[rjstaaf]

Hey all,

Still driving around my donor, she has about another 100,000 miles or more in her. Anyway, I am looking at refinishing the rear end housing instead of leaving it the rust color that Ford sold it to me with. What would you all recommend? I am going to be installing new springs, struts, shocks and rear lower control arms soon so it won't be that much extra work to drop the rear and paint it. Any advice you all can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[ November 15, 2004, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: rjstaaf ]

 

[accobra66]

I had mine sandblasted and powedercoated. It came out great and wipes down easily. Others just take a wire wheel and grind the heck out of it and then paint with Rustoleum. Others have used POR.

 

[EdG]

POR-15

Basically:

1 Get the grease off
2 Wire brush the loose rust
3 I use Eastwood's Panel prep as a conversion coating
4 Paint with POR-15 you don't need to overcoat since the rear end will never see sunshine (hopefully)
Works great a you really use very little POR -15

 

[Greg_M]

I pressure washed mine, wire brushed the loose stuff, wiped down with mineral spirts and brush painted with 2 coats of gloss black Rustolem. I painted my spinldes, bell housing, IFS comp brackets and everything else. I'm quite happy with the results and you can't scratch it off with anything less than a knife one it's cured for a couple of weeks. $7 a quart from hoe depot. One is all you'll need.

 

[Colonial Cobra]

The POR-15 group purchase is still going on. Big savings over the catalog prices.
E-mail me or send a PM to get the details.
You can check out the products at www.por-15.com
You can't get the group purchase pricing from them though.

Brad

 

[Bob Cowan]

Clean it well, just like Greg said. Then brush on a coat of Extend rust inhibitor. Then top coat with rustoleum. Probably not as good as Por-15, but a whole lot cheaper and easier.

 

[mikiec]

I'm with boB.

Mike

 

[cobra-inv]

I replaced mine with an aluminum cover. Rust free and relatively no labor involved.

 

[Rickster]

If you are going to use the 3-link, test fit the vent tube to the bracket first...it would be easier and look nicer if you relocate it now instead of later if needed...POR15.

 

[cobra-inv]

Rickster's makes a valid point. In addition to a few other "adjsutments" I was able to modify the axel bracket to allow the vent tube to remain in palce and still function without maiking the bracket look butchered.

 

[Rickster]

OH! on the same premise as above, IF you are using the 3-link....remove those nasty looking shock mounts while you are at it too! If you are feeling extra frisky and want a super clean look, you could also cut off the upper arm mounts and bushings on either side of the pumpkin as well...

I don't know if they fixed it for the MKlll, but the small 1/2 of the axle braket could have really used an extra 1/2" or so of "beef" added to that skinny leg on the bracket, I broke off my first one when I torqued it down.

 

[rjstaaf]

Thanks for all the replies, you guys are great. I think I am probably gonna go with POR-15. I noticed on their website they have a "super starter" kit which contains 4oz of POR, half pint of Metal Ready, 8oz of Marine Clean, gloves and brushes. They say the 4oz of POR is enough to cover 12 squar feet. It sounds like that would be enough to do the job????

http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=301

 

[The Last Mark II]

POR 15 IS THE ONLY WAY O DO IT. YOU CAN MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A PICTURE IF YOU WANT.

 

[EdG]

rjstaaf,

I used less the one 4 oz can to do my complete rear end, so buying the starter kit would be fine.

 

[Ben J. Cassarino]

I bought the starter kit and it covered my engine block, rear end and some smaller parts and I still have some left. Great stuff and it goes a long way.

 

[rjstaaf]

You guys have been a great help, thanks. One last question before I order the POR-15 starter kit. How is POR to touch-up? That is one reason why I decided against powder coating. This is a daily driver and I am sure it is going to need touch-ups from time to time.

 

[Fred S]

POR-15 gloss black is easy to touch up. In fact, I used it to touch up my powder coated frame in all the spots where I cut stuff off or welded stuff on.

If you want a smoother finish use siler POR-15, then top coat it - while it's tacky - with gloss black POR-15. The silver has a high soild content (it takes forever to get them suspended so stir a lot) which flows out nicely.