the pillars bellow the door and near the rocker panle cut it ou and apply the por 15 about 5 inches past where you cut the metal out the inside of the cab is easy to do and i also used por i5 on my frame insted of powder coating it because of my budget.