Painting over rust- Chassis Saver review

[clamb]

As my '02 AS was showing a fair amount of rust on the A frame, and especially in the storage box, I decided to deal with it by painting everything. My local auto parts store recommended Chassis Saver, which I went with, and I am really pleased by going this route. It is a high gloss black- I was hoping to stick with the AS gray color, and I still could, but I like the look. You can paint over it, but need to de-gloss it first.

It is not cheap, at $40/quart. You need to do a minimal amount of prep- wire brush the rust and sand the existing paint to remove gloss. No primer needed whatsoever- you can paint this product over rust, bare metal, or existing paint. You do need to wear gloves, and have plenty of ventilation- this stuff is nasty! I have some on my hands and have to wait a few weeks for skin cells to reproduce.

After full cure, it ends up rock hard- I can't make a mark on it with fingernails. I painted a small area to try it out, and the next day, it was all I could do to pry the lid off the can without destroying it.

[SteveSueMac]

Sounds interesting. Pics??

[clamb]

Here's a few pics. I wasn't too fussy on appearance

[SteveSueMac]

Thanks. Very interesting!!

[clamb]

I should note that these pictures were taken after it rained- some water beads

[wvstreamer]

Is it similar to por 15? I've heard good things about the chassis saver.
Dave

[Melody Ranch]

I always have used Chassis Saver instead of POR. Same stuff....readily available and less expensive (a bit).

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

I always have used Chassis Saver instead of POR. Same stuff....readily available and less expensive (a bit).

Thank you for that recommendation.

[Dingo Girl]

Thank you! I did not know this existed.
I'm going to see if it is available here.

[Vycan]

It comes in aluminum too!

[Burnside Bob]

This sounds like a great product. Was one quart enough to do your "A" frame and the rear bumper door?

I repainted the "A" frame on our 31' several times, power wire wheeling down to bare metal , primering with rust inhibiting primer, followed by two coats of silver colored rustoleum. Five years later the "A" frame would have rusted here and there requiring a "redo".

Our 2009 could use a repaint and I can see the previous owner has repainted the "A" frame at least once already. I wasn't satisfied with my previous results so am looking for a different product.

Thanks for sharing a great tip!

[RLS]

Also available in #98 light gray. Qt. of any color $31.66 plus $6.99 shipping anywhere USA.

[clamb]

Originally Posted by Burnside Bob

This sounds like a great product. Was one quart enough to do your "A" frame and the rear bumper door?

I repainted the "A" frame on our 31' several times, power wire wheeling down to bare metal , primering with rust inhibiting primer, followed by two coats of silver colored rustoleum. Five years later the "A" frame would have rusted here and there requiring a "redo".

Our 2009 could use a repaint and I can see the previous owner has repainted the "A" frame at least once already. I wasn't satisfied with my previous results so am looking for a different product.

Thanks for sharing a great tip!

I didn't even use 1/2 quart for the A frame (two coats). I should also point out that I slit some garden hose to slip over the bottom of the propane tanks, and lined the storage box with some anti-fatigue mat from Home Depot to prevent any future damage to the paint.

[perryg114]

Does it chalk after being exposed to UV like the POR15 does?

Perry

[clamb]

Originally Posted by perryg114

Does it chalk after being exposed to UV like the POR15 does?

Perry

Looks like it will...
NOTE: Chassis Saver is not intended as a “cosmetic” coating for finishing applications. It is sensitive to direct UV (sunlight) and its initial appearance will change over time. Its “RUST STOPPING” properties and corrosion resistance will never degrade but its color will shift from black to charcoal gray. Silver-Aluminum will retain most of its origi- nal look. If aesthetics are important, Chassis Saver can and should be top coated with a quality industrial or auto- motive finish. Any opaque finish is effective. Clear coating is not recommended as protection. See the Technical Data section on the reverse side for "Suitable Top Coats".

[Wingeezer]

Sounds a very similar product to POR15.

I used POR15 on my Hensley hitch and Classic A frame year or so back and it came aout well.

I top-coated both the hitch and the A-frame after the POR15 because of the UV issue mentioned in the POR15 in the instructions.

To topcoat the Hensley, I found a rattle can orange rust paint that was a pretty good match to the original Hensley Orange.

For the trailer itself, I had a small amount left in a spray can of Airstream "Pewter" orignal paint. I took a sample to our local hardware store and they had teh equipment in their paint dept. to mix up a matching rust paint.

For not much more than I paid at JC for the spray can, I got 4 litres of the custom paint and carefully brush painted the A frame.

Probably not as nice a finish as if I had sprayed it but a whole lot easier without all the masking to do and it looks fine - got a lifetime's worth of touch up paint now too!

Brian.

[perryg114]

All of these are moisture cured polyurethanes.

Perry