1. The street is my spray booth and Harbor Freight’s 3621 HVLP spray gun is affordable enough to use only once. Spraying POR-15 at very low pressure kept overspray to a minimum.
POR-15 3-Step Stop Rust System
Photography by THE AUTHORometimes a plan goes sideways. The first step to turning a tech article on how to stop rust on a mangy old Model A frame into a how to restore a 20-year-old car trailer is to temporarily redirect one’s priorities.
Originally, I was gearing up to use POR-15 products to stop the rust on “East Coast Graffiti,” my ’31 Model A. On the day I ordered everything I needed from POR-15 to begin the Model A project I mentioned to friends on Facebook I was thinking about thinning out my collection of classic trucks, starting with my favorite, a ’79 Chevy C10 Big 10. The trick to shedding a collection of vehicles without any regrets is to get rid of your favorite one first, then dumping the rest should be easy.
Within hours after the Facebook post my buddy Jay Jones bought not only the flagship ’79 C10 Big 10 but my ’73 Chevy C10 as well. I’m a procrastinator but I’ve learned how to trick myself into getting things accomplished. Restoring my tandem car trailer to reward it for 20 years of excellent service had been on the back burner of tasks I’d wanted to accomplish. Then a disabling blow to the trailer; while in storage one tire peeled a tread cap and I knew the other three 5-year-old radials were not to be trusted. I found the best price for new trailer radials and rear tires for the GMC was from Westlake Tires; I can’t imagine how an expensive brand of tires could have performed any better.
Deadlines and commitments work best for me to get things done, so I committed to Jones I’d deliver both C10s to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, using my car trailer. But first I needed to make it roadworthy and that’s why you’re reading about a car trailer rehab instead of the latest progress on “East Coast Graffiti.”
I’m using POR-15 because it will stop rust without requiring one to completely dismantle a project down to the bare frame to be able to sandblast rust off. In fact, POR-15 works best on rusted or seasoned surfaces. For smooth metal surfaces POR-15 adheres best if a “foot” is etched with POR-15 Metal Prep, as it leaves a phosphate coating.
Fifty years ago, I met an old guy repainting a very old steam locomotive with a brush. He said it was a special paint called Locomotive Black. I thought to myself that Locomotive Black would leave dirt in it with brush strokes, but the next time I saw the train it looked like flawless black porcelain. There are two methods that work well to apply POR-15: by brush or with a spray gun, and both provide perfect results.
Forty years ago, I leased a 3,000-square-foot paint shop, but now I’m down to working in a two-car garage. After painting the car trailer out in the street in front of my suburban Orange County home I’ve decided against spraying POR-15 on the Model A in my garage. POR-15 can be used successfully in primitive conditions.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. To describe using POR-15 rust preventive permanent coating its characteristics are not going to be what a seasoned car painter will expect. “Stirred not shaken” describes the most important step to using POR-15. I used semigloss black and the first thing I noticed was although drying slowly dust and dirt was not appearing in the paint as it cured. POR-15’s cured hardness and flowing out dust-free with porcelain-like qualities reminded me of Locomotive Black.
The final step painting the car trailer was to spray two coats of POR-15 UV Matte Clear Coat, a two-part waterborne semigloss polyurethane clear used as a UV screen topcoat over POR-15. I wasn’t surprised POR-15 semigloss black air dried to a hard-shell finish, but I was expecting the waterborne matte clearcoat to dry squishy and was amazed it air dried to an impressive hard-shell finish equal to POR-15.
2. Rusted trailer safety chains potentially under load should be replaced. Rusty chains used only as a tether gain an enhanced appearance coated in POR-15.
3. Hit numerous times by Amazon delivery trucks, these busted Harbor Freight LED brake and taillights still work but offer good probable cause for a traffic stop and getting cited.
4. This 15-year-old remote-control Harbor Freight winch still works like a champ and easily disassembles for repairs should the cable jump the spool and jam.
5. Water shortage in California, so just a stiff wire brush and 100 psi of air pressure worked to knock off the dirt clods and loose rust scale.
6. Typically trailers have a Zerk fitting on axle ends to add grease to wheel bearings. The drums were removed, brake lining checked for wear, and wheel bearings repacked.
7. The street rodder in me dictated installing new CAD-plated lug nuts for cosmetic reasons only. Original wheel studs and lug nuts were not stripped. If threads drag get new lugs.
9. First step use Cleaner Degreaser. To cover the trailer I used one 1/2 gallon of POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating and one 1/2 gallon of POR-15 Matte Clear Coat.
10. Using POR-15 Metal Prep is the important second step to promote adhesion. Small parts can be dipped in Metal Prep and then Metal Prep poured back into container.
11. From a squirt bottle spray POR-15 Metal Prep everywhere on painted and rusted surfaces. Keep the surface wet with Metal Prep on for 20 minutes.
13. Spending money on gun-cleaning solvents needed to flush and wash petroleum-based paint from spray guns gets expensive quick. Harbor Freight disposable paint cups save money.
14. Harbor Freight’s economy HVLP spray gun (under $20) works great to spray POR-15 unreduced straight from the can. The paint cup interchanges with other spray gun brands.
15. The hot setup for controlling air pressure at the spray gun instead of running to a wall-mounted regulator is to install a “cheater” for adjusting incoming air pressure.
17. A glass tool works great to pop the lid retainer shipping clips from the top of a POR-15 paint can. A paint can opener works better in lieu of flat blade screwdriver.
18. Unprepared, I couldn’t find a paint stir stick, but fortunately I went into the kitchen and found my wife kept this handy paint paddle in the utensil drawer. (Editor’s note: Now we understand why John isn’t allowed in the kitchen anymore! —B.B.)
21. In the middle of drying semigloss black POR-15 stays glossy while wet and then dries to a semigloss finish. Notice it dried dust-free.
22. Hard-to-reach areas missed while spraying POR-15 can be touched up afterward with a paint brush instead of having to clean a spray gun twice.
26. With the car trailer done, it’s back to working on East Coast Graffiti and using POR-15 high-build primer over POR-15 with Graffiti Yellow as the gloss topcoat.