Nice work! When I was a dealer technician twenty-five years ago the rule was "DO NOT TOUCH THE GAUGE FACE!" There was no way to remove fingerprints without scratching the plastic.
Bang for the buck Functional Renewal of rust belt '99 C2500
- Thread starter Road Trip
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
How to actually open the POR-15 can more than once...and lower the price per use significantly
In a couple of previous posts (#84) & (#87) I shared some photos of using POR-15 to protect the steel wheels
and misc. brake bits from the rust belt blues here in upstate NY.
To be perfectly candid, I have a love/hate relationship with this stuff. It works the best of everything I've tried
to date. (but am always interested to hear from anyone who's found something that works even better for them.)
Even if something worked as well, but was less expensive, I'd consider jumping ship. (By the way, that whole
"Paint Over Rust" thing is a load of hooey.) Just like always, for long-term success, it's all about the preparation.
****
OK, I'm going to spare all of us from a detailed How to Fight Rust this evening. Instead, I wanted to share a simple
fix for the single most irritating thing about using POR-15: How do I get the *@#*&#! lid removed subsequent to
the initial opening? If you make the mistake of replacing the lid to the container metal-to-metal it will never come
off again. (No exaggeration, you will end up destroying the lid and have to puncture it for the 2nd {final} opening.)
NOTE: Tried the saran wrap trick between lid & container - that was more miss than hit. I switched to using multiple
mini 4oz containers, and the 'once & done' approach did work...but the price per ounce cost exceeded my threshold of pain.
But in the attached photos I am showing you the same quart container. The first 2 are when the can was purchased
in November 2020. The last 2 photos are from July '23. I have used this container for *several* individual projects...
and the can is still in use & working perfectly. (See attached photos.)
The only other tips are stocking up on the 3/$1.25 'good enuf' brushes at the local Dollar Tree store. At 42¢ apiece I can do the
one-time use thing & it doesn't hurt hardly at all. :0) (There's no cleaning this stuff out of brushes.) And while I'm
at the dollar store I pick up a set of brush sized Rubbermaid-style plastic containers to work out of.
****
Done properly, this stuff is about as close as I can get to the hardness & wearability of powder coating. And before I
read about this trick I seemed to be throwing away about as much/more POR-15 as I was actually getting on the
vehicles I was trying to preserve. What can I say? These sheet metal screws make accessing the spendy magic juice
on your terms effortless.
Yours for a reduced-rust ride --
In a couple of previous posts (#84) & (#87) I shared some photos of using POR-15 to protect the steel wheels
and misc. brake bits from the rust belt blues here in upstate NY.
To be perfectly candid, I have a love/hate relationship with this stuff. It works the best of everything I've tried
to date. (but am always interested to hear from anyone who's found something that works even better for them.)
Even if something worked as well, but was less expensive, I'd consider jumping ship. (By the way, that whole
"Paint Over Rust" thing is a load of hooey.) Just like always, for long-term success, it's all about the preparation.
****
OK, I'm going to spare all of us from a detailed How to Fight Rust this evening. Instead, I wanted to share a simple
fix for the single most irritating thing about using POR-15: How do I get the *@#*&#! lid removed subsequent to
the initial opening? If you make the mistake of replacing the lid to the container metal-to-metal it will never come
off again. (No exaggeration, you will end up destroying the lid and have to puncture it for the 2nd {final} opening.)
NOTE: Tried the saran wrap trick between lid & container - that was more miss than hit. I switched to using multiple
mini 4oz containers, and the 'once & done' approach did work...but the price per ounce cost exceeded my threshold of pain.
But in the attached photos I am showing you the same quart container. The first 2 are when the can was purchased
in November 2020. The last 2 photos are from July '23. I have used this container for *several* individual projects...
and the can is still in use & working perfectly. (See attached photos.)
The only other tips are stocking up on the 3/$1.25 'good enuf' brushes at the local Dollar Tree store. At 42¢ apiece I can do the
one-time use thing & it doesn't hurt hardly at all. :0) (There's no cleaning this stuff out of brushes.) And while I'm
at the dollar store I pick up a set of brush sized Rubbermaid-style plastic containers to work out of.
****
Done properly, this stuff is about as close as I can get to the hardness & wearability of powder coating. And before I
read about this trick I seemed to be throwing away about as much/more POR-15 as I was actually getting on the
vehicles I was trying to preserve. What can I say? These sheet metal screws make accessing the spendy magic juice
on your terms effortless.
Yours for a reduced-rust ride --
Attachments
Last edited:
Blue on blue 96
Newbie
Ive never used por15 but I have had good luck with fluid film and other similar products. They of course have to be reapplied, and you have to deal with having oil everywhere whenever you need to work on something. Of course using por15 and then an oil coating as an extra layer of defense would be even better.
Love what your doing with the truck
Love what your doing with the truck
@Road Trip how are things going for you and your C2500? Haven’t seen any posts from you in a minute. Hope you’re doing well and had a good Thanksgiving.
Greetings @fancyTBI , that was extremely neighborly of you to perform a
virtual wellness check on yours truly...it's appreciated. (!)
As a matter of fact my Thanksgiving was no doubt the best that I can ever
remember. I should explain. Back in '88 I became a father, blessed with
identical twin daughters. They have always always been my pride & joy -- without
a doubt the best thing that ever happened to me.
Long story short, after doing everything right (college + picking awesome
son in laws + working hard at their careers) ...for years they were each trying
to start their own family...but no joy.
There are things you want bad enough that you bring it up all the time
in conversation. Then there are those things that you want so bad that you don't
ever bring it up. (FWIW, becoming a grandfather was in the latter category, based
upon how cool it was to be a dad...best gig ever. :0)
****
So right around my birthday last year my daughter Stephanie brought Jamie into
the world. I was over the moon. And finally Missy made me a granddad again by
adding Benjamin to the mix. And this was shortly before Thanksgiving. So I
went back to NH for Thanksgiving this year, and to see *both* of my daughters,
their husbands, and their new babies so happy & healthy brought pure joy to me.
It has been a long wait for all of us...but it was well worth the wait.
(Edit: attached photos of new helpers of future projects. :0)
****
It's a complex story best told in person, but after much serious discussion over the
Thanksgiving holiday I've been persuaded that I should relocate from Syracuse to
southern NH in order to help these 2 young families with bringing up these boys
to become the kind of hard working young men who would fit right in here in the
gmt400 forum. :0) Work hard, play hard, and I'm going to start asap on being the
'no phone zone' granddad, leading by example.
We'll be too busy learning our constellations, reading maps while on adventures, and
of course keeping the truck fixed up so that we can do chores with it. (I still clearly
remember back in the '60s my Great Uncle Hank telling me to put my ear to the handle
end of a screwdriver while holding it to a growling alternator, and I was astounded by
how much high fidelity mechanical complaining I heard.)
And then after he replaced the bearing, holding the screwdriver against the alternator again,
this time it was all but completely silent while the engine was idling. A small moment, perhaps,
but my Great Uncle Hank (who fixed airplanes on aircraft carriers in the pacific during WWII) made
abig lasting impression on me when I was a young lad.
Here's hoping that I get to play a similar role for my new grandsons in the years to come. (!)
...But first I'm going to have to move from here to NH. Given all this, I may be a bit
sporadic in the forum during this upcoming transition, but at least I have a pretty good idea
of how I'd like all this to turn out. Now to make it so.
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all the high quality/real deal people all over this world
that I've had the pleasure to meet while trying to sort out this old chore truck.
Cheers --
virtual wellness check on yours truly...it's appreciated. (!)
As a matter of fact my Thanksgiving was no doubt the best that I can ever
remember. I should explain. Back in '88 I became a father, blessed with
identical twin daughters. They have always always been my pride & joy -- without
a doubt the best thing that ever happened to me.
Long story short, after doing everything right (college + picking awesome
son in laws + working hard at their careers) ...for years they were each trying
to start their own family...but no joy.
There are things you want bad enough that you bring it up all the time
in conversation. Then there are those things that you want so bad that you don't
ever bring it up. (FWIW, becoming a grandfather was in the latter category, based
upon how cool it was to be a dad...best gig ever. :0)
****
So right around my birthday last year my daughter Stephanie brought Jamie into
the world. I was over the moon. And finally Missy made me a granddad again by
adding Benjamin to the mix. And this was shortly before Thanksgiving. So I
went back to NH for Thanksgiving this year, and to see *both* of my daughters,
their husbands, and their new babies so happy & healthy brought pure joy to me.
It has been a long wait for all of us...but it was well worth the wait.
(Edit: attached photos of new helpers of future projects. :0)
****
It's a complex story best told in person, but after much serious discussion over the
Thanksgiving holiday I've been persuaded that I should relocate from Syracuse to
southern NH in order to help these 2 young families with bringing up these boys
to become the kind of hard working young men who would fit right in here in the
gmt400 forum. :0) Work hard, play hard, and I'm going to start asap on being the
'no phone zone' granddad, leading by example.
We'll be too busy learning our constellations, reading maps while on adventures, and
of course keeping the truck fixed up so that we can do chores with it. (I still clearly
remember back in the '60s my Great Uncle Hank telling me to put my ear to the handle
end of a screwdriver while holding it to a growling alternator, and I was astounded by
how much high fidelity mechanical complaining I heard.)
And then after he replaced the bearing, holding the screwdriver against the alternator again,
this time it was all but completely silent while the engine was idling. A small moment, perhaps,
but my Great Uncle Hank (who fixed airplanes on aircraft carriers in the pacific during WWII) made
a
Here's hoping that I get to play a similar role for my new grandsons in the years to come. (!)
...But first I'm going to have to move from here to NH. Given all this, I may be a bit
sporadic in the forum during this upcoming transition, but at least I have a pretty good idea
of how I'd like all this to turn out. Now to make it so.
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all the high quality/real deal people all over this world
that I've had the pleasure to meet while trying to sort out this old chore truck.
Cheers --
Attachments
Last edited:
@Road Trip that is such a great story! Very happy to hear the news. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Grand kids are so rewarding. When you raise your own kids everything happens so fast as they grow and change quicker than you can learn what to do, then they are adults and you wonder where all that time went. As Grandparents we have the luxury of both time and experience and can relax and enjoy the time we have with them. I have an 8 year old Grandson that I have had custody of since he was born, so I am kind of in the middle, but wouldn't miss it for the world. Enjoy every moment you have with yours.
Congrats RoadTrip! I know my folks thoroughly enjoyed having my kids in the house over the week of Thanksgiving (maybe enjoyed my presence as well as seeing my wife for a day). Enjoy spoiling the grandkids.
Keeping my old GMT400 chore truck rust-free...despite having to keep it outside year-round
Given how much fun quality rust repair isn't, an ounce of rust prevention is worth a pound of cure.
(Then again, it's more than 16x easier/less expensive -- so maybe we should update this old saw to
a gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure? :0)
After decades of trying to keep my cheap fleet from disappearing in a cloud of rust dust, I finally came
to the realization of the following: I have never seen rust under an unbroken paint film, in much the
same way that I've never been electrocuted while using a live extension cord when handling it via an
unbroken insulation layer. (!)
The point I'm trying to make is that when our GMT400 vehicles rust, we are witnessing an
electro-chemical reaction in action. And the more we protect/insulate the metal from this electro-chemical reaction
(best to worst: Completely sealed > dry desert air > distilled water > sea water > Rust Belt salted roadway slurry)
...the longer those iron/steel bits stay factory strong.
EDIT: Here's a concise explanation of rust: (What is Rust?)
****
So, if you think of paint in the same way that you think of the insulator on a
live electric wire, it takes a lot of the mystery out of rust. It all makes sense.
Here's some common-sense rules to keep in mind while trying to figure out
how to best preserve your GMT400 in the 21st century:
* Live in a dry environment. There's a reason why the USAF located it's own
aircraft spare parts Treasure Yard at Davis-Monthan AFB. (Tucson) They only
get ~11" of rain per year + 10-20% average humidity.
* The wetter the locale where you live, the more benefit you will derive from
parking your GMT400 in dry storage. Note: If you drive year-round, a heated
garage is not your friend, for as we all learned in high school chemistry, heat
speeds up chemical reactions. (!)
* If you are a mere mortal like myself & find yourself living without a garage to
park your treasured machine in, then keeping your vehicle virtually dry
(via a hydrophobic coating) is the next best thing.
In English, keep a good coating of WAX on your ride. In this photo, you can see
where I've protected the chore truck with a fresh waxing. Meanwhile, everything
but the roof of the DD is still being protected from the elements with a waxing
within the past couple of months. And finally, looking at the roof of the DD you
can see that I've been a slacker and it is no longer being protected from the elements.
And up there, if there's any tiny cracks/crazes/scratches/etc then rusting will inevitably start up. :-(
Getting back to the unbroken paint film thing, the first thing I always do is buy enough touch-up
paint to fix all the chipped paint & scratches on the vehicle. But in the case of my scratched up
chore truck, I found it was *much* more cost-effective to buy a few ounces of custom mixed touch
up paint at the local Auto Body Supply store, as opposed to buying 3-4+ of these 0.5 oz scratch
touch up paint kits: Indigo Blue Metallic Dupli-color
I've also found that polishing/buffing off the dead paint layer on top makes the surface act less
like a porous sponge holding onto the conductive salt-laden spray.
NOTE: Upon close inspection, the original ~25 year old paint is showing signs of
minor crazing in a few places. (See attached close up of the old pin-striping for an example.)
I also saw evidence of crazing on the leading edges of the hood itself. In these cases,
waxing over these minor defects helps to keep the moisture away & help prevent wicking
inbetween the paint film & the metal underneath & causing those rust spots from starting.
****
Last but not least, I've included a couple of photos of a newer Salt City bruiser
that I photographed a couple of days ago...maybe 5 minutes from home base. Why?
A: Seeing trucks just like this on just about every single local errand I run gives me the
motivation to keep the water beading on my chore truck that is exposed to the elements
on a 24 x 365 basis.
(BTW, apologies if I am guilty of stating the obvious to those who are all-too-familiar
with protecting their rides against the rust belt clime. The above was targeted at
someone who's new to the old truck/SUV hobby, and is interested in preserving what
they've got without spending $$$+ to do just that.)
And to end this on a lighter note -- the days have already started getting longer, so I
keep telling myself that spring is just over the horizon. :0)
Now to keep the shiny side up 'til then!
Cheers --
Given how much fun quality rust repair isn't, an ounce of rust prevention is worth a pound of cure.
(Then again, it's more than 16x easier/less expensive -- so maybe we should update this old saw to
a gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure? :0)
After decades of trying to keep my cheap fleet from disappearing in a cloud of rust dust, I finally came
to the realization of the following: I have never seen rust under an unbroken paint film, in much the
same way that I've never been electrocuted while using a live extension cord when handling it via an
unbroken insulation layer. (!)
The point I'm trying to make is that when our GMT400 vehicles rust, we are witnessing an
electro-chemical reaction in action. And the more we protect/insulate the metal from this electro-chemical reaction
(best to worst: Completely sealed > dry desert air > distilled water > sea water > Rust Belt salted roadway slurry)
...the longer those iron/steel bits stay factory strong.
EDIT: Here's a concise explanation of rust: (What is Rust?)
****
So, if you think of paint in the same way that you think of the insulator on a
live electric wire, it takes a lot of the mystery out of rust. It all makes sense.
Here's some common-sense rules to keep in mind while trying to figure out
how to best preserve your GMT400 in the 21st century:
* Live in a dry environment. There's a reason why the USAF located it's own
aircraft spare parts Treasure Yard at Davis-Monthan AFB. (Tucson) They only
get ~11" of rain per year + 10-20% average humidity.
* The wetter the locale where you live, the more benefit you will derive from
parking your GMT400 in dry storage. Note: If you drive year-round, a heated
garage is not your friend, for as we all learned in high school chemistry, heat
speeds up chemical reactions. (!)
* If you are a mere mortal like myself & find yourself living without a garage to
park your treasured machine in, then keeping your vehicle virtually dry
(via a hydrophobic coating) is the next best thing.
In English, keep a good coating of WAX on your ride. In this photo, you can see
where I've protected the chore truck with a fresh waxing. Meanwhile, everything
but the roof of the DD is still being protected from the elements with a waxing
within the past couple of months. And finally, looking at the roof of the DD you
can see that I've been a slacker and it is no longer being protected from the elements.
And up there, if there's any tiny cracks/crazes/scratches/etc then rusting will inevitably start up. :-(
You must be registered for see images attach
Getting back to the unbroken paint film thing, the first thing I always do is buy enough touch-up
paint to fix all the chipped paint & scratches on the vehicle. But in the case of my scratched up
chore truck, I found it was *much* more cost-effective to buy a few ounces of custom mixed touch
up paint at the local Auto Body Supply store, as opposed to buying 3-4+ of these 0.5 oz scratch
touch up paint kits: Indigo Blue Metallic Dupli-color
I've also found that polishing/buffing off the dead paint layer on top makes the surface act less
like a porous sponge holding onto the conductive salt-laden spray.
NOTE: Upon close inspection, the original ~25 year old paint is showing signs of
minor crazing in a few places. (See attached close up of the old pin-striping for an example.)
I also saw evidence of crazing on the leading edges of the hood itself. In these cases,
waxing over these minor defects helps to keep the moisture away & help prevent wicking
inbetween the paint film & the metal underneath & causing those rust spots from starting.
****
Last but not least, I've included a couple of photos of a newer Salt City bruiser
that I photographed a couple of days ago...maybe 5 minutes from home base. Why?
A: Seeing trucks just like this on just about every single local errand I run gives me the
motivation to keep the water beading on my chore truck that is exposed to the elements
on a 24 x 365 basis.
(BTW, apologies if I am guilty of stating the obvious to those who are all-too-familiar
with protecting their rides against the rust belt clime. The above was targeted at
someone who's new to the old truck/SUV hobby, and is interested in preserving what
they've got without spending $$$+ to do just that.)
And to end this on a lighter note -- the days have already started getting longer, so I
keep telling myself that spring is just over the horizon. :0)
Now to keep the shiny side up 'til then!
Cheers --
Attachments
Last edited:
@Road Trip just catching up on your thread, always a great read. Just wanted to say, I opened a can of POR15 and needed to hit areas around a new trailer hitch I installed in fall of 2022. I only used a bit of the qt. So I tapped lid on good and put it in a Ziplock freezer bag, sucked out most of the air and when I opened it last summer it thankfully was still good. Low tech, but it worked. I’ll try your idea next time. 
