Fall/winter project

Kodiak45 · Sep 4, 2015

I am planning on painting my jd 4230 this fall/winter. My concern is the outside temperature having an adverse effect on the paint adhesion. I'll be painting in a unheated and noninsulated garage. I can run a bullet heater or propane if necessary, but are there any tricks to painting when it's cold out. I'd hate to wait until next spring. Can I just monitor the surface temperature of the metal when painting? I'd hate to waste time if it's not going to stick. Are there any rules of thumb to follow or certain paint brands that allow cooler weather painting? I would think if it's 30 outside then the garage temp would be in the 40s and I could heat it and get to 50s if necessary.

Gcorron · Sep 5, 2015

Paint adhesion has gotten a LOT better in the last 20 years, I'm certain the manufacturer has the best recommendation.

However, I would like to caution you about the open flame while you paint! The explosive point of misting paint is a lot lower than you may think. Heat your garage, turn OFF the heater, paint, allow it to air out before turning it back on.....please! We want to hear how the job came out, not how long it took you to get out of the hospital, or rebuild your garage!

Check out their recommendations on masks as well. I recall once being a lot smarter than the manufacturer and did not use supplied air. Ended up with boils and blisters all over my face! Boy I sure showed them! Who knows what my lungs looked like?

George

Kodiak45 · Sep 5, 2015

This is exactly what I needed to hear. Nobody wants to learn the hard way. The actual paint caused the blisters on your face? That is my biggest fear with the heating and paint fumes. Safety first fit sure.

Gcorron · Sep 5, 2015

Well, advice from me is going to be old, it's been nearly 20 years since I've painted a vehicle and the paints have changed a lot, and that's a good thing.

I can pass along some things that have worked fairly recently though, you may wish to consider.

First, yes, the paint said to use a supplied air mask and to cover all exposed skin. If you go to an automotive paint supply store, they sell cheap cotton masks to cover your head and face and fit rights up to the mask. My masks were all stiff with paint and nasty because I had been painting in June/July. I decided it wouldn't hurt 'just once' to not use one........BIG mistake! I was wearing a respirator, but not a supplied air respirator. It took a few weeks for my face to clear up!

Something you may wish to consider. A nephew, who is an excellent mechanic, got tired of driving his ugly old Ford pickup, and decided one weekend to just clean and paint the old ugly thing with......ya ready for this.....Rust-oleum!! Yep, cleaned it real good, sanded some rough spots, and brushed away! I knew Rust-oleum does an excellent job of self leveling, but did not realize it worked quite that well! Four years ago, drives it every day, and it still looks good! If you get close, you can see some spots that he should have prepped better, but you have to get close.

One more Rust-oleum story.

Last year, my neighbor decided to clean up a 1964 Case Constuction King backhoe he owned. It was mechanically sound, but really looked pretty ratty. He did a little more prep than nephew, he removed the fenders, tank, wheels, and such to paint individually. Everyone kept telling him his idea would not work....they were wrong!

Did you buy a new sprayer for this project? If you did it likely came with a 'drip cup', you fill this cup with paint, and if it drains within a certain time parameter, it will spray, drains too quick, or too long, it won't work.

He cut the Rust-oleum with Acetone until it cleared the drip cup properly, I believe he found that a 50-50 mix worked well. It really looked good, I think I can post a picture or two sometime today.

Safer, cheaper, than automotive paint, of course if you're going for show quality, consider auto paint, but the Rust-oleum will look good for a long time. May wish to consider it. Using the Rust-oleum also makes a spot fix much easier down the road.

You caught the Acetone right, think flammable as a liquid, atomize it and it gets worse, NO open flame!

Just my two cents, good luck, sounds like a grand project.

George

w1ebb · Sep 5, 2015

Yes to Rustoleum! I just painted a very rusty and pitted 1949 Bush Hog Model 12 rotary cutter after I welded in a patch panel. I pressure washed it and let it dry in the sun. I then applied a good coat of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer, filling in all the holes. Yesterday I applied a good coat of Rustoleum Flat Black, and it looks good! My deputy sheriff son in law says it looks like a "Stealth Bush Hog!"
Happy painting!

Scott

Kodiak45 · Sep 6, 2015

I don't care about show car finish, I just want it to hold up and look decent.

Gcorron · Sep 7, 2015

OK, finally got pictures of my neighbors Case, one before, and one after. I had pictures of it when it was finished, but can't find them now, had to wait for him to send one! The pictures are after we took the backhoe off

This was all done with Rustoleum, not the first one I've seen it done with and it seems to hold up pretty danged good! If prepped well, it will level and look great even if done with a brush.

Wire brush all the major rust, you will want to hit that with primer pretty quick to keep it rusting again. Suggest the Rustoleum rusty metal primer, that is what he used. Sand it all with 400 grit, wet sanding is best, prime, then sand with 600 grit, start painting!

Suggest a trip to Harbor Freight for a box or two of their 2" chip brushes, throw them away, don't try to clean them. AND a box of latex gloves, that stuff comes off pretty hard.

George

Kodiak45 · Sep 8, 2015

Gcorron said:
OK, finally got pictures of my neighbors Case, one before, and one after. I had pictures of it when it was finished, but can't find them now, had to wait for him to send one! The pictures are after we took the backhoe off

View attachment 440127 View attachment 440127 View attachment 440128

This was all done with Rustoleum, not the first one I've seen it done with and it seems to hold up pretty danged good! If prepped well, it will level and look great even if done with a brush.

Wire brush all the major rust, you will want to hit that with primer pretty quick to keep it rusting again. Suggest the Rustoleum rusty metal primer, that is what he used. Sand it all with 400 grit, wet sanding is best, prime, then sand with 600 grit, start painting!

Suggest a trip to Harbor Freight for a box or two of their 2" chip brushes, throw them away, don't try to clean them. AND a box of latex gloves, that stuff comes off pretty hard.

George

So you are saying in regards to steps for decent paint-- wire brush, prime, 400 grit sand, prime again, 600 grit sand, Paint? I'm assuming that this detail is only necessary on the sheet metal and as far as engine prep and frame prep, just wire brush, prime, and paint...please confirm. Thanks for your help!

That case looks great!

Gcorron · Sep 8, 2015

That's about it. To be clear, wire brush heavily rusted spots, and prime that spot (so it won't begin rusting again), wet sand everything with 400 grit, then prime all. You can feel high spots at this point, and may wish to go over them again. The more prep you do, the better it comes out, but when you're satisfied it is all smooth and primed, hit it with 600 grit, wet sanding and paint away.

After you have final sanded, you will do well to wipe it down with a 'tack cloth' to remove the dust. They're available at any auto paint store, or even somewhere like Auto Zone.

Neighbor said to add that the cleaner, and better degreased all the surface is, the better the outcome. He and I use the purple degreaser that comes from Sam's Club for everything. Don't know what's in it except magic! Cut it 50% and spray away, the grease just goes away. not sure if you have access to Sam's Club though.

He sprayed his BTW. Were you planning on spraying? It does yield a better overall job. You can see by the picture he needs to go over where the FEL arms were, and his bucket. He used the industrial rustoleum and cut it with acetone, but I think I said that before. Paint will not adhere to grease, so that particular step is pretty important, especially for the engine.

In case you're wondering, the engine block does not need high temp paint, but anything with the exhaust will.

Oh BTW, we DO want pictures!!

George

Gcorron · Sep 10, 2015

The reason I ask about your method is this: if you're going to brush the paint on, you may want to stay with 400 grit paper, it will give the paint more 'tooth' to adhere.

Paint sprays on much thinner and the 600 grit is ideal, but brushing probably calls for 400 grit, it leaves it a bit rougher.

George

Kodiak45 · Sep 10, 2015

I would say the majority of it will be sprayed, but I will likely do some brushing for touch up and so forth.

Gcorron · Sep 10, 2015

Good idea! I hope you have your answers, or someone who is a real body man may ring in. I have two brother in laws (one deceased) that are real body men, so I had a lot of advice....but no help, they lived too far away!!!

Here is a picture of his Case I found just before his final sanding. You may find it enlightening.

George

Kodiak45 · Sep 23, 2015

Ok another question on prep. If some current areas have decent paint and others are showing primer, what do I need to do with these spots? Will a light sanding and prime be enough since they aren't rusted?

Gcorron · Sep 23, 2015

Yup. In the areas that the paint is still good, just faded or weak, you sand and prime. When you have it all covered with primer, hit it with 600 grit and paint it!

I meant to warn you against using something like Bondo on a working tractor. If you have no choice, you have no choice, but on a working piece of equipment it tends not to do very well with all the bouncing and jarring a tractor takes. Primer, or primer/filler will take care of rusty spots.

There is a much better alternative to Bondo, but I don't think they encourage it anymore. I'm sure you can find some YouTube videos on leading in holes though. That is a way more permanent method and doesn't rust, bust, or collect dust! Be very careful on breathing in the lead though. I'm hoping you don't have any holes like that.

George

Gcorron · Mar 8, 2016

OK, it's been a fairly warm winter.

T'sup wit this?? We want pictures too, dagnab it!

George

Kodiak45 · Mar 8, 2016

I didn't get around to bringing the 4230 home. It spent a month at the dealer having some seals replaced and now it's spring and I need it to plow. I'll probably do the paint this summer under a carport. I am hesitant on spraying inside a garage without supplied air. I did paint and modify my pulverizer the other day, used tsc with hardner. Looks ok for now.

Kodiak45 · Mar 8, 2016

Kodiak45 · Mar 8, 2016

I find myself struggling on what to do with the 4230.. I won't be able to disassemble the entire tractor and sandblast each part and I'd rather not sandblast while it's assembled. But I can definitely wire brush and clean it. The struggle is if it's worth spending some money on high quality auto paint or just going with John Deere paint or even magic or valspar.

varmint · Mar 8, 2016

I haven't sprayed a whole tractor, but I did sandblast, prime and finish a 72" loader bucket. I gotta say, I used two part epoxy metal primer, and that stuff is great! I finished with Kubota paint, and it was also good- fine coverage, dried well, etc. I did this outside, using just an organic vapor respirator and Tyvek suit. The thinners are very explosive when sprayed, so I wouldn't even spray in an enclosed area where an air compressor was operating. All the finishes I have seen have pretty explicit temperature and humidity parameters. If outside, don't forget about drift!

Gcorron · Mar 8, 2016

Don't forget about drift indeed!! Unless you wanted two tone vehicles!

You both did good. Shame you couldn't get the tractor painted, we would like to see it running around all bright and shiny. You got the hang of it on your pulverizer though. We will look forward to your next one though.

It's hard to take a piece of working equipment out of service long enough to make it a show piece, and may not be worthwhile, the first scratch just leaves you sitting in middle of a field with tears in your eyes!

Good luck, I was just curious what happened.

George