Rust inhibitor comparison test.

I'm not sure if this has ever been posted before. I found it while researching which rust inhibitor to buy when i do my rocker panels. It compares Rust Bullet, POR-15 and Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. I thought this might help someone out who is also stuck on which to buy. I did not perform this test myself, I am simply passing on someone else's results.

http://www.drjing.com/Mini/BLOG/SideBySide.htm

 

[Joe Dirt]

Handy...

I've used both the POR and the Rust Bullet, and overall in my experience, the test shows what I've gotten. Neither of them stops rust, it only slows it down...

 

[sport97]

Handy...

I've used both the POR and the Rust Bullet, and overall in my experience, the test shows what I've gotten. Neither of them stops rust, it only slows it down...

Yeah, I know my repairs will probably start rusting again within a year. I'm just hoping with the aid of rust inhibitor, most likely POR-15, it will be slower to totally rot out again.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Well, it all depends on the prep. I bought the entire POR-15 system to try on an emerging spot on Shamrock. I spent the entire 4th of July weekend diligently observing the times, and process. After sanding, using their surface prep chemical, their metal treatment chemical, 3 coats of POR-15, their tie-coat primer, primer, 3 coats of green and 4 coats of clear, it started to bubble after about a month.

I'm not sold on it. I really dont think it's as good as some of the claims you read like the guys that painted a car with it, then it sat in New Orleans for the flood, and after a few years, the parts painted with POR are still like the day they painted them and the other metal is gone... I don't think so.

This was the inside of the fender I did- it was painted on the 4th of July, so about 2-1/2 months ago... Cleaner, metal prep, 3 coats of POR-15. The outside I've re-done about 3 times. Every time now it takes a couple of trips in the rain and it starts browning out again, it's like it pinholes just like the guy said in the test.

Here are the pics I sent POR-15...

The areas I did:

After prep, primer, paint, clear

...and after buffing out:

The stuff is a ***** to work with- it seems like any small void allows rust, so I didn't sand it, instead allowing some paint and lots of clear fill some voids to smooth out a bit. It looks good from 5 feet out, but if you get very close, you can see the application.

Then after a month you can see the application as well as the rust already starting to bubble out.

Since then, I've sanded, reapplied, and it's starting again. The truck had nothing when I got it, and I think by messing with it, I made it worse. All I know is that I paid about $120 for all of the stuff I got from POR, and for a month before seeing rust again, I wasn't too happy.

I painted the underside of the rockers on Snowball with Rust Bullet, and for ease of use combined with how it lasted- I'd get Rust Bullet for myself if I had to do it over again rather than POR-15, but that's my opinion...

 

[sport97]

Thanks for posting your findings Joe. I'm not expecting it to work miracles, but i would certainly we upset if it rusted within a month or two. I am applying bed liner over the area instead of paint, but I'm not sure that would change the results or not.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Thanks for the link & info guys. I have never seen the link before. I have been working on my rockers this week. Since it cant be seen underneath the moldings I didnt do a "finished" job. All I really planned on doing was coating the cut metal on my fenders to clear wheels/tires. I purchased a 3 part epoxy primer from Matrix. Used this on bare metal last year and didnt see any rust at all. Figured if I was going to buy this stuff, mix it, I would use it on rockers. Some have told me it is better than the POR. I guess time will tell.

 

[sport97]

The Eastwood is cheapest. Its $35 for a quart and its free shipping on their site. Rust bullet is $26 on summit for a pint and $10 for shipping. POR15 is $30 for a pint and I imagine its probably close to $10 bucks for shipping as well.

For my application i will mostly be applying over a rust free area of new metal to prevent it from developing rust(New rocker panels, both inner and outer), but in some areas I will coat surface rust. I think I may get the Eastwood since it is the 35 bucks for a quart. It seems like its basically a wash between the brands. They all will develop rust at some point.

That Matrix stuff seems to be for prepared metal surfaces, not anything that had prior rust.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I have some spots on Wedgie that need to be done (rockers) so this time I'm going to buy some rockers from LMC and weld them in. It'll bug ne to no end if it starts rusting again, so I'm going to go for the real fix this time. Even the guy from POR-15 said that my prep and technique was spot on, and they didn't know why it was rusting through.

 

[celly]

Handy...

I've used both the POR and the Rust Bullet, and overall in my experience, the test shows what I've gotten. Neither of them stops rust, it only slows it down...

I used POR on a rusty trailer hitch a few years ago. Followed all the instructions to a "t" and the rust ihibition didn't last long. Was sort of disappointed with the results considering they don't use much salt here relative other places.
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[vroomzoomboom]

Even the guy from POR-15 said that my prep and technique was spot on, and they didn't know why it was rusting through.

sounds like the guy doesn't know how to do it either. I'll bet if you pulled the interior panels off, the back side of the 1/4 is rotted. the rust isn't on the outside, it starts from the inside. I'm not going to say por15 is the greatest thing in the world to use (never have tried it), but i think its supposed to seal it. if you tried coating the inside of the panel, it "might" work a little better.....maybe. i know when i had to do evil, i cut the rockers completely off (inside and out, the truck started below the doors, that's how high up i cut), and into the dog leg. now almost two years later you can see some small bubbling. i soaked the inside of the rockers with tar (it dripped for two days). rust is like death and taxes, there is no way to stop it.

 

[Anime]

That fender lip rust can be some hard stuff to deal with, especially on even older vehicles that used cheaper quality metal.

I've tried a bunch of rust conversion stuff in the past, and nothing has really worked long term, it all bubbles up under the paint eventually just as pictured.

Strangely enough, I've actually had the best results so far from not using any seperate rust inhibitor at all. The primer-unnecessary walmart brand "Colorplace" Rust Control Enamel paint seems to do the trick IF you grind and wire brush (with a stiff wire brush on an angle grinder) ALL of the rust off, do surface prep/clean, then layer the stuff on with quite a few coats. If you don't do enough coats, the rust comes through after a few months. Impossible to beat for the $2.97/can price. Rustoleum paint might be good too, using their primer/paint/clear system, but that's three cans at a higher price.

I realize this is a cheaper non-professional solution, but if someone was going to go to the expense to get rid of rust for a professional paint job on an older vehicle, they might just go ahead and have a new rust-free panel welded in.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

That Matrix stuff seems to be for prepared metal surfaces, not anything that had prior rust.

sport,

I am not sure how good it will be for prior rust, you are probably right. Worked great for bare/cut metal. Since I was mixing it and inhaling it I figured I would try it on the rockers.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Funny you mantion the colorplace paints- I used them on the underside of both Snowball and Shamrock. Now, it's not really an equal comparison, since the underbody stuff is not sheet metal, but I sprayed that stuff on everything but the floorpans under there on both trucks, no prep except for removing oils, and both still look great- none of the surface rust is even visible. Weird...

Tim- I did do the inside, might be a tricky angle at a glance, but that first picture is the inside of the rocker, by the sub/cubby hole. I figured all it was doing was eliminating all air from the area which stops the rust from spreading, but even the seam you can't get, so unledd it's a non-seam area, I doubt it will do much to stop it.

Funny about air- there are lots of construction machines buried under Detroit (among other things... lol) in the salt mines. I've seen some of them, and they look brand new. Due to the salt content in the air, they're not worth bringing up. It's impregnated the metal, and the guys said that if they bring them up, within 3 months they'll be rotted out once they hit the warm moist air. When they're done with a certain section of mine, they just drain the fluids, bury the machines in there and leave them. It's bizzare...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

F

Tim- I did do the inside, might be a tricky angle at a glance, but that first picture is the inside of the rocker, by the sub/cubby hole.

um, yea, i just noticed that.....

 

[CDW6212R]

Guys, I saw a comparison similar to that when I selected the Rust Encapsulator over POR15. I had the POR15 here locally, but that test I saw made me get the Eastwood products. I didn't like that POR wanted you to buy all of their special matching products.

Eastwood's stuff is made to work with any good quality support items. I had long long before(1988ish) bought a rust removal product called Oxysolv, in a gallon. That is the exact same thing as Eastwood now calls Rust Dissolver. I just bought more of that because my old stuff is used up.

I think almost all of the rust covering/converting chemicals are poor choices for existing rust, especially if it's not a smooth surface. Any rust left behind, in cracks/seams/joints, that is impossible to stop with a thick product.

The Rust Dissolver is just like water, very thin and it can be sprayed with anything. That kind of rust product is the only thing I can imagine helping with rust which is in seams, inaccessible areas. That is the best product to treat rust with, it penetrates deeper than anything else, and it leaves a residue which inhibits rust and is compatible with any paints. You can soak things with it, or spray it one to leave as long as it takes. Then wipe it down just like a final paint prep, and coat over it with Rust Encapsulator, primer, epoxy, or paint. It's not magic, but it's the best I've come across.

Here's a couple of pictures of the bottom side of my rocker, where the left rear quarter was replaced on my 93 truck in 2000. The repair was done poorly then, but fortunately this was the only rust to really start. No prevention was done in 2000, the quarter was welded in and a little seam sealer added, then primered and painted.

This last time I was in charge of the work, so I repaired this in 2006 just before a friend did the bodywork for my new front end. This was the Oxysolv sprayed on, a screwdriver to fish around up inside the holes and work it in, followed by the Rust Encapsulator a day later. Seam sealer was added to fill it in, then primer and paint last. I'm sure it's not all gone due to how deep the rust was in there, but it's very good and so far not showing new signs of rust. Regards,

 

[Joe Dirt]

That does look pretty good Don... Curious- Do you get a lot of road salt or anything down there? I think we're a lost cause up here in Michigan- they like to salt everything up here as soon as the needle drops below 40 degrees it seems. Stupid salt...

 

[CDW6212R]

My 93 truck came from Ohio as a lease, it wasn't bad except for the radiator support. My 98 is from Milwaukee, and it has a good bit of corrosion in the body seams. The seams of the sheet metal are very susceptible to rust of course, undercoating can prevent most rust.

Here in TN we get just enough snow threats that salt is sprayed on the main roads about six times a year. That's not much compared to real Northern places. Last year was our worst in about 20 years, the snow amounts weren't much, but they sprayed the roads at least 15 times.

The bottoms of the doors and hatch are very bad about starting to rust. Those are the easiest places to see it begin, and the hardest to stop too.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Don,

I think I am going to give this Eastwood stuff a shot.

Anyone recommend a good undercoating spray? There are ALOT on the market.

And Joe, I like your bodywork!! Sorry to see so much money, time and effort was put into it for such a small amount of time though.

 

[CDW6212R]

I believe that you will like their stuff, its' generally very high quality. Subscribe to their online email thing if you aren't in a hurry. They send out almost daily specials. Their normal online prices are a hair high, so any discount you can find will help a lot.

I've used a few different undercoating products, from the sprays to the real deal that I sprayed at dealerships on new cars(spray gun and quart cans). The professional stuffis a little better, it goes on much thicker and most of those become very firm.

The spray can stuff though is relative to price, the cheap stuff is generally very thin and doesn't stay all that well, and remains fairly soft. Try to make yourself buy the expensive spray can stuff, if you can tell what part of the price is the name brand. Brand name doesn't make much difference, but hopefully Eastwood's would be a very high quality like their other products. Regards,

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Thanks Don!! I do not like inhaling paint at all. So spending a little more to do it once or twice is fine with me. Not in a hurry, will subscribe to Eastwood. Tomorrow I plan on finishing the bare metal with the matrix stuff and put the Ex back together. Really wanting to drive it with the new wheels etc. It has been sitting for weeks. Working on it a few hours at a time is really draggin...