[tojan19]

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie here and have a question. I've been working on restoring the front end of my 85 Tojan Trans Am. I took apart the entire car forward of the firewall. I've been working on sandblasting everything and I'm about done. The paint was crappy and I had several spots with light to medium rust. The sand blasting has taken forever do to school and other problem. I've got a little bit of surface rust again in a couple of spots although I can hit those spots again.
My question is should I use por15 (this is what I had planned to do) or should I get some epoxy primer. I plan to paint the engine bay with dupont chromabase jet black and chromapremeire clear. I know if i use the por15 I need to use the tie coat primer. I already have the por15 and the tie coat but i'm double checking before I start. Thanks for the help, josh

[RJL]

I am a strong advocate of POR-15. If you plan to paint the engine bay for show ,the POR-15 with the Tie coat primer lays down much flatter then epoxy primer. This could mean less sanding and work for you in the long run. As for rust protection it is far superior.Just be sure to use the Marine clean and Metal ready and follow the instructiona to the letter.

[MARTINSR]

Ok, this may be confusing but I believe POR would be a poor choice. First off, POR has a very limited use as far as I am concerned. That would be for extreamly rusted projects where proper repair is either too costly or you are limited in skills (RJL please do not take this personal, this is a general statement).

A sandblasted engine compartment with little to no rust would be much better epoxy painted. I am not sure about the epoxy not laying flat that RJL mentioned, epoxy is designed for just the very project you have in mind.

Epoxy, then without sanding you could bc/cc or if you were planning a nice "as on the top of the hood" look, urethane prime it, sand it nice, then bc/cc it to perfection.

Treat it as you would the outside, you certainly wouldn't POR the outside of the doors and fenders would you?

[RJL]

You already have the POR and Tie coat, use it. I dont think a lack of skill has anything to do with this situation. Either way it is almost the same application process. I am sure you have read that POR-15 works very well on sandblasted metal so you are good to go. POR will work just fine, either way go you will have to do the same work and you already have the POR. I agree with Martinsr,if it is badly rusted I would replace, POR is not a good substitute for clean metal, but there is nothing wrong with using it for extra corrosion protection or restoring any metal that is not used for structure.

[pmeisel]

Did the firewall and frame on the kids' jeep with POR15 and black primer over the top.... it looks nice, not show quality but nice....