I am replacing the floor pans in the 74 Grabber that I am restoring. I am rust proofing the whole interior with POR 15. My question is this: Do I have to weld the pans in before rust proofing? I am concerned about the overlap area not being treated. Thanks,
Clean the areas of overlap to be welded real good and spray with a weld-through primer. You cannot weld through POR-15. POR-15 should go on after the sheetmetal work is complete.
Yes, you'll have to weld them in first/ Buy a can of weld-thru primer and spray all the areas you will be welding with it before you weld anything. The weld-thru primer supposedly does not burn off but I'm sure it does to a certain extent anyway. The POR-15 will certainly burn off...possibly even catch fire. Anyway, after you finish all the welding, clean everything thoroughly and coat everything with the POR15, especially all the seams and welds. POR15 is nonporous so if there is any rust lurking around anywhere it will be stopped dead in it's tracks because air or water can not get to it. This is a great product...use it liberally but don't get it on your skin. It's a s.o.b. to get off.
It's the best stuff I've ever used, I've had some on my finger for almost a month now, right down where the finger nail goes into the skin, I can't get it to come off, and I wash my hands alot. I'll use POR 15 for life, make sure you get some Metal Ready and Marine Clean to prep the area.
Marine Clean is a degreaser made by Por 15, it's awesome!! I have tried alot of other degreasers, but this stuff works the best, and it's water based. I pulled the power steering out of my 73, soaked it down with Marine Clean let it sit than hosed it off, I was so impressed I had to call all my car buddies and tell them. I'm going to use it to clean the seats while there out of the car.
There's a neat trick to butt welding sheet metal. You overlap it, then drill some holes and screw it together. Then you get out your real thin cutting wheel, and just cut between the screws. Pull back the sheet metal that you've cut on both sides, then start your stitch welding. The gap between the two should be thin enough to close up with the weld. I've seen this done very well when putting on new quarter skins. It's easier than putting it one and off 200 times while you trim a little bit at a time.
Also, POR-15 doesn't want to stick to nice clean metal. The prep chemicals will etch the metal a bit so it will stick. Another thing that works well is to wet the area to be painted with POR-15, let it set a couple days so that a surface rust forms. Then wipe off the loose rust, dry it out, and paint right over the surface rust. POR-15 will stick to that thin rust and bond forever...and the rust will no longer be able to "grow" because it is sealed with the P15 paint.
The P15 makes a GREAT temporary tattoo...lasts about 2-3 weeks. Only tat I ever got with it was just splatter spots on arms and face
