Aside from Powder coating the frame, what is my next best option?

I am open to any suggestions.

I have heard POR-15, and Eastwood Internal Frame coating thrown around as top products for sealing the frame effectively and making it nice and pretty. I also heard using evapo-rust on the inside of the frame does a primo job at making it ready for the Eastwood sealant.

I would love to hear some techniques of those who have really gotten at it with weatherproofing the frame of their cars.

 

Forget Evapo Rust on the inside of the frame. Evapo Rust requires complete submersion of the part which isn't too feasible unless you have hundreds of gallons of the stuff and a VERY LARGE tank hold it and submerge the frame in. It's not a rust convertor like the acid based products such as Ospho, etc.

 

Ok - thanks for the advise 70Post. So would the acid based conversion products (like Ospho) work for my application?

 

I'd probably look into the Eastwood internal frame coating and see what, if any, prep steps it calls for. Ospho, etc may "convert" the rust but it's still a relatively unprotected surface after you are done. Also....you don't have a lot of control over the application inside those areas and you can easily "over phosphate" the surface....meaning the product can leave a powdery residue which will cause adhesion problems for any coatings you apply afterwards.

The Eastwood stuff may say to just apply over grease/oil free metal, whatever the condition...you need to see what they call for.

Don't overthink it.....if the inside of the frame isn't HEAVILY rusted and the car's not going to be driven on salted/snow/slushy roads and will remain dry then you don't need to go crazy on it.

You could also look into EWood's Rust Encapsulator product...but the internal frame coating may be the same stuff just in a different color to make it appear "different" (ie...that's how you take a product and "re-market it" as something else).

 

Roger that, thanks for the help - very useful information. I will do some more reading and post some progress pics while I am doing the application to let you know how it goes.

 

Just curious, is this being done to a frame off project? Also is it a boxed frame?

I'd epoxy prime and top coat. Todays paint are pretty tough. Look what
lasted 40-50 years under a car with just paint. (not counting salted roads)
Have the frame sand blasted and paint it. I don't buy the super paint gimicky stuff.

My 2cents.

 

I used PURPLE POWER, get it at Auto Zone. It treats the rust and acts as a primer for painting. Price is very resonable. I used it on my frame and liked the results.

 

nonhog - Yes and Yes!

I spent the last few days tearing down the body to just the shell (done - phew). All I need to do now is take the body off of the frame then lift the engine/tranny out. I'm looking a little ahead, but I would like to be prepared and informed when I get there.

Thanks for your 2cents! I have been using Rustoleum products generally (I work for RPM and thus get a discount) on the rest of the chassis parts, and am pretty satisfied with the finish. I do have a sandblasting setup, and have been very meticulous about my rust removal work so far.

Nilsson - I will definitely look into the Purple Power product. Thanks

 

I just did my frame horns and engine cross member with POR15. Some of the places turned out good, other spots had a lot of what I would call air bubbles. It was probably "applyor error", but I wasn't happy with the results, so I an scuffing it down, and going to apply expoxy primer and paint on them. I did that to my CA's and I was happy with the way they turned out. I will say the Por15 is tough stuff to scuf.

 

I have read that the bubbles are caused by humidity issues in your paint area when using Por15 app... I think it was you need a low humidity level when using por15, less than 50 percent. Need to recheck that though.

Lot Of folks around here really like Por15 For the frame, And interior floor boards.

 

http://por15bc.com/por-15.htm

 

I just happened to lift the body a few inches off my '67 Delmont 88 today and cleaned/coated the frame. This weekend we only did the parts of the frame that are not accessible when the body is on the mounts.

We used a chassis black from the local NAPA store. Unfortunately, I don't remember the brand but, judging how I still have black spots on my hands that will not clean off, I'm guessing it's similar to what my brother used on his 1965 Mustang fastback a few years ago. It's over $30/quart but is supposed to prevent rust and is tough as hell.

The process that I used--the arduous pain in the butt process:
1. Wire brush the areas that need to be coated.
2. Grind the areas that are accessible with a flapper grinding wheel--since we only lifted the body 5 inches or so this was the outside of the rails and a few other areas.
3. Scuff all areas with 40-grit sandpaper and a little more wire brushing.
4. Blow off all areas to be treated with compressed air.
5. Brush on a heavy coat of coating that has not been thinned.
6. Hope that you don't have a blow out of your rubber gloves.
7. Let dry a couple of hours, reinstall the rubber mounts and set the car back on to the mounts.
8. Bitch, curse and complain about that &%#$@* coating that won't clean off your body.

If you are interested I'll get the brand next weekend when I go back to the father-in-law's garage.

When I do the part of the frame that is visible in the engine compartment I will thin and spray it.

 

Also, I agree with 70Post that it is hard to prep the inside of your frame unless you dip and pickle the whole frame in nitric acid or something to clean it. With that being said, I will probably get a couple of cans of that inside frame coating/rust preventive stuff from Eastwood and, after blowing out as much debris as possible, try to coat the inside of the frame.

Whatever you use it will be good since it forces you to clean and inspect the entire frame for areas that are weak or rusting badly. I used Rustoleum paint on the interior floor and the trunk floor after cleaning it up. I'll coat the trunk with spatter paint at some point. Rustoleum would probably not be too bad on the frame either (it is much cheaper than most frame coatings) but would probably not hold up as well to the abrasion that the frame would be subjected to.

 

Boy, did I miss that. I thought I read some where that it liked humidity as it made it harden faster, but I can't find that now. Maybe it was the chassis saver info. Like I said most likely applyor error. Live and learn I guess.

 

You read correctly Troy - POR, and the other similar paints like Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint, etc, are single component MOISTURE CURED urethanes. More humidity means it sets up a little faster.

 

Awesome - thanks a lot for all of the feed back on this guys. Delmont88 - great walk through on the process. That frame looks great! I will pick up a flapper wheel for my grinder once I get the body off and go to town. Took out the rest of the crap attached to the body (Exhaust, fuel tank, fuel lines, etc), so hopefully I can round up my friends/brothers and get it done this weekend.

Rustoleum products are a LOT cheaper for me too - I work for RPM and just managed to get a whole crap ton of their industrial stuff for free... being friends with the right people helps I guess. So that kind of changes the game. I will try Rustoleum first and let you guys know how it goes. If I am not happy with the results, I'll just have to strip it all off and go to POR-15. Worth the trial run since it's free. I am definitely going to stick with the Eastwood Internal Frame Coating, since it looks to work and gets a lot of positive reviews.

I also have a couple of ideas for blowing crap out of the inside of the frame that involves a pressure washer and a leaf blower... I'll have to post my method if it works well.

 

If you read the pdf link from Por15 co. themselves that I posted above it will tell you to Use por15 in less than 50% humidity so it doesn't bubble.

 

"NOTE: Bubbling will start to occur when humidity is @ 50% or higher leaving a pebbly-type surface. We recommend the use of a small humidity meter."

 

Interesting enough, if you go to WWW.por15.com/quickindex.asp then go to Por-15 application information. 2 pages. 1st page states that humidity makes it harden quicker. 2nd page states humidity less than 80%. I wonder what the difference is?

 

I will check that contradictory info out. I will also call them to make sure as I'm doing this project in the next week or so using por 15... don't want no expletive bubbles!!

 

Amen to that!! A lot of guys here have had good luck with Por15. All I can say is just my luck, or stupidity. For the record, I wire brushed, wiped down with wax and grease remover three times, etched with Por15 product, let dry and painted. I thought I had it covered. Like, I said live and learn.

 

If humidity makes that coating dry faster it makes sense that it could bubble--if it skins over (sets up on the outside) while the paint underneath is drying too fast it will "pop". I learned this as a young engineer on a large manufacturing paint line. We always wanted to dry the paint as quickly as possible and when we turned the oven temps too high it would solvent pop (even water-based paints which still contain some solvents). So if high humidity makes that paint dry faster it is quite possible that is what caused the bubbles. Just a theory from a guy who has not worked professionally with paint in almost 20 years....

 

Troy,
It really sounds like you did everything pretty much right. So it seems to me like it must of been humidity. A reasonably priced humidity gauge is always a good investment.

 

Sounds right to me.

 

 

Could have been, a humidity gauge would be a good idea for future painting. Any suggestions on where to pick up a decent one?

 

with in the next week or so i would be doing da same i was gonna use chassis saver brush on paint is dat not a good..or should i jus use por15..in miami humidity is always above 75.Have any one on here ever da chassis saver brush on paint

 

POR 15 is the best option besides powder-coating. I used one of their paints on my enigne and it is GREAT!