It's Not Full Of Holes

Yesterday I made an encouraging discovery. Some spots I thought were rusted through from the inside out were surface rust with at most tiny rust throughs.

I used this opportunity to practice doing a complete POR-15 repair cycle in one day. What I mean by complete is starting with a rusty spot and ending with the damaged area treated with POR-15.

After grinding off the paint, filler, and loose rust the area is washed with Marine-Clean, thoroughly rinsed, and dried. I used a heat gun to speed up the drying. Next the area is treated with Metal Prep, which converts rust to something more stable. Treated areas must be wet for at least ten minutes. I brushed a coat here, then there, cycling through them all many times. I ended up with a frothy mess of air bubbles trapped in the thickening goo. After drying with the heat gun I brushed on a coat of POR-15. Next Sunday I will try out the putty.