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Frame Refinishing - POR 15

b25bsaboy

New member
Good evening to everyone,

All my restoration projects have involved powder coating the black parts with good success. I recently rebuilt an open cargo trailer and tried POR 15 gloss black car frame paint and was amazed to the toughness, which led me to think, “would this work on a BMW R series frame restoration”?

Thought I would put the questsion out to the group.
 
Killer paint, not "show" quality, but tough as nails.

Powder coat... I don't do that anymore on vehicles. Once it's been nicked moisture can migrate under the coating and starts to rust.
 
I used POR 15 on a new mower deck 15 years ago, thing is still holding up well. For motorcycle frames I have no experience, but would think if your going for a fancy restoration that a high quality enamel or epoxy would work better. Powder coating IMOP is a very good and durable all-round finish. Any of these finishes require very good prep, all rust must be removed and bare metal coated before flash rusting can occur.
 
POR-15 has worked great for me. Powder coat- not so much for the exact reasons Lew mentioned.
POR-15 should be top-coated for best results. Eastwood https://www.eastwood.com Has a great selection of the products and info on obtaining the best results.
OM
 
POR-15 has worked great for me. Powder coat- not so much for the exact reasons Lew mentioned.
POR-15 should be top-coated for best results. Eastwood https://www.eastwood.com Has a great selection of the products and info on obtaining the best results.
OM

Thank you for the response to my question. Not sure what you meant by POR-15 should be top-coated?:dunno
 
Thank you for the response to my question. Not sure what you meant by POR-15 should be top-coated?:dunno
It will photo-degrade. I actually tested the instructions to see how it would work out-

POR-15 is a rust-preventive paint designed for application directly on rusted or seasoned metal surfaces. It dries to a rock-hard, non-porous finish that won't chip, crack, or peel, and it prevents rust from re-occurring by protecting metal from further exposure to moisture. POR-15 is sensitive to UV light (sun) and must be topcoated before prolonged exposure to sunlight.

https://www.por15.com/POR-15-Technical-Information_ep_62.html

Fussy to work with in that you don't want to "return" any in use to the can. You need to use plastic wrap under the lid of the can to get the lid off again :)

You can do some reading and see if it's for you. A great coating, applied and used a bit different than you are probably used to using.......
HTH
Gary
 
My curiosity is now piqued with this discussion. My frame's pain had worn through in places from my pants and boots and is now looking rather patina'd.

I see on the POR15 website that they use a brush to apply the stuff. Is that what you folks with experience have used to apply Por15? Is it a self ;leveling and forgiving finish that does not show brush strokes, assuming you're using a high quality brush, such as sable?
Any other tips?
 
If you have the brush stroke technique of a Rembrandt then all should be fine. If you're not applying it with a used mop head it will be acceptable. :thumb

Friedle
 
My curiosity is now piqued with this discussion. My frame's pain had worn through in places from my pants and boots and is now looking rather patina'd.

I see on the POR15 website that they use a brush to apply the stuff. Is that what you folks with experience have used to apply Por15? Is it a self ;leveling and forgiving finish that does not show brush strokes, assuming you're using a high quality brush, such as sable?
Any other tips?

If you are just doing a touch-up, I would use a marine paint. POR-15 is more of a get going base coat that needs top coating. You might even get away with some good prep and Rustoleum spray can.
OM
 
POR-15 will be an excellent primer; but it doesn't do well for infra-red light, sunshine. Yes, it is thick, smooths itself, and is perfect for a lacquer finish that might get a scratch but the POR-15 won't even mar. So, go ahead and dont worry about going through down to the metal; but for sure use it UNDER something...…...Goood luck....Dennis

Oh, by the way, have used it on a goat stand that is now 8 years later with no metal showing or rust and a 16' flat-bed trailer that is still in great shape
 
Killer paint, not "show" quality, but tough as nails.

Powder coat... I don't do that anymore on vehicles. Once it's been nicked moisture can migrate under the coating and starts to rust.

I'm with Lew on this one. I have several items around here that are powder coated. The most hilarious one is my moving dolly or hand truck as some call them. It was powder coated when new and stored in a back yard shed. It got one little paint chip a few years ago and thus began the nearly complete and utter removal of pretty much all the paint. It is now 90% rusty metal pipe with massive red flakes of very sharp edged paint. One little injury and it spreads so fast it is hard to believe.

I now use Tremclad or Kryon semi gloss enamel on any chips I find on my bike frames. It lasts much better and can be spot painted when the paint is compromised. And when you do get a little ding in the paint it does not rust underneath and remove all the paint around it like powder coat does. I now treat bike frames the same way I treat my wheel barrow...

Powder coat looks fabulous when new and is great for show bikes etc. But I ride mine and just find it is not practical for something that is going to be well used and out in the weather a lot.
 
I used to manage a business where we powder coated our manufactured warehouse racks and shelving. Got to know a lot about powder coating. I have also bought many powder coated products over the years for bikes and cars.

I have also been involved with restoring cars and a couple bikes. To the level of winning best paint awards at national events. What I have found over the years is that I have NO use for powder coating on most stuff. A properly prepared metal surface, with proper adhesion coatings and paint application will protect the metal better than powder coating ever could! A properly painted surface always looks better than powder coat. Powder coated products do NOT stand up to UV nearly as well as some paint products can. I have also found that powder coated products tend to rock chip worse than properly painted ones. Proven in back to back tests of engine guards.

I do know that just like painting, proper metal preparation is just as important for powder coating. But even with sand blasting, followed by proper acidic wash and rinse, powder coating just seems to always have a place that lifts eventually. Ever see it peel off in large pieces? Shouldn't do that, but I have seen it happen even when prepped well. Paint just sticks better, I believe in part due to some of the excellent base coatings we have to use on bare metal. These won't work under powder.

I have used POR 15 and it is a very good base coat product. I tend to use it on car chassis parts and underbody sheet metal. Probably wouldn't need to topcoat it there, but I do anyway.
 
Check out Corroseal. There are other similar products today, water based, combines with rust after following directions, then apply final paint. Nothing is permanent. Water being the universal solvent, nothing will last forever. Don't know about POR these days. Mineral based or water based? Two centavos FWIW.
 
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