By Greg Kneser
Rustproof Tub
FJ40 Stereo Shelf
LC Screen Saver
Greg's Home
Main Home
Like many of you, I purchased my FJ40 with a little rust in it. Mine happens to be a 1976 with a Chevy 350. It spent a good deal of it's life in rust free Arizona, then headed to somewhat rusty Denver Colorado, and finally to Vail, Colorado where I purchased it. When I bought it, it had surface rust pock marks randomly on it, a little bit on the rear passenger side quarter panel, and a little on the rear floor area. The rust in the rear cargo area was mostly on the floor, not on the sides. I decided to attack the rust monsters in the rear floor first.
I started out using a paint and rust
removing wheel from 3m to remove the offending material. This worked
well, but took a long time. After a little research and reading
articles, I decided that I would use the Resto-Motive POR15 starter kit.
According to the company and the accounts of various other cruiser owners,
POR15 can simply be painted onto a properly prepped surface even if it is
rusty and it will prevent any growth of rust. It didn't take much
convincing for me to quit sanding and use an easier technique.
The first step in painting on the POR15 was to back
out the bolts and mask everything off. At the same time, I got some
metal patch pieces--available at most automobile supply shops--and placed
it over holes left from the previous owner's speaker boxes. The
POR15 
starter kit
comes with a rust and surface prep solution, brushes, gloves, and the
POR15. The surface prep is applied first. It simply gets
painted on and then you allow it to dry. After that, I painted on
the first coat of POR15. After that was tacky, the second coat was
applied. I applied the POR15 only to the floor of the cargo area
forward to the point where it starts to slant down towards the rear
heater. There wasn't quite enough for the job, but it worked great.
The surface seems very tough and is pretty hard. I would compare it
to a very smooth bone china that's tough enough for a Cruiser. Once
the POR15 was on, I decided that I wanted to add a little body liner.
After reading several articles, I decided on Durabak. For the price
and the do-it-yourselfer, I think Durabak is the best choice. 
Again,
the first step was to mask off the area and back out any bolts from the
body mounts. I decided to put the Durabak in on the floor and up the
sides about 6 inches. Spend a little extra time doing the prep
work and masking the area off if you want professional looking
results. Durabak requires sanding of the surfaces it is to be
applied to and I strongly recommend you follow this step fully.
Then, a coat of xylene is painted on and allowed to dry. Xylene is a
solvent and cleans off any grease or dust to allow a good bond.
Finally, you simply paint on the Durabak following their
instructions. Allow it to dry and repeat. I found that the 1
quart can provided enough for two coats.
I
am very pleased with my final product. The surface seems very
rugged, but isn't too tough on the knees when I'm moving around in the
back. It stands up well to dirt and liquids and is easy to clean:
"anyone have a hose?" It has peeled off in one are about the size of
a dime. Looking at the paint underneath the Durabak in that area, it
seems as though I didn't sand enough to allow cohesion. If I had it
to do again, I would sand the surface once and then sand it again for good
measure. And then ask someone else to sand it for me. I would
put on a more liberal coat of Durabak as I had some left over, and I'd use
a different color because the black shows dirt very quickly(the picture is
from when it's dirty). I hope this helps anyone who is interested in
this same idea. I'm so satisfied that in another summer or two, I
plan on removing everything from inside the cab and giving the same
treatment (Durabak on POR15) to the entire inside. It's like a
factory floor-mat with a guarantee against rust from the top, it's more
durable, and it quiets road noise.
Happy Cruising!
| Sources:
RestoMotive Laboratories Division of Por-15, Incorporated P.O. Box 1235 Morristown, New Jersey 07962-1235 TOLL-FREE: 1-800-457-6715 In NJ: 973-887-1999 Fax: 973-887-8007 MAIN OFFICE: M-F 9-5 EST http://www.por15.com/ COTE-L DISTRIBUTION COMPANY/ JAKE ICKOWICZ, PRESIDENT |
Update 2 years later: I'm still happy with the durabak/POR-15 combination.I like the clean look it gives and the peace of mind I have about rust. There were two problems with it however, both my fault (I think). 1) The Durabak is peeling up where the door rubs on the tub. My doors don't fit quite straight anymore, and the part where it rubs has rubbed the durabak off. The POR-15 is holding strong underneath and I blame the peeling on not applying the Durabak while the POR-15 was still tacky. 2) My poor body work on the rusted out portion of the tub has caved in leaving a hole. I plan on having someone replace that rear channel with a new one and then repainting it (and the whole tub this time) with POR-15/Durabak. I'll let you all know how that goes when I get it done. Greg |
Some discussion from the Landcruiser Email Distribution list (to sign
up, follow links from the TLCA web
site)
I wrote (in response to Al's message below)
While I'm sure
that it would work better if I had done it like that (durabak while POR15
was tacky)...I got my Durabak from the source and the guy who dropped it
off (cherokee literally covered in durabak anywhere possible) said that
the surface looked great, just sand it up well (following directions) and
then lay it on. Like I said in the article, it worked great in 99% of the
area, but one small section went sour. I think that if I had just sanded
more, it would have worked.
HTH,
Greg
How did the
Durabak adhere to the POR15?
Did you have to do
some prep to the POR15? Everything I haveread says that getting paint (and I
would assume Durabak) to adhere to dry POR15 is
difficult at best, you have to apply primer while the POR15 is tacky. It doesn't
sound like you did this. I am very interested in this;
I am considering doing precisely the same to my 78.
--
al
Al Kiecker, N0AK,
kieck002@tc.umn.edu
Dakota
Territory Cruisers, TLCA #5218
http://www.dakotacruisers.com/
78 FJ40 (for the trail),'94 XJ, '94ZJ (daily drivers) Apple
Valley, MN
Ted T. Andersen (tandersen@brtc.net) wrote:
i missed the
thread, but i applied durabak on the interior of my fj40 project. i found
that it was pretty soft, and would probably not standup to the normal
rigors. it cuts pretty easy, and then begins peeling up like a bad
sunburn. and yes, i had prep'd the interior before application. when i was
shooting the exterior of the truck, i decided to paint over the durabak,
and... the paint melted into the durabak, producing a very hard, resilient
surface. i don't think the stuff will come out with a chisel now (although
it hasn't been field tested yet).