Farmall Cub

Getting real close to go and get the red paint for my little Cub.

My experience with painting has been little (darn little) I have everything that could be unbolted and taken off of the tractor sandblasted. the engine, torq tube and transmission and axel housings, have been chemical stripped and washed with scalding hot water at 3000 pounds of pressure. There is none of the original red paint left anywhere, took the red paint off and left the factory primer, it almost looks like it had already been red primed.

1st
Should I clean everything with some Acetone, thinner or naptha first, before I shoot the primer? What should be used?

2nd
On my 8N Ford, I primed everything first and gave it one complete coat of 8N Ford red, then assembled everything and then gave it a complete second coat. Mainly for anything I missed with the first coat. I was real happy with the way it turned out and think this should be done again on the Cub.

3rd
Is it recommended to use a hardner in the paint? What is the best to use that will mix with the IH paint?

4th
With everything torn apart and everything getting two coats of paint, how much paint should I expect to purchase?

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT PAINTING. I just got REAL lucky painting my 8N, but that has been several years ago, matter of fact my hardener that way half full that I used then is ruined, it's hard as my head.

DON'T LAUGH but I don't really know how to mix the paint correctly with any reducer or how much hardener to actually add. Last time I kept adding until it flowed smoothly through my spray gun. HEY IT WORKED and it even looked like I knew what I was doing, LOL

Thanks for any help on this, I have gone this far with replacing anything worn out and I hate to mess that up with a crappy paint job.

John Niekamp

John, Sounds like you are on the right track with your plan. Get your hardener wherever you get your paint. That way you will have the correct hardener. Someone who has painted a lot more than I have will have to tell you how much you'll need. I always buy either too much or not enough.

Painted my cub Tuesday, using IH paint. Dealer looked up what type paint it was and informed me that it was acrylic enamel. Used hardner from the automotive paint store. Used about a quart of paint, reducer till it sprayed right, and hardner 1 part to 8 parts paint. Went on very nice using a cheap high volume low pressure gun. This paint came out much nicer than I had expected. At less than $40 a gallon, was much cheaper than the $80 a quart red paint I just used on a Jeep Comanche for my son. The paint was hard enough after 6 hours to start putting everything back together. Also painted my Woods 59 mower deck using the their paint and was very happy to find that the George Willer design step would work with the deck on. Ted

I'm sorry for spelling your name wrong George. Ted

tnestell wrote:I'm sorry for spelling your name wrong George. Ted

Ted. You can use the "EDIT" icon button on your post............ Although, he may be WILD !

I use laquer thinner to clean the surface before painting. One thing I would recommend is buying your paint from a paint dealer instead of the Case/International dealer. Not that I have anything against the dealers but why not buy from the pro's? All they do is sell paint and supply's and they should be able to answer all your questions with authority. If they can't, go somewhere else. With any of their paints, they will be able to print out a spec sheet for you for that paint and it will answer lots of questions for the unexperienced. It will have the thinning ratio's for the reducer, give you the "window" for applying the topcoat to the primer and for additional coats. And also the ratio for the hardener. It is a little complicated, the "window" is important for the coat of paint to bond to the one you have already painted. Wait too long and you will need to sand the surface for "tooth" so the paint will stick. The paint dealer will also give you strainers to run your paint through and maybe a mixing cup which makes it easier to get the right amounts of components together in the right amounts. I always buy in the gallon amounts. Lets say your small tractor will need 1/2 gallon of paint. When you go to buy the paint, just for reference sake, say the paint is $100 a gallon, or if you buy a quart it is $40 a quart. So, I just get a gallon with the big difference in price. Hate to be so long winded, but painting is like everything else, there is a lot to learn.
Michael

I agree with Michael, except I buy the IH paint from the dealer. Then I take it to the paint store to get the right products to match, I just like the IH paint. I ussually go with 3 -4 coats of paint too, a body man told me that I'd get a better shine, and I like the results I've been getting. For 4 coats, count on a gallon of paint, with a tractor, you paint a LOT of air. I also go with 1 coat dis-assembled, and the rest with the tractor together, my thought being, the less seams in the paint, the fewer spots for it to start to chip or peel from.

Just my 2c, you should likely ignore every thing I just wrote!

Just got done painting my first tractor, a couple of things that helped me were:
1 Get mixing cups from the paint store, they help alot to start with the mixing ratio... just remember you may need to add a touch more reducer to get a good spray/coverage

2 Dont know what kind of drier you have for your compressor but please add the little orange moisture trap to the end of your spray gun...I cured alot of finish problems when I added it to mine, only paid 3.99 for it.

Good luck and send some pics of before during and after
David C.

Thanks for all the great input here guys.

David, I am so glad that you bought that dryer to my "CRS" memory. I almost forgot about that. I have a brand new Hankerson air dryer, even has the new 134R refridgerant.

When I painted my 8N, I did not have a dryer in-line and the hudmidity here in the mid-west is terrible. (On the banks of the Mississippi) I have a two-stage QT-5 Quincy compressor with climate control everything and I had my water/filter trap valve open on the line and then also the pit cock on the bottom of the tank fully open, just to help in keeping out what water I could.

My 8N was my very first painting project and every so often I would get just a slight trace of water out of my spray gun. A few cuss words would come out of my mouth, but even with a few droplets of water, it really came out looking nice.

My brother works at Colts (Quincy Compressor) and he told me that they got a shipment of these dryers in from the factory, when they came in they were damanged in shipment. The insurance made good on the dryers and threw them away, so my brother being like myself brought a few of them home and gave me one that needed a refridgerant line fixed, so that's how I ended up with a high dollar dryer unit.

I forgot all about having it, let alone even thinking about it, until now.

Thanks again David.

Hi John
I'll put my two cents in also. Use a product like final clean to wash down the parts before painting. You can get it at the auto paint stores. It don't cut in like laquer thinner. If you can't find that use a fast dry acrylic enamel thinner for a final wash. Don't use the wax and silcone removers for a final wash. They take a long time to dry off and can leave a residue.
As for the amount of paint, it depends how you are painting it. I used a gallon and 3 quarts and out of that I had a pint left. I used a automotive urethane put out by Dupont. It matches the IH color very well. I painted all sheet metal off the tractor. All rods, springs, seat parts, battery box, tool box, were painted off the tractor and apart. I put 3 to 5 coats on. The engine, frontend, transmission, final drives were painted together with the rear hanging from a engine lift. I used gas welding rods ( they are a little larger than a coat hanger) to hang parts that could not be painted flat or needs both sides painted at the same time. Like the fenders. I used the garage door track to hang from."just don't raise the door". Be sure to get a good charcoal filter mask, at the least, for the paint vapors are very harmful in the paints that are produced today. Most say use a fresh air system. The amount of work you put at the bottom, shows up at the top !!! Later Pup.

What kind of thinner do you use with ih paint I bought a gallon but the dealer didnt have any thinner help me if you can

Acrylic enamel reducer. Ted

Shot some yesterday rite out of can really like the paint thanks for the info have a really good finish gun and a cheap harbor freight spray gun and either dose real fine my good gun being binks and they look alike thanks agin [[/i]