Couple of prep type questions ...

[mikegronholz]

I am getting ready for painting the pan and getting it all purty. Couple of questions.

I am planning on having the pan blasted (without floor pans on it) to get absolutely all the grease and grime off of it. I will then spray it with a coat of Metal Ready from POR-15.

Here's the question ... with no cables or tubes of any kind in the "frame", should I send it to burn off before blasting. Burn off is baking it at about 800* to get all the grease, grime, fluids etc to burn to ash. Then send to blast.

what are your thoughts on that ?

Also, can you weld parts that have been coated with Por-15 ?

Thanks for any input.

Mike

[marklaken]

not sure on the burning off part...if it is a common hot rodder prep thing, you might ask the burn shop if it will warp the thin gauge pans...seems to me like there is a risk of that...

as for welding thru POR-15, i emailed them that very question and they said that welding will burn-off the POR-15 and that one should use weld-thru primer...they said POR-15 is good upto about 600*F...i imagine you can weld thru it, but it will be nasty stuff when it is burned off wear a respirator and well ventilated garage to limit your exposure and you should be okay so long as you ain't doing it for a living...
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[VintageVulture]

do all your welding before any metal prep is done, that's just common sense... Otherwise you're just going to burn up what you've applied and have to sand and repair it again.

[groovinvwdriver]

i wouldn't suggest welding through anything if you don't have to... the cleaner the metal the better the weld.

_rob

[mikegronholz]

Thanks guys ... what I'm really concerned about is after the tunnel is blasted clean and POR-15'd, when I go to weld the new pans on will the weld go through the POR-15 ?

Or should I POR-15 the tunnel, then drill 1/4" holes through the tunnel lip and weld the pans from the bottom ?

My concern is having unprotected metal hiding in the cracks.

[myolbug]

I agree with having ALL of the metal work compelted before doing anything else. This just allows the total finish to be better. Also, there aren't any suprises later on where the unprotected metal gets missed.
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[57 Zwitter?]

I just did one last week. Removed the old pans, chiseled off the old pan remnants along the tunnel side flanges. Sent it to the blaster, Got it back all nice and clean. Painted on the POR-15 everywhere with the exception of where I was going to be welding in the new pans. Another thing I did that I think is important...with my 3m body shutz (undercoating) gun, I filled it with 1/2 qt of POR-15 and sprayed it into the inside of the tunnel from the front, thru the transmission mount holes at the rear frame fork and down thru the tunnel access hole under the rear seat. That will stop any rust that cannot be sandblasted. Then I drilled 3/8" holes every 2" and ground along the edge of the new floorpans and mig welded them onto the chassis, ground the welds smooth, scratched up the new pans with some 320 paper and painted everything with a coat of POR-15. Body caulked every welded seam and sprayed everything top and bottom with 3m body shutz undercoating. Here on the East coast undercoating is necessary, but in Cal. you probably just need to paint everything. Good Luck

[Mr. Bungle]