Teddy da Bear. Thanks. I was considering nailers where I could hang up
and take down the sheets easier.

I'll do all the painting inside. I don't wanna risk dropping parts or debris blowing on the parts while the paint is wet.

I was looking at the Valspar paints from TSC. But I've read where people said there were better paints for not much more in cost. I'd like to get a durable but yet affordable paint. Are any paints easier to apply or more forgiving?

What about orange peel? Do you sand it out or do you use a a rubbing compound with a buffer?

How long between coats? I guess you paint what you can reach and then flip the parts once they are dry. How much paint can I expect to use?
Thanks

Butch

Please understand that I am NOT a painter. However, I have recently used 3 different kinds of paint , Valspar implement (not restoration), Krylon implement, and Rustoleum implement. I find that the Rustoleum paint is thicker and less likely to run than the others, with the Krylon being the thinnest.

This allows me to get more coverage per coat than the others. I have to put four coats of Valspar on to get to where I could not see the brown primer showing through.

So my favorite is Rustoleum Implement (matches IH red).

Another thing I noticed is that the Valspar will dry to the touch in an hour or two, and the Rustoleum takes until the next day.

I don't know if being thicker is better or not, like I said, I am not a painter, but I like it better.

I am taking about rattle cans, of course.

I'm not a painter either!!! But I would like to give the gun a try since I have one. I am concerned I'll do more damage than good. I do want it to come out pretty decent. I have many hours invested in the prep. All the parts have been sandblasted or bead blasted. Everything has been prepped with Por15. New tires and wheels. I'm also in the process of rebuilding the engine. I also have many new parts for it. But it will be a work tractor and not a trailer queen! It had a busy Fall planned but it won't be done in time. I'd like to try pushing snow with it this Winter but don't know if I'll be done. So now I have a very busy Spring planned for it. It's gonna spend time in the woods so I'm sure it will get scratched and that first one will probably be a killer!!
Butch

Ok.....this will sound crazy... But for all the fuss and mess created by using a spray gun.... I don't use one. And I restore cars for a living! (I use a spray gun on them though....lol)

I have found a spray can paint that is unbelievably reasonable.....goes on nice and smooth......and is a near dead on match for wheel horse red.

It can be found at Rural King (other stores too I imagine) for a $1.45 a big can! It is called "Touch and Tone" and the color is cherry red.

I am happy with it.....and I am kind of picky....lol

But use what suits you.

Best of luck!

I hear you there.

I'm no painter, so I'm certainly no expert, but it's a lot of screwing around, adding thinner, adding hardner, stirring it all up, leaving it to kick a bit, spray a bit, wait for it to tack, spray a bit etc etc. Then all the clean up at the end, and getting rid of the left over paint and dirty thinner. It all seems so much more work than putting the rattlecan back on the shelf.

And even a small gun is awkward to get in the tight spots (like the inside of a dash tower).

I'm hoping to get my gas tank, hood and beltcover painted this weekend (weather permitting). I'll use a gun mainly because I want to use hardener on the gas tank, and I really want these 3 pieces to match. But the next tractor will probably be a rattlecan job.

$1.45 is unbelievably cheap, I've been using the Valspar restoration series and its about $7 from TSC.

Have you ever used an airbrush? I use a Pasche brand, type "H" for smaller parts. It can also be used for larger stuff since it can spray a pattern fom razor thin to four-five inches wide. It is more maneuverable than a rattle can and gives incredible control. The finish is also as smooth as wet glass. But you still have the mixing and cleanup issues.

Linen funny you should mention that. Years ago I bought a Testers air
brush. I decided to try it out on painting 3 grooves around a set of
dart barrels. I bought one of those small bottles of Testers model
paint. I went through the entire bottle just trying to paint 3 little gooves.
I couldn't even get that right. It was harder than I thought.
Butch

Air Brushing is an Art, I watch alot of Orange County Choppers And Ole' Nubby Is the man! Boy I wish he was my neighbor, sure would get some nice paintjobs done I have so many Horses to paint im not even looking forward to it! Maybe by the time I get to the last one, I will be doing a nice job I believe in the paint gun method tho, Useing good quality paint with hardner gives a more duarable finish better than factory! The paints they used back years ago do not compare to the finishes they have today.

The best paint job I have ever seen on a horse was Rays 552 Parked next to mine in the Redsquare tent this last summer! All I can say is WoW! There were more people who stopped with their mouths hung open that you could shake a stick at! And for good reason, because Ray spent alot of time on the preperation and purchased good materials! Yeah okay he can work a spray gun fantastic too!

I can appreciate craftmanship, why not do things right the first time if your going to restore a tractor? Take it apart so you can do get the job done right. Anything mehanical should be fixed along the way also before painting.

This is just how I feel, everyone has to make that decision when they get there!

Cheers Duke

I haven't watched OCC in months. I know for awhile he had changed a couple of his air brush painters. I don't know why. I never saw a bad paint job from any of them. I also had the impression all his painters were fairly local. It must be nice to have that much talent in such a small area. They can do some amazing work.

Is it too late to paint?

Dunno, but if it didnt happen this weekend, it probably wasnt goimg to happen. Here's how I spent part of my day:







It was high 60's this afternoon in my back yard (central Indiana).

Turned out OK, I got a run around the "Wheel Horse" on the hood, and a frikkin' bug right in the middle of the top of the gas tank, but I suppose "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys...."

Now to wait a couple of weeks for that Valspar to harden up...

Looks like yer doing a nice job!

Cheers Duke

great lookin job!

Thanks guys, but it looks better in the pictures than in real life...

The tank came out really good, except for the bug in the top

The belt gaurd is ok, a little bit of orange peel along the top (visible) edge. The hood has a bit of orange peel too, and a few spots where the pitting is showing through. We'll see what it looks like in a couple of weeks after a good buffing.

I shoulda realized that where the "Wheel Horse" is embossed into the front would be a danger zone for a run.

But hey, Ive seen (and done) worse.

Sorekiwi I have a couple of questions. Did you use a rattle can or a gun? I can't tell if that's an air hose or garden hose on the ground. How well did you prep it? Did you do the wet sanding? How many coats of paint and how long did you wait between coats? If you used a gun I'm sure you used a hardner so how long will you have to wait to work on it again? Will you wet sand the orange peel or use a rubbing compund?
Butch

I'm certainly no expert on painting, there's plenty of better qualified people than me to answer your questions..... but right or wrong, here's what I did.

These bits are off my Lawn Ranger as descibed in this post: http://whtractor.15.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=3240&hl=

A lot of the smaller pieces have been painted with rattle cans, but the toolbox, fenders, hoodstand and these bits today where painted with a gun. Its all been Valspar "Restoration Series" paint from TSC (both in the gun and in rattlecans). I used Hardener with the gun Primer has been Valspar sandable grey mainly, or High build primer from NAPA (dont remember the brand) or an etching primer also from NAPA. All the primer was done with rattlecans (apart from a disastrous f-up on the hood when I used a gun and ended up taking it back to bare metal and starting again).

This tractor was really rusty with a lot of pitting, so it was taken right down to bare metal, run through an electrolysis tank, small parts were blasted, a skim coat of filler on the worst of the pitting. The primer was wet sanded to 400 grit most places, the hood wet sanded to 800 grit.

I put 3 coats on the non-visible bits and 4 on the tops, about 20 minutes between coats. It was dry in a couple of hours, but it stays pretty soft for a couple of weeks (at least it did in Summer time). With the cooler weather maybe it will stay soft even longer?

I think I'll try buffing the orange peel first, if that doesnt fix it I'll try wet sanding. If I still dont like it I'll rub it right down and take it to a real painter!

As I said above, there are some very experianced painters here who could answer your questions better. I'm just a hack!