Disappointed with Chassis Saver

[Mr Diesel]

Several weeks ago I had applied Chassis Saver to my 1985 Camaro. Up until this point I had been impressed with the initial results. Well, last week I decided to smooth out some spots where I had put it a little thick and it had some bubbles. Lightly hit it with a wire wheel and it started coming off in flakes. Surprised, I peeled at it with my fingers and pulled up more flakes. Figuring I had just not prepped the surface properly, I pulled out the pressure washer and decided to clean up that area.
I ended up pressure washing ALL the Chassis Saver off pretty much every surface under the hood and some under the car. It came off in CHUNKS, some almost as big as my entire hand. I was amazed at how easily it came off. Once it started to peel it came off it big pieces.

Now I KNOW I prepped the surface well. Even areas that had mild rust just peeled right off. The only areas that stuck fairly well were the heavily pitted spots. Even areas I had scuffed the paint prior to application peeled right up with pressure. I have come to the conclusion that Chassis Saver adheres VERY well to itself, but not surfaces. I guess it might be okay for very rusty things, but don't get near it with a pressure washer. Too bad I just bought a gallon of the stuff. I guess I will save it for very rusty projects.

Just thought I would share this. I'm sure Chassis Saver gurus will be convinced the surface wasn't prepped right, but I know it was. Think I'm gonna stick with rust stopping paint and a good enamel top coat from now on. That has always worked very well for me and my rusty projects.

[VileZambonie]

I've never used it but I know POR15 sure sticks! Sorry you had a bad experience. Did you contact them? Have them send a rep out and maybe they'll do something for your time

[Blazin]

I don't use it over old paint at all. It doesn't and have had POR not stick to painted surfaces.

[smitty77]

I recall reading on the POR-15 site that they recommend using their self-etching primer over any surface except for heavily rusted areas before painting on the POR-15, especially freshly blasted metal.  The wording seemed pretty adamant about it too.  They really stressed thorough and proper cleaning/degreasing and did mention that the effectiveness will liely be reduced when painting over previously painted surfaces.

For what it's worth, I painted my frame with POR-15 (the same stuff as Chassis Saver I'm told) two years ago, and it has sat out in the heat/sun/snow/rain/ice for those two years and I haven't had any spots show any signs of failing.  I even had a few areas fade to a milky-black due to the reaction with the UV rays from the sun, so I just painted on some POR tie-coat printer and them topcoated with POR Chassis Black last summer.  Still no problems.

I just went though the FAQ on the POR site, and one thing I saw was a warning stating that if you are perspiring while painting and a drop of sweat gets into the can, the WHOLE CAN IS RUINED and the paint WILL NOT ADHERE.  Any chance this happened?

[Blazin]

I believe it also says not to use it directly out of the can, to pour out what you need and use it from there.

[SUX2BU99]

^ I'm curious what difference that would make, using it out of the can vs. out of a container you poured a little into. I suppose it would lessen the exposure of the entire can to air but what else?

I have to admit that I'm not 100% satisfied with CS either but I can't say I followed their instructions 100% to the letter either. I never like it though when a product more or less represents itself as being just a 'degrease the part, slap it on and it will stick better than the metal it's painted on' but when you read the directions, addtional products are probably needed like primers in order for it to work it's best. That's an exageration of course but reading the first two paragraphs under the picture of the cans says nothing at all about needing anything else but the CS top coat itself (nothing is mentioned about primer). Their technical bulletin actually says no primers are needed.
http://www.magnetpaints.com/underbody.asp

I painted two rear ends with CS. The first one was with a fresh can of CS, warm weather, two coats and I prepped the rear end by wire wheeling the entire thing, washing it down with Castrol SuperClean, rinsing off, and letting completely dry. I painted the 2nd coat on the next day after letting the first one dry. I was happy with the glossy, smooth surface of the paint. I wasn't so happy after getting the diff back in and the paint chipped around where it sat on the jackstands and where the floor jack contacted it on the pumpkin. I too could peel off some large pieces. I Krylon'd those spots.

The second diff was with the same can but a year later. The CS was exposed to cold and hot temperatures. I cleaned it the same way as the first one and just did one coat. I put it on fairly heavily too. I noticed it already chipping where the floor jack touches the pumpkin. I put several layers of tape on my jackstands though so there wasn't direct metal to paint contact when I used them so no chips there but I shouldn't have had to do that.

I was going to use CS again when I repainted my new core support and battery tray but since I didn't want to drop $44 on a 1 litre can I used Tremclad (Rustoleum) instead. Spray bomb on the support and brush-on on the tray. It feels just like the CS does but time will tell to how well it lasts and how well it holds up to the heavy corrosion on the battery tray.  I spent about $12 on the Tremclad. I like using the spray bomb though. Covers extremely well but it takes 24h to dry tack-free and about a week to fully harden.

All that said though, I still think it's a good product and as always is said, if the preparation is done 100% according to what the manufacturer says, then I think the results will be positive.

[Mr Diesel]

I did try the self etching primer on a small portion, because I did wonder about that. Didn't help at all, if anything it came up even easier. The self etching primer didn't budge though, no matter how much pressure I blasted it with (after the CS peeled off).
I haven't contacted them. I'm sure no water got in the mix either. I might just ship this gallon back.

[smitty77]

The self etching primer didn't budge though, no matter how much pressure I blasted it with (after the CS peeled off).
I haven't contacted them. I'm sure no water got in the mix either. I might just ship this gallon back.

I would see about a return/replacement.  Something isn't right with that can.  I wasn't nearly as thorough with my prep and as I mentioned it's still holding strong.  I even had a couple of spots I had to grind through to get to some bare metal to hook the ground clamp for the welder, and it didn't exactly just peel away, seemed pretty well bonded to the metal.