Word to the wise

bobcat2

Tractorologist
Senior Member
Member
Hello all,

I've been doing a complete teardown and restoration of a '69 SS12, engine, plow, deck, and roller. You really don't think there is that much metal there until you start painting it. I'm brush painting it using majic and Rust-Oleum implement paint, primer, and rust reformer.

Let's start with prep, I'm on my second coarse wire wheel for the grinder and I still have a lot to do. I'm just about finished up with my first quart of acetone I use to wipe the prepped parts down with. I stopped using the Rust-Oleum spray rust reformer and started using the brush on stuff after 3 cans. I'm on my second quart of Kobota orange and my third quart of IH white, and third quart of primer.

I should of started with a gallon of each, who would've thought a garden tractor would use so much paint?...lol.

As far as under the deck, I plan on using the implement paint until all is covered, roughing up the surface, then I want to top coat it with Van Sickle EZ Slide graphite paint, I've had decent luck with it on other decks and the antiskid hopper at work.

I think most of my issues were that the majic paint starts out very thin/runny, and if you've ever painted something orange, you know it takes several coats to cover. My local store only carries the IH white in majic and Kobota orange in Rust-Oleum.

The bad thing is, this is only paint, this isn't any of the replacement parts or repairs I've done, but I should have a good tractor that'll last a long time when I'm done.

Thanks,
bobcat2
 
Switch to a hvlp gun. Quicker, better coverage using a lot less paint because the paint gets atomized much finer.
You can get into an decent hvlp set up for $40-$60. Gun, filters, measuring cup, moisture filter for the air line, and thinner.
Mask with organic vapor filter will be above that, but you should have one of those whenever you open a can of paint regardless of how it’s being applied.

image.jpg
 
Do these sprayers use as air as the older cup type sprayer

Mine is 12cfm at 40psi. We never had enough compressor to do say a car. I would have to paint the hood of a tractor and by the time I got the hood painted the compressor would kick on. I'd stop and wait. Then paint the next part. It was a pain in the butt.

Air compressors are so darn expensive for good ones.
 
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There's so many things to paint inside and out on a garden tractor that It's not real crazy to use as much as you are saying, Bobcat2. A lot of the folks here have had experience with the Majic paint and all have said similar stuff about being thin and poorly covering. I've used it but not on big enough stuff to really get a feel for how it covers. Majik's primer is enamel based and will not work under the base/clear automotive paints I found that out tesing it before doing some touch up on my wife's truck.

These HF HVLP guns are on sale for $9.99 almost all the time. I've not used mine but I have a friend that is a restorer of old farm equipment as well as cars. He says these things spray great and they are so cheap he doesn't even take the time to clean them He throws them in the trash when done! Sorry, I will clean mine after use and keep it around for awhile!

I agree Aaron, a good air compressor is my biggest problem and the prices are pretty scary!

DAC

HF HVLP gun.JPG
 
I agree Aaron, a good air compressor is my biggest problem and the prices are pretty scary!

I have a 60 gallon compressor tank, a 16HP horizontal shaft engine, a pop off valve for 100 psi and gauges. All I need to find is a 2 stage compressor that will produce the air I need off an old shop compressor or something. I've never been able to locate one for a decent price. I wanted to build a killer gas compressor that I use just for painting and sand blasting.
 
I have a 60 gallon compressor tank, a 16HP horizontal shaft engine, a pop off valve for 100 psi and gauges. All I need to find is a 2 stage compressor that will produce the air I need off an old shop compressor or something. I've never been able to locate one for a decent price. I wanted to build a killer gas compressor that I use just for painting and sand blasting.

If I could find a cheap tank and 5HP motor cheap I would consider buying one of these HF pumps. Pretty decent delivery for the money. It would keep up with spray guns and DA sanders. Probably be overworked sandblasting though. I've been thinking about those pressure washer sandblasters though. Hydroblaster I think they call them? Pretty cheap to get into and will work on most all gas powered pressure washers.

Link for the HF pump.


DAC
 
I don't own one of these spray guns, but Eastwood makes a gun that uses 6.5 cfm at 30 psi. Might be cheaper to try one of there guns rather than a compressor upgrade unless you need the extra air for other air tools. If you buy the detail version it only uses 3 cfm at 22 psi.



 
If I could find a cheap tank and 5HP motor cheap I would consider buying one of these HF pumps. Pretty decent delivery for the money. It would keep up with spray guns and DA sanders. Probably be overworked sandblasting though. I've been thinking about those pressure washer sandblasters though. Hydroblaster I think they call them? Pretty cheap to get into and will work on most all gas powered pressure washers.

Link for the HF pump.


DAC

I did not know those exsisted!! Might be able to finish that project now.
 
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I've never bought anything from Eastwood except a pint of that cast iron look exhaust manifold paint. That stuff is great! I better go look at their website again, it's been a couple years! Those guns look like they are very efficient. Thanks Cjet69!

DAC
 
I've heard several guys tell me they like the HF spray guns. Like mentioned one guy said he throws them away instead of cleaning. Considering the time & amount of cleaner it's probably a thought but I couldn't.
 
Well, i have the HF spray gun and the compressor to run it, it's just that my garage happens to be my basement as well, so no spraying there.

My boss(who is the best) says I can bring parts in from home and paint them at work as long as I ain't on company time and don't use company resources. So I have a huge heated storage building to use. My clock in is 0630, so I usually show up at 0400 to prime or paint parts.i even show up on my days off to do work on my stuff and if they need something done, I do it for free while I'm there.

It actually is nice, if I need to do any work on my truck, as long as I'm not on company time, I can utilize the equipment building at work.

That's the nice part about having an awesome boss, as long as I take care of her well beyond the scope of my job, she takes damn good care of me when I need something.
 
The only thing I can afford @ Eastwood is looking at their catalog.
There's a brick and mortar Eastwood store right at an hour away from here. Been there several times, spent a bunch of money and came out with small bags for what I spent. Not as bad as the snap on truck that shows up at work every Wednesday, but bad enough. Once this covid scamdemic is over I want to sign up for some of their weekend classes they used to e.
 
I have Eastwood Beadroller. It had to be reinforced and I knew that in advance. The machine earned its keep making floor pans and other do dads..
Made the slide for wine box using bead rollerF4A33564-CE10-4E38-A95C-4A2084CF01E9.jpeg
 
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