Since I'm upgrading *everything* concerning the chassis/suspension/steering/brakes on my Omni GLH Turbo, I decided to paint the chassis parts and a few brackets. Namely:
Rear axle and bushing brackets
K-frame
control arms
anti-sway bar and brackets
rack & pinion hold-down bracket
I started by removing all the aforementioned parts from the car. The bushing brackets for the rear axle were especially difficult because the OEM bushing sleeve had seized inside the bracket, which required a cut-off wheel or sawzall to be removed. I gathered up all the parts and headed to the car wash to power wash everything. I had to use paint stripper to strip what was left of the original black paint off the rear axle. I then brought all the parts to a machine shop to be bead blasted. After that, I scrubbed the parts thoroughly many times in the bath tub with Castrol Super Clean (the purple stuff). Once again, I went back to the car wash to power wash everything to remove any residual dirt, grease, cleaning agents, and blasting media. After everything was cleaned and dry, it was time for the Metal Ready.
Metal Ready is a pre-primer, which conditions the metal for proper adhesion of the POR-15. It etches the metal and leaves a zinc-phosphate film which promotes the adhesion of paint and metal. The parts have to be wetted with MR for 20 minutes, which requires the parts to be sprayed down a few times within the 20 minutes so that the MR doesn't dry. The parts must then be rinsed off thoroughly. I used my shower/bathtub because I couldn't find a garden hose spigot on our apartment building.
After the parts are completely dry (very important), they can finally be painted with the POR-15. Thin coats are best, waiting 3-5 hours between coats or until there is only slight finger drag. I painted all my parts with three coats which seemed to be more than enough. Next time I'll probably just do two coats. Thin coats are best to keep runs/drips to a minimum. Be sure not to get in inside any bolt holes, which shouldn't be any problem as long as the POR-15 isn't applied too heavily. Cheapo throw-away horsehair paintbrushes are best. You may want to order them from POR-15 because the bristles on the cheapo brushes I bought from a local hardware store were falling out and getting encapsulated in the POR-15. No big deal but annoying still.
Here are some pics of just before applying the POR-15. I took A LOT of work to get this far. 90% of the work involved with POR-15 is the cleaning and preparation.
i just got done painting my block and brackets for that...I just can't wait to get started on my suspension I'm sick of painting... Oh, and I'm running caravan arms too
I plan on doing my Shelby Lancer next. I bought a gallon of POR-15 so I have more than enough to do all three of my cars. I may even do the entire underside of my Lancer. A little POR-15 goes a long way. It only took about 2 cups to put the first coat on all the parts.
I was considering doing the entire underside of my Omni, but I'd like to drive it again sometime this year. So far I'm very impressed with this stuff!
Hello , Looking for some advice on known suspension upgrades for my 86 Z Daytona . I want the car as low as possible , will be using 16" or 17" wheels . Are the newer dual pivot lower control arms off 89 cars better ? the rear axle from 89 Shelby Daytona ( bigger bar inside , welded ends ) ...
Well this forum is quite sleepy. After being out of the SD game since 2008 I was looking for some Eibach's for my recently purchased 88 CSX-T. I quickly learned that they are no longer available and hard to find second hand.
I stumbled onto a thread where fellow member and Mexico resident...
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my rack & pinion on my 1989 Chrysler lebaron seal where the steering shaft goes into it is leaking so I bought a new rack from advance auto do I have to drop the front crossmember? can I put it on jackstands the shop I could have used a lift closed up so ill be doing it in my driveway,,,
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I'm sick of painting... Oh, and I'm running caravan arms too 
