Painting Tractors

[Welderpaul]

Sorry...another tractor thread...guess what i am doing this holiday....

The tractor body panels are now cleaned back to bare metal, straightened up, welded where needed/didn't exist, and after a bit more sanding back of filler, ready for painting.

My normal paining skills are with 1000 litres of primer, an airless sprayer and a load of structural steel.

Most of the finish on the tractor won't matter too much - it is either hidden or onto castings which are far from a perfect finish. When Mr Ford made these tractors originally, he wasn't too fussed about a few runs here and there - after all, they were a working machine.

Having said that, i'd like a nice finish - certainly the bonnet, wings and nose cone which are fairly big and in-your-face areas which in my mind spoil the whole job if the paint is garbage.

So. I have the primer and top coat - Tractol. I can spray and have all the necessary gear. I spray bits and pieces of architectural stuff at work so know how to achieve a decent finish.

Few questions.

Is there any prep required to the bare steel other than cleaning it and making sure everything is nicely sanded flush?

Primer - spray it on. Any treatment required inbetween? A rub down with 1000G(?) wet and dry before subsequent coats?
Topcoat - a couple of coats or just one?

Once it has been top coated i assume it will need 'polishing' up? I think it was Langy that pointed me in the direction of 3M Fastcut - Anything special to do with it? Does it need doing with a couple of grades of the buffing compound?

All advice greatfully received!

 

[pedrobedro]

1000 grit is a bit fine for primer, a lot of folk recommend nothing finer than 600 aluminium oxide and use it dry. Tractol is an alkyd enamel so it should shine straight from the gun and not need any cutting just a polish when it has dried well which can take a while due to the nature of the paint. Read the spec sheet with the paint for how many coats and how long between them plus what to thin it with for spraying as the enamel when you buy it is usually ready for brush painting.

 

[DrDeAtH]

You'd want about a 240 grit key on the panels ready for the primer and a 600 grit finish on the primer ready for the top coat.

 

[steveo3002]

id go 600-800 before the top coat , too fine and its not enough key

you can mist on some matt black aerosol over the fresh primer , when you sand the black will ack as a guide coat to show any low spots or deep scratches that need further sanding , once all the black is gone it should be nice and smooth ready for top coat

 

[Istayinalot]

Stand the paint tin in hot water before you spray, Let the top coat cure for a few weeks before you try to cut it back. Best to get the finish your looking for straight from the gun. Maybe thin your last coat right down for the panels you want to be nice and shiny.

 

[the snooper]

think I would have gone with 2k if you have the gear to spray it, its quick drying easy to make repairs should you need to

 

[dannyp]

tractol, not a paint i would use out of choice again. used it before and regretted it.

it shines up really easy, the problem is it dosent dry in much of a hurry. in the time it's taken to actualy flash off every bit of dust in the workshop will have somehow managed to find its way to setteling on it. allogn with a shed load of flys don't know where they come from this time of year but they will rock up and join the party.

oh and when you think it's touch dry don't put masking paper on it, for about 3 days. somehow it'll manage to stick to it

 

[Turbo]

I've been using tractol for years on anything from agricultural equipment, gates, railings, welders and even cars. Their mf silver mist looks brill on alloy wheels. OK, it doesn't dry like 2k but it is a lot safer to apply and if you leave it for a couple of hours in a spray booth with the heater going it will be dry enough to handle.

Apply it like you would with cellulose, using several light coats but try to put on the final coat slightly heavier to achieve a better shine. Please note - use only tractol synthetic thinner to thin paint. Other thinners can cause the paint to go lumpy. I only found this out when the paint went lumpy in the spray gun, such a mess to clean out.

On the subject of spray guns, I now use a HVLP gun. It's only a cheap one from Lidl but it works well and I use 1/3 of the paint I used before.

For a really shiny finish there is a Tractol clear lacquer available but I've never tried it. My paint supplier told me you can apply 2k lacquer over tractol but I've never tried that either.

 

[dannyp]

i chould see it comeing up better if applyed like that, but thats way to much time effort and heat for me

 

[ajlelectronics]

Final celly coat is a weak one, rather than thick. Something like 75% thinners for final gloss coat.