Rustproofing paint? What do you guys use?

I'm knee deep in doing some serious rust repair on my Shelby CSX, and there's a few places that I'd like to paint with some rustproofing paint while certain areas are exposed. I know all about POR 15, and have had friends use it with some success, but it's kinda pricey and it's hard to come by around here in SE Mass.

Is there anything else that's comparable that I can just go into a store and buy? What do you guys like? Or should I just bite the bullet and order some POR 15?

Just for fun, here's a few pics of what I'm dealing with in terms of rust:

Gotta represent GRM!

And FYI: this car is pretty rust free for a Turbo Dodge in New England. The rest of the car isn't all that bad. These cars rust with a force, especially in the floorboards.

And yes, those are the frame rails (they are actually solid, makes no sense), and yes, you can see the tires through the floor holes.

I had the same rust pattern happen in my first car, and I swear to this day it was because of the salt that was on my shoes that just collected in the floorboards.

Marine epoxy paint should work, too, but I think it is like twice as expensive as POR 15.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

when i replaced the floors in my 914, i finally decided that as the original floors lasted 50 years with no real treatment,and my use was not going to be a severe as its prior life i.e i'll never use it as a winter daily driver etc, plus in 50 years i'll be dead. thus i cheaped out and just used rusteolum. so i'm not saying its as good as por15, i just concluded it was protection i didn't really need.

I used POR15 on parts of my Miata that had some surface rust.

Years ago I rstored a Panhard for a friend and used rustoleum where the was rust including seams that I couldn't get into to treat. 5 years later he sold the car and the new owner stripped the paint to do a color change. The new owner said there was no rust problems found. YMMV.

I used to have a hauler trailer that I had no storeage for and it started rusting so I painted it with POR-15. It looked great but I found out that it doesn't like sunlight. The paint chalked over in no time and rust began to show again within a few months. I had previously used it on rusty floorboard and the like and was never disappointed with the results.

In reply to Graefin10:

If you topcoat the POR-15, it will resist UV and hold up very nicely.

To the OP:

Order the stuff online from http://www.por15.com.
I got mine in 2 days.

I saw someone post on here about Rustoleum black and acetone mixed thin for base coat that penetrates in ways that straight Rustoleum wont.

Check the POR website for distributors - it's easier to get than you think. I found a source in little Grand Junction that keeps it on the shelf.

I saw POR 15 on the shelf at the local autobody paint supply place on Friday.

Don49 wrote: ... the new owner stripped the paint to do a color change. The new owner said there was no rust problems found.

He was actually able to strip the POR -15?

We use Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint at work.

It's been great for rustproofing and it's water thin so it flows into all the little cracks and crevices.

It's about $30.00 a quart but a quart goes a LONG way.

Shawn

If you need any help, give me or Chris(Maxdax605) a shout. We are next town over in Carver. I have lots of experience with rust repair. Last winter I had to fabricate completely new floors and frame rails for a Hillman Husky and again on a Triumph Stag. A buddy of mine buys a silver rust encapsulator from a local vendor to treat rusty metal. Works great. Not sure what it's called, but It's just a phone call away. Costs somewhere around $30 a quart. About 10 years ago he sandblasted a piece of frame rail he cut out. He painted half of it and left the other half bare. It's been sitting outside ever since. The bare side has almost completely rusted away and the painted side still looks as it did the day he painted it. No rust creep under the edges at all.

I used POR-15 on the RX-7, and Rustoleum on the trailer. The RX-7 I didn't want to ever touch again. The trailer is getting hot dip galvanized within the next year or so.

tr8todd wrote: A buddy of mine buys a silver rust encapsulator from a local vendor to treat rusty metal. Works great. Not sure what it's called, but It's just a phone call away. Costs somewhere around $30 a quart.

I was going to guess Rust Bullet but that's more like $50/quart.. But it is silver.

You are probably going to laugh but I have had great luck with high temp barbecue paint. I have been using it on trailer hitches (in service for 6-7 years now on my Expedition) and most recently on a set of lower trailing arms I fabricated for my Expedition and there is no signs of rust coming through on either. I use it on the front valance of the 924s as it gets chipped and scraped up. I just bend it back out and hit it with a coat every couple of years and so far no rust in the locations that I have painted previously. Another advantage is that it dries really fast. I usually put 2-3 coats on things when I paint them due to the fast dry time and the relative thin coat that it covers with.

i used an Eastwood product called Corroless, which they say is used on oil rigs in the ocean. i can't give you any real longevity data because i have automotive ADD and get rid of projects as soon as they're decent enough to keep.

Hi-temp BBQ paint is FM race paint :) Mostly because it dries so fast. Never checked it for rust prevention though.

I have been using the Eastwood rust control stuff for 20 years and it works fine. Battery trays, under car, you name it. Sticks to rust better than bare metal and stops the rusting. Takes a beating too.

I've had good results from the Eastwood stuff too.

Found out the magic silver paint is called Master Series. http://www.masterseriesct.com/