David,
I've used both products. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Por15 tends
to cure much much faster(overnight) and tough as nails. I can brush on a coat
of POR gloss black and come back in the morning and the paint has dried rock
solid with no brush marks. The down size is if you don't seal the paint can or
whatever your preferred storage container is you'll have $30 of solid POR15 in
no time at all. With POR the surface prep is hugely important. If the surface
isn't spotless then POR will come off in sheets. POR recommends etching the
substrate. In order to properly top coat, POR has a special "tie" primer.
Again, prep seems to be key with POR.
The Eastwood product is good and has a very high solid content. The Rust
Encapsulator tends to dry slower and cures even slower. On items I painted and
left for a couple of days or so I've been able to induce scratching of the
Encapsulator, exposing bare metal beneath. Now, having said that, I have items
painted that sat for several months and just like POR you can't blow it up.
Hard as a rock! The encapsulator seems to forgiving when it comes to surface
prep also. Eastwood advertises that no special primer is required to top coat.
DO NOT get either product on your skin because it won't wash off. It's there
for a week or better.
I prefer the Rust Encapsulator only because I can open the can, pour what I
need out, reseal the can and come back to it in six months and still have a $30
can of useable product. I plan my work "production" around the long cure times
of the Encapsulator. In all fairness though POR15 is a great product *IF* you
follow the prep instructions. I suppose one could all ways pour the contents of
the leftover POR into a sealed jar in order to increase the storage life.
Larry Pitts
60 Bug
David Lieb <dbl@chicagolandmgclub.com> wrote:
Eastwood Automotive has an article on their site at
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=852&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=688&iSubCat=852
from the November 2003 Auto Restorer magazine which compares their "Rust
Encapsulator" product to POR15. I haven't used either one, but it certainly
appears to address some of the shortcomings of POR15.
David Lieb
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