pacekar

im getting ready to restore one of my cars so im on the fence about which way to do the frame ac brackets inner fenders core support etc i want to know the cons of both of them. my car is in the body shop and coming out in a couple weeks

Boldsmobile

Are you covering rusted or bare metal parts?

Napoleon Solo

In my experience, there's not a lot of cons on the POR 15 side. I work with multiple powder coat shops and I am sending all sorts of parts from inner fenders to pulley brackets and cadillac frames out for powder after blasting. Most of the high end resto shops I work with go for powder but the main issue is chipping. The powder is very tough stuff but when it does chip, it chips right to the bare steel and secondly it's difficult to touch up.
Having said that, POR 15 says you can apply it directly to rusty surfaces but I'd never try it. When I had my truck painted, I thinned out some black POR 15 and sprayed my frame. I probably thinned it too much cuz it's looking a little thin after three years. If applied correctly this stuff is fairly bulletproof. It hardens with almost a rubbery texture. The other advantage is you can just let it run into nooks and crannies whereas powder can't get everywhere.

I just had this discussion with my paint guy this evening. He's convinced me to go wet coat paint on all of my goodies for my '64 cutlass resto. Gunmetal grey.

Anyway, food for thought.

Solo out...

pacekar

i going to sand blast everything my gut tells me por 15 didnt thing about the chipping part on powder coating

Boldsmobile

POR 15 prefers rust. Read instructions carefully and paint over it because uv degrades it.

Bernhard

After sand blasting epoxy primer followed by a top coat.
I would use a brand name quality primer and paint like PPG.

This has to done in a booth wearing the right safety gear, this is not a DIY home garage type application.
They are body shop products/industrial coatings.

Boilerz25

I have done both and I feel like the frame and brackets and things like that are best with powdercoating (using a primer). For other things like control arms and items that will see more wear and tear I would use the POR-15. Yes it is messy and requires the proper preparation but POR-15 is very durable.

I have some photos of the frame I had coated in my build post.

Sean

TK-65

POR 15 is absolute garbage. Brushing paint on rusty metal sounds like the most half-assed way to waste your time.

I paint my frames because I can fill in all the pits and make them smooth. I now powdercoat my inner fenders and core supports because it comes out beautiful and is cheaper than paint. I paint my suspension parts with a gun or a good rattle can. What I dont do is ever paint anything with a brush or use POR 15.

RandyS

Power Coating lends itself more to thiings that don't normaly flex a lot, like frames and control arms. As mentioned, if it chips, it's hard to do an un-noticeble repair.

jstrits

I was anti- powder coat before I dived in. Im hooked! I do frames, core supports, top plates and brackets now. For one it saves ALOT of time and is reasonable. Have you ever tried to strip prime and paint a core support properly? Alot of nooks and crannies. It lays out nice and is durable. I canty stand por15. A super high gloss brushed on look end result...very tacky in my eyes. My oponion though. It's not cost effective to sit by the blaster for hours and paint all these parts vs dropping tjem off and picking them up days later. Keep in mind the better the part to start the better it will look. Pitted parfsy will need attention unless you are not to worried about it.

smash72

I Dip smaller parts in the Por-15 instead of brushing comes out awesome. I actually got a large Tupperware with a lid to preserve the leftover. I dipped all brackets light lenses, body supports,etc. hung them from a makeshift clothesline in my garage let them drip right back in Tupperware. Looks like I sent them out.
As far as sunlight goes and rust I prefer to get rid of the rust then top coat anything that might get exposed to sunlight. Por15 also makes the spray in top coat. So far so good.