Yesterday I started scraping a lot of rust off the frame of my Jeep. I'm using a paint scraper and a few wire brushes, both manual and drill-mounted. Probably another day or two and it will be ready for refinishing. I plan to paint the frame and suspension parts chassis black enamel. Is that the best finish?

I'd appreciate advice about rust control: how should I treat the metal after brushing it? Is there a rust-arrester I can spray or brush on as a primer? Especially for the hard to reach spots or spots I can't get to at all. Maybe just a Rustoleum primer? Or should I buy some special preparation that costs more?

Also, a friend suggested undercoating instead of chassis black enamel paint, but the tar-like undercoating would look like crap and I'm hoping the right primer/treatment and then black paint will be good enough to keep the rust from coming back or spreading --AND it will look great. After all, the frame is pretty visible from the sides.

por-15 or hammerite is the best 2 options with por-15 being the best. Read their site before you remove too much rust though.

Hammerite is really thick and comes in BLACK. GOB it on and it should last a lifetime. I have used it on lots of things including boat docks and hand rails.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the advice, I'm always appreciative of you guys for all the advice I get at this site, its helped me get this far in improving my Jeep: Cooper SST's 31.5 x 10.50s, BDS 2" suspension lift (plus new rear track bar BDS didn't say I'd need until I did), LoD extreme duty rearbumper & tire carrier. Now you're helping me treat the frame.

So I just spent $43.75 on-line ordering a quart of the por-15 paint in black. I intend to brush it on. I looked at the Hammerite site too but they gave so little information whereas with por-15 I at least read enough that I felt like I knew something about the product. It seems like a lot of money for paint but obviously it ain't normal paint, and even with the additional $20-$40 I'll be spending on chassis black enamel top coat and beer, this will still be a great improvement to my Jeep at a cost of under $100, plus a few hours work.

Thanks again to Cuervo and Big Jim, --TM.

What sold me on Hammerite the first time was the display they had in stores about 12 or 15 years ago. Hammerite went around to their vendors and supplied metal things like horseshoes and railroad spikes that had laid in saltwater for years and were bout cancered in half. They painted these parts halfway with hammerite paint and it was obvious they painted right over the cancer. It was a beautiful thing to see. I gobbed it on the underwater parts of my boatdock in 95 before I put it in the water and it is still on there doing it's job. I am sure if the por-15 is half as good as the hammerite you have made a great purchase.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

i told this story many times and will as many more as i need.i also used hammerite when i done a complete rebuild of a 73 chevy truck i had.i re panted the frame,differentials spring perches and everything else on the bottom of the truck including the bottom of the cab,bed and wheel wells.needless to say it took alot of time,i just used a 3 in paint roller and a paint brush.i put that truck through hell after it was done.mudding ,rock crawlin, if it was in the national park where we wheeled i put it through it or tried anyway.that stuff held up to everything,and still is 5 yrs later(sold it to my best freind before i moved to jersey).he is just as bad if not worse than me.
i mentioned por-15 because you can lay that straight on rust as long as you wire brush the scale and loose crap off.it is very expensive though. vs i think i spent a total of 30 dollars for everything t opaint mine(the hammerite,brushes primer roller and paint pan).I do belive you will be very happy with por-15 though many many people swear by it.

Bj i remember those displays i was working at a farm store at the time with one.that and the fact that it looked cool hooked me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />. por 15 has been used for ages in restoratin for years.just now really becoming more mainstream due to word of mouth.hopefully you and i can do the same with hammerite lol

I brushed the POR-15 onto the frame, suspension, axles, driveshafts and skid plates. The stuff thickened up towards the end of the job and it turned brushes into tangled wads, but I got 2 coats on most of it. I let it dry a full day between coats. Then I topcoated it with a few coats of Krylon rust enamel glossy black spray paint, again with a day between coats. The Krylon is cheap ***** I know but hopefully as top coat it will be good enough. The POV-15 underneath seems like a pretty permanent coating. The top coat is supposedly only for appearance, as UV rays bleach the POV-15 or have some effect on appearance, as the brochure said anyway.

The POV-15 went on great. It seems like the kind of stuff you could paint a steam locomotive with so it could run outside every day for years without rusting. I had to rub off some skin to get the stuff off my arms and legs.

Time will tell but the stuff seems really good. And I really like how glossy black the frame and all underneath parts are now. I'm sure the Jeep drives better than ever before --I can just feel the new paint on the frame as I drive!