Hi all,

I have a very small hole in the body (I can't even see the hole, only the water trickling through). I am thinking about using POR-15 to seal it up. Has anyone used POR-15 for this? If so, which product did you use? I am thinking the "POR-15 silver", since it supposedly has metal filler in it. (I already have a can of por-15 black, but I want the best product available to fix this hole that is the source of a water leak).

Right now the hole is covered with silicone. I did that only out of desperation earlier today, since it is raining lots in Oregon now, and I needed something to minimize the h20 coming in. ONce I got inside, I started to think "there's got to be something better than silicone for this", and came to the idea of using POR-15.

It looks like the prior owner used body putty or something on it, the whole area around it is covered with white pasty stuff. (I've never used body putty, so I don't know if that is truly what it is). I'm debating whether to peel off all the white stuff to see what the hell is going on in there, though I'm almost to the point where I don't want to know how bad it could be up there....

The hole is located on the firewall, close to where it corners with the side panel on the passenger side.

thanks for continued wisdom and encouraging words,

susan.



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Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

You'll need to remove that silicone - completely - before you can apply another sealant. Lacquer thinner will do the trick. It will also remove your paint and ruin any rubber or plastic items it contacts (hoses, wiring, etc.) If the silicone has hardened, peal it out. Use a durable rag, wet (not dripping) with thinner to clean up the residue. If you're bonding to a painted surface, scuff the paint well with 120 grit paper.

A two-part epoxy "resin" (not bondo, a paste) should work.

Home Depot can supply these goods for a $10 bill.

It might be wise to dig the stuff out if it is plastic body filler. Plastic body filler (often referred to as "Bondo" by the uninitiated) is porous and soaks up water so if there is any in there you want to get rid of it. Filler will normally have a light pinkish or yellowish tint due to the hardener added.

I believe POR-15 makes a floor repair kit with epoxy putty of some sort that might work well in your case. If the leak is at a seam it would really be better to fix it somehow from the outside and maybe some POR-15 paint over the inside as well. If you have access to an air compressor maybe somebody could aim a stream of compressed air at the spot on the inside and you could feel/listen on the outside for the location.

Good luck...

Justin B.
83 244 GL Turbo

The air compressor idea is a good one! A friend of mine has one, I could use that!

Do you think that maybe the silver POR-15 with metal filler in it might work? As far as I know it's a tiny hole, and I don't have much money to spend on it..... I will check the POR-15 website to see what prices are looking like too.

Thanks for your reply, air compressor is a great idea.

Susan
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Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

I highly reccomend the "POR-PUTTY" if you prepare the surfaces right, it adhears like a weld bead and has a 5-6000 psi tensile strength. Plus you can work it smooth with your fingers before it hardens . Amazing stuff. I used a whole package of that stuff to rebuild a section of my rocker panel, and then bonded the fiberglass reinforcing mesh to the hardened por-putty. A few cans of undercoating and it looked like original.
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'82 DL - 152k, '93 945 - 100k

Hi Matt,

assuming that the stuff that's in there now is seam sealer (it is brushed on)or body putty, can you use the por epoxy putty to replace that? from what you posted it sounds like it, but i want to make sure before i get in there yet again.

Also, it sounds like I would want to remove all the sealant that's there, and start fresh, re-sealing that whole area. as i told another poster, i'm leaning towards the option of pulling out all the old sealant and the silicone i put in today.

once i do that, i figure i would re-cover that area with the por-15 epoxy and then paint over the area with the por-15 black for extra protection.

in addition, i will use an air compressor to try to pinpoint the leak so that I don't skimp on the actual leak point, and hopefully repeat that processon the engine side (which is very difficult to access), assuming i can get to it. it's in a little cubbyhole that i can't see in, and my hand barely fits into, so that side might be tough to get.

any suggestions/feedback on that? does that sound like a way to do it? (I'm totally new at fixing body holes).

thanks,

susan.
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Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

I second Justin's comments on digging out the old stuff in the way. Although to me it sounds like you are descibing seam sealer which seals the edges of body panels where they meet. I've used POR-15 plenty of times to seal little pinholes in metal. I always used the black for sealing holes. You have to use at least a couple of coats of POR-15 to really cover it well. If you do dig out the seam sealer be sure to put on some new stuff. It's kinda like putty when it dries but it's brushed on. Have a nice holiday!

Dave 82 242ti 278k mi.

Hi Dave,

yup, this stuff is brushed on and it is close to, if not right on, the seams.

If the stuff that's there IS seam sealer, and assuming that it's there to close a crack in the seam, what's the best option?

These are what I see as my options: (remove all silicone and old sealant on all options)

a) put in a couple thin coats of the black por-15 over the whole area in question

b) put in some new seam sealant, then paint over it with por-15

c) get the por-15 epoxy, use that over the whole questionable area and paint over that with por-15 for double protection

d) use "2-part epoxy" that another poster mentioned at home depot for 10 bucks

right now I'm thinking that option "C" is what I'll go with, but if anyone has a better idea, I'm all ears.

Thanks, & happy holidays to you too

Susan.

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Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

Hello Susan,
I'm with you on the 'C' selection. Although the seam sealer stuff is really good also. Usually the seam sealer you buy nowadays is paintable also. So 'B' would work too. It's good to have options. Definitely dig out the old stuff so you can seal the edge as good as possible. If the hole is a pinhole the paint will fill it but anything bigger will require some type of filler like epoxy.
Hang in there. Thank you for the holiday greetings!

Dave 82 242ti 278k mi.

I would dig out the old seam sealer and then make a plan. If the sealer is filling a very very tiny hole, then the POR15 paints (grey or black) should work fine. If it's a bit larger then it's time to hit it with the seam sealer. It also depends on how much seam sealer you dig out; just a little bit use the paints, a lot replace it with more seam sealer and then paint. IPD sells all this stuff, it says you're in Portland so buying the stuff is convienent.
--
Portland, OR 1987 240 dl wagon 'rustbucket'

I would definately "dig" out all the old stuff, and fix from the outside if at all possible. Think of it this way, you have a passage that water is finding it's way through, if you seal it up on the inside the passage still fills up from the outside down to your patch - the water can sit there and start/continue to rust.

If you can find out where it's getting in I'd drizzle some liquid POR-15 in from the outside to seal and coat the "passage" then after it cures go ahead and use the POR-15 putty to fill it up.

I had a leak like this on my 57 Chevy that like to drove me nuts. Finally after I took the fender off to weld in a lower patch panel I saw a seam that the old seam sealer had cracked on and was letting water in.

Good luck!

Justin

Hi Justin,

the "drizzle the POR-15" is a good idea. i was thinking that too, that treating it from the inside only solves half the problem. since i can't see the outside leak source, i couldn't figure out how to deal with that half of the problem. that solution just may do the trick. i'm gonna borrow one of those hand-mirrors along with the air compressor to help me out.

thanks again, (hopefully i'll have a success story soon to share with everybody)

susan.
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Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

If you try the compressor idea you could also make a crude "stethescope" by holding a length of rubber tubing up to your ear and pointing the other end around the vicinity of where you think the hole might be. You might be able to pinpoint it pretty close doing that.

Have fun,

Justin