questions regarding priming/painting tractor

fellas

I have started restoring a tractor. I'm doing this restoration in a double car garage. So far the dismantling and surface preparation are going well although I haven't touched the sheet metal and may not as I may leave that to a local body shop that has agreed to paint the tractor. Most of the process seems straight forward but in regards to the priming/painting/color selection process the more I read the more confused I get. As stated I plan on having the body shop spray all but the smallest pieces and I have decided to use Urethane. The body shop uses Dupont brand paint. So regarding these small pieces my plan is to buy a small container (say a quart?) of this urethane and get this poured into a number of small cans and brush paint and prime all of the very small pieces as I go. If this is doable do I need a respirator and what kind should I use? I believe that the hardener used with this type of paint is extremely toxic so I think for these small pieces I will forgo it. So I'd appreciate it if you will pick this process to pieces and offer suggestions or other ways to go about it.

Thanks kindly

John
 
Urethane is an excellent choice but you must keep this in mind: Urethane will not dry/cure properly WITHOUT the hardener/activator. So you would need to add the hardener/activator, even for brushing the small parts. Furthermore, once the hardener/activator is added to the urethane, there is a finite pot life for the mix where it would be unusable after a certain time, sometines as little as an hour, depending on specific products. You HAVE to mix up only an amount that you can use up within the pot life period. Anything left over is unusable and must be thrown away.

You are correct that urethane hardeners/activators contain isocyanates and are quite toxic to breathe. A fresh air respirator is the appropriate choice to use, especially for spraying operations where spray mists are suspended in the air and can be inhaled. The eyes and even the skin should be protected against such mists. Fresh air respirators are even recommended for mixing operations that only emit vapors. However, if you were to mix and brush small parts outside in fresh air, I think you would be fine without such a respirator, especially if you don't have breathing problems or have ever exhibited any sensitivity to such products in the past.

Rod
 
I agree with all Rod said. Just set up a window fan for a little cross ventilation and nothing wrong with your plan. Most paints will go 3-4 hrs in catylized form in small container before jelling up.
 
Thanks for the reply Rod! I'm wondering if Urethane might be to risky for my situation. What if I went with Acrylic Enamel instead ...........or use the Acrylic enamel for brushing the small pieces and have the body shop use Urethane on the rest of the tractor? How would that work?
 
Hey Randy I'm afraid a window fan is not an option. the only window that my garage has opens to a walkway between my garage and my neighbors garage.
 
I wouldn't recommend that. acrylic urethane and acrylic enamel use different mixing tints and you run a risk that there will be a noticeable color mismatch between the two different chemistry products. There can even be a noticeable color mismatch between the economy and premium grades of the same chemistry. For best results, the same chemistry and grade of product should be used for everything of the same color.

I really don't think you'd have a problem brushing urethane on small parts if done outside in fresh air. That has to be your judgement though. I do all my painting outside. I use a fresh air respirator for spray operations but do not hesitate to do any touch-up work with a brush w/o it. Just schedule your work around a nice day and stay out of direct sunlight. A warm, cloudy or overcast day w/o rain in the forecast is ideal for that.

One alternative is to use acrylic enamel for everything if your body shop is willing. DuPont's Centari would be an excellent choice if it is still available in your area. It used to be usable both with and w/o the hardener but I haven't used any in recent years and haven't kept up with any current formulations of it. I do know that it is relatively expensive, but it's one of the best Arcylic Enamels you can find. It has essentially been taken over by the urethanes so I'm not sure if it's still available everywhere. Be careful however; As I recall, DuPont's Nason (economy line) acrylic enamel product does, in fact REQUIRE the hardener additive - somewhat unusual for an acrylic enamel, judging from past history of that chemistry.

The other alternative is, of course, to use dealer paint that doesn't require a hardener for everything. Unfortunately, that's likely to be a relatively inferior alkyd enamel chemistry.

Rod
 
Painting alot of small parts is much more work than you may think at first . You need to take gas welding rods and make a bunch of sturdy hangers and really get set up before you start. You can't just lay parts on masking paper.
 
I agree. In no way do I think that this is going to be easy but if i brought the body shop guy cardboard boxes full of small pieces to paint I'm pretty sure he'd tell me to take a hike :) I think that the only reason that he has agreed to take on this job is because its a challenge for him and it's something different.
 
Hi
I'm not sure on the paints guys are talking about here with you. Everything I paint gets done with tractor dealer paint. Most of mine go back to work either with me or a new owner. Show and shine, expensive paints not me. I have had good luck with the dealer paint keeping colors to here.

As for brush painting and body shop on the same tractor. I saw a 1630 Deere our local ag input supply guys did for a winter project. The hood/ fenders was professionally done in a spray booth with JD genuine paint. The rest was brushed in their heated shop with the same paint. all the green they did looked dull and flat compared to the sprayed stuff. to be honest the brush painted skid unit spoiled the whole tractor.
My point is if the body shop did say the tin and big main body all the brushed smaller stuff you do might stick out pretty bad, when the tractors assembled.
Regards Robert
 
Don't know how correct this is but I am restoring a 801 Ford and I will let the body shop paint the hood and fenders (gray) and I will paint the main tractor(red). Only red I can find for it is in spray cans so I will buy one and have the local parts store match it.

Not making a show tractor but do want to fix it so it will last and continue to be handed down. Spending more than its worth but money couldn't buy it anyway.
 
I just completed painting my8N with Nason Urethane (was Dupont, but another company bought the line, but still the same paint) and it uses the hardener that is toxic. I bought a air supply unit with hood and an 80 ft hose from Eastwood and used it when painting all the larger parts. It is very labor intensive and in some cases I used Preval spray units for small areas, these are small aerosol units that come with a glass bottle to hold the paint. It is large enough and has graduations that allow you to mix up to 6 ounces of paint and they do a good job. They run about $5 in Home Depot and you can get the aerosol refill unit alone for about $3.

When doing small parts I also use a foam brush and mix small portions of paint. I bought some 10 ml graduated syringes (100 for $19 on Amazon) that I use to measure the mix parts into a small paper ketchup cup that I grab from In and Out burger shops and mix with a coffee stirrer grabbed from Starbucks. I just use one for paint and another for catalyst ( I don't bother with reducer for these small amounts for touch up with a brush) example 8ml paint 1ml catalyst is the 8/1 mix called for and toss the syringes, after all I have a hundred of them. For these small tasks and brush work I just use p95 or p100 filters on my 3M respirator (now also available at Home Depot), however these are rated only for about thirty days use once opened. I almost always use a set of 20-inch fans while spraying to draw away the mist when shooting inside.

Using these methods I wasted very little paint and did all the red with 2 quarts-cost approx $70/qt for the red not counting reducer and catalyst.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top