Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

The biggest thing is you cannot apply POR-15 or any of the other "magic paints" to new or clean, unpitted sheetmetal. It will not adhere. It has to go onto metal that's been heavily etched, meaning sanded or blasted so that the finish is no longer smooth. If you strip the paint off an original fender, clean it very well of solvents & oils, etc. and apply POR-15, Chassis Saver, or whatever Eastwood calls theirs, it will jump right back off the panel in short order. I had this discussion with a fellow board member when I was working on the LeBaron and he quite simply told me, "Yeah, stop using that stuff unless you want to do it again." Not long after that conversation, I found all the Chassis Saver I'd applied to the inner fenders of the LeBaron--which had in fact been sanded, but only with 220--was peeling off in large sheets. The same thing that happened here.

I was subsequently told to get rid of all the rust, make any needed repair, and just use a the correct type of primer. That's the direction I'll be taking on both the Imperial and the Challenger.
 
I HATE re-doing anything like that. :(

There is a reason body shops and pros don't use POR-15 or any of the other :miracle paints and primers... they don't work. Plain and simple. No other way to explain it.

No matter what brand it is, don't bother. Stick to the tried and true methods. Done right, they won't fail.

POR-15 = Snake oil...
 
im still rather curious as to how that 69 cuda i built for someone fairs.....insides of the rails got it...which id guess would stick well enuf? as did all the other "you cant get paint in there" areas..the floors and insides of the doors/roof were the only other places hit with the stuff...i still swear by epoxy primers n such..unless there is something better?
 
69.5CUDA said:
im still rather curious as to how that 69 cuda i built for someone fairs.....insides of the rails got it...which id guess would stick well enuf?
Click to expand...
Unless you sandblasted the insides thoroughly first, rest assured it will fall off. Of course, inside the rails no one will ever see it. :D
 
So the hood was por 15 failing, also the c pillar on that the por stuck but the paint didn't, the hood rusted under the sections, the C pillar had no rust at all, the tiny hole behind the rear window also had a lot of welding in patches, I might have missed something underneath it's where all the metal blocks you inside for the rear window deck, the rocker was rust & in a spot where I did a lot of welding & patching, I did do the undercoat gun into the rockers with the por after all the welding, now did I miss something in there I'll never know, I did every piece on the car till the trunk lid peeled on me, all that was left at that point were the trunk lid & the doors, those I used epoxy primer as a base on bare metal outside & por 15 inside.

This time it's gonna be the Z chrome primer , rage gold filler & after I talk to resto maybe an epoxy sealer coat if he thinks it's a good idea, or just get the paint shot, hoping to use a body guy I know to shoot, just can not afford another mess up, that red paint is just tooooooooo expensive.
Might start pulling the front end apart today if the weather holds, see how far I have to go to get the fenders off.
 
If it were me, and I wasn't able to keep working regularly on it while it sat outside, I'd do one panel at a time. Strip it to bare steel, deal with any surface rust, and get it into a full wet coat or two of epoxy primer before the day was over. Epoxy primer over clean, bare steel is the best way to do anything, in my not-so-humble opinion.
Then I could somewhat take my time with fillers and polyester primers...

Rage Gold is great stuff, but Evercoat also makes some other really good fillers for a lot less money.

Don't hesitate to call or PM me with any ​questions, before, during or after the work is done.
 
ive used alot of evercoat products over the years

what do you think of "all metal" filler for the "bad" spots..god knows that stuff sets up HARD
 
Resto, I was going to do that when the time came with the Z-chrome should I shoot epoxy first, waiting on a little warmer weather & some help to pull the hood & get the edges & underside prepped & shoot it all at once, probably a full days work for 2 guys. Oh Donnie that's you Bud! :D
We had rain last night, the metal wash is holding well, first time around I used it a lot & it will hold for about 2 weeks, this time I'm much slower so worst case is recoat till the part is ready, now with the z-crome all I have to do is worry about getting it all off, it leaves a phosphate coating, the can says NO chemicals under it.

So on to todays adventures, I'm getting old 3 hours & I'm packed up already, 1st time around I'd be out there 12 hours! :(
depressing sight

 
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Are you guys ready for this, Rusty's adventures part Deux [smilie=2:

So I'll start with some good news, looks like the frame rail repairs are all solid, no signs of rust there..........

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reconoiter005_zpsca5b9aea.jpg
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fender hood hinge mount repair & cowl repairs also seem to be holding up with no rust signs..................



The inner back brace also looks good......
 
OK fender, all double or triple metal is a problem, I take this back to dipping but no E-coat, no one around here did it back then, (charger man had some of the same issues & he dipped the whole car)
So rear mounting area, my idea here is to cut out the fender skin metal & replace, once I see what's under, hoping I can clean & save, if not a patch there too.



front mounting area, not sure about this one triple metal, skin, front brace & part sandwiches headlight bucket frame?????? guess I'll see if it will come apart?
I can squeeze it with my fingers & it crackles nicely! :wtf:


 
The ONLY way to repair rust like that is to cut it out and weld in new steel. It's a slow, slow job and can be aggravating as Hell, but it's the only way.

I'm not sure if you can put Z Chrome over epoxy. Classen's is in Jersey, give them a call.
 
K so if I just shoot the Z-chrome , figuring I'll shoot a few coats, block & probably shoot again, till she's smooth what kinda time frame till I must have paint on, if I'm doing a panel at a time this could be a long process?
 
3 full wet coats of Z Chrome will be more than enough to get it straight, if the metal and bodywork are somewhere close to straight. You can shoot a coat of epoxy over it once it's blocked, to protect it from moisture.

But if you lay down the epoxy first, the underlying steel is protected from moisture, no matter how long it takes you to do the polyester blocking...
 
If I remember correctly when I used the epoxy I had to get whatever was going over it on in a certain time period(like 24 hours?) so if the Z-chrome will go over it, hit it with the epoxy as a base & then at least the first coat of z, then I can take my time till the parts are back on the car for the final blocking.
I'll keep in touch here & get into the gritty details when I get some 70s nice weather & time , with my luck I'll be in summer & have to wait for a cool day .
 
Yes, epoxy has a re-coat window, when you can put something on top of it without having to sand it first. Usually it's a three day window but some epoxies are less than that.

If you pass that window, just scuff sand it and put whatever you want on top of it. You can use a red Scotchbrite to scuff it.

If you put only one coat of Z Chrome over the epoxy, you'll have to at least scuff the Z Chrome before you can put anything else on top of it. The Z Chrome is a lot tougher to scuff than epoxy... :)
 
Yes, epoxy has a re-coat window, when you can put something on top of it without having to sand it first. Usually it's a three day window but some epoxies are less than that.

If you pass that window, just scuff sand it and put whatever you want on top of it. You can use a red Scotchbrite to scuff it.

If you put only one coat of Z Chrome over the epoxy, you'll have to at least scuff the Z Chrome before you can put anything else on top of it. The Z Chrome is a lot tougher to scuff than epoxy... :)
 
Ok, then that will be a what kind of time I have to get the work done decision, maybe I can work it out to get the z done on each piece & then hit with the epoxy to hold till I'm ready to paint
 
Been mulling this over &I think I'm gonna check out the fenders from the 74, did the patches on that a year so so back, & it did not have the between the layers rust on it, see how they line up with the other panels?
I haven't even looked at that can in over a year, wonder if the mice took over?????????
That will commit me to the new fenders when I do that, just hope they fit, heard some bad reviews on some of these replacement panels????????????
Heading out there now wish me luck I NEED it!
 
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