The underside of my 'Bird is heavily undercoated which makes it a pain to work on without sticking to everything you touch. Do you guys typically take the time to remove it or just live with it? Not looking for more things to do before summer, but it may be worth it in the long run.
Jeff, Unless you're driving it in the snow and rain, save the weight and get rid of it! I scraped mine off with a torch and putty knife and wiped clean with mineral spirits. I then wire-wheeled off the remnants. I then painted the entire underside (including front and rear suspension) first with POR-15 Black. Then top coated with POR-15 Chassis Black. I used a cheap brush and the POR-15 flows so well it almost looks like it was sprayed on. Do not clean the bottomside to bare metal. POR-15 will flake off bare metal. I did this back in 1999 and my chassis still looks like the day I painted it. I just go under the car with a rag and a bottle of Windex and spray the chassis down before an event. I was planning on driving my car which is why I decided to do the whole thing in black instead of the more restoration correct shades of black/gray/cast with paint daub inspection marks. The above scrapping/prep/paint process took about 3 days laying under the car. Get a full face shield instead of just safety glasses and button up all the openings on your coveralls and wear a hat. Nothing like molten tar dripping down the front of your shirt or down your sleeve...............Keep the same clothing for the POR15 as well. It will take about a week for any POR-15 paint on your body to wear off.
Isn't there a primer available for POR so that you can put it on if you have taken something down to bare metal?
I have heard to many bad stories about POR-15. Like pealing off metal that was not rusty. I would use Eastwood products. Rust Encapsulator sticks to everything. I have used the brush on and the spray cans of Rust Encapsulator. I topcoated with Eastwood Chassis Black. Been on for at least three years and still cleans up great.
It only took you a week to get the POR-15 off? I think it took me about 2 weeks!:spank: Like he said, cover up and button,zip up EVERYTHING! And lay some cardboard down too.
POR-15 needs to be top coated. It is not UV resistant. Even under a car there is probably a certain measure of UV breakdown that can occur just by reflection. All my A-Arms and suspension I sandblasted to etch them and the rust still exploded through the POR-15 I painted them with. I did not top coat them though. I think you'd be better off just leaving the surface rust and painting it with POR-15, this the name Paint Over Rust-15.
I talked to a guy this summer that removed the under coating and had spray on truck bed liner installed, easy maintenance, and it looks good, no chipping like paint. They even offer colors.
