Best way to prepare Ford 2n for paint

I have my 2n stripped down to the engine, transmission and rear end and I am wondering what the best way to prepare it for paint is.

Sandblast the sheet metal parts.

lye gravy,(paint stripper),pressure washer, wire wheel, must for rust, grease and wax remover from the paint store. Remove as much as you can from the tractor to facilitate total paint removal. The better the prep the better the outcome. Review the archives in the paint and body work forum, a lot of information there. gobble

there is a few ways .getting it clean as in a hot pressure wash is first. tires and wheel come off, tractor is put on stands or movable frame. can sandblast and deal with sand in every nook which is not the best thing to do. sand blasting works good when the complete tractor is disassembled. do not sandblast sheet metal. there is metal blending discs with a grinder that work pretty good on housings. sheet metal is hand work with sanding paper. the filler operation, then there is the priming operation. there is lots of work to prepare a tractor for paint. painting is the easy part if your a painter. any body that washes a tractor then walks around it spraying paint just screwed up a tractor in my view. there is a lot of steps to go through till its paint time. best for a bodyman or experienced personal to get good info.

I agree with Sandblasting. Partially disassemble to get good access to complete tractor. Plug and seal off all areas than need to keep sand out. Take care around sensitive areas. Once finished blow all residual sand from Tractor and Prime with good primer. Avoid blasting sheet metal with to much pressure, heat, and contact time or it could damage and warp the metal.

On sand blasting, I have no problem with sheet metal detached or anything that has no chance of getting sand into it's internal workings. It does have to be clean first as grease doesn't come off easy and on sand I'd prefer silica type abrasives.

I bought a 1965 Starcraft 18' Holiday boat in about 1985 that was a painted aluminum marina queen and most of the time it was half full of water, besides sitting in the water. I stripped it to the aluminum shell, probably 0.100" 5052 T6 sheet material, and framing, and took it to a large professional sand blasting place with gantry cranes and a gantry rail going from the outside covered area to inside the building with closing doors. The blasting hose must have been 1 ½" or thereabouts and the blaster was HV commercial sized.

The operator winched the hull up off the ground a suitable working distance and blasted the outside....which is all I needed as the interior would be covered in vinyl and marine carpet...over the new, sealed plywood deck (floor) and painted new wooden transom. He explained that aluminum, unlike steel can get holes burned in it very easily and one must be careful in how they blast it. He was careful, was an experienced operator, and did a beautiful job with zero accidents, or even the hint of an accident.

He then washed it good and let it dry, subsequently moving it indoors, closing the doors and spray painting the whole outer hull with 2 part white epoxy paint. The job wasn't very expensive as he had everything available to do a super job in short time....I was surprised at the price. I was impressed with the job, completed the restoration and the family had a lot of years of enjoyment, having given it to the kids when they came of age, and they continued with it for I don't know how long.

I have cosmetically partially restored Ford tractors with round fenders and haven't had a problem using the HF smaller blaster. If buying one over again, I would opt for a larger unit as their smallest one takes a longggggg time to do anything when dealing with several coats of old paint on old tractors.

That's my take on to blast or not. However as far as the restorer goes.....for some of you that take in what you take in and put out what you put out, my hat's off to you. You are a different breed. Wayyy more than I can stand.

Plan on spending every free minute you got for a long time, clean, clean and clean it again. If you need some body work on the sheet metal don't be afraid to spend about thirty hours on a grille and I use the RED/Green philosophy for straightening metal, "any tool can be the right tool" whatever's in the Junk pile for a dolly.

guess i should have also said remove the engine if you are going to sand blast. anybody that asks why? ... they have not sandblasted. bead
blasting works good for small parts. and your "partially" should say totally disassemble. i know that unless its not a total restoration sand
blasting is avoided.

.

agree, you have a good looking M.

What is the red/ green method??