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How much paint to buy?

P

Pat H.

Member
I am restoring a 1951 M. How much paint will this take (in terms of gallons)? I have had several suggestions on prep work but do have another question: Do you use heat resistant paint on the engine, and can you buy engine paint in International red? Also, how many coats do most of you apply? Do you use Clear Coat? Thanks for any suggestions.

Pat
 
It is taking a quart to do only the gas tank, hood and grill (all sides and sevral coats) on my little B, so i'd say atleast a gallon on that M, same for primer. Trust me, spray it on the first time or else you will have to remove everything and start over. Engine doesnt get special paint, but will burn paint off things like the manifold.

I diddnt use clear coat on the one tractor i half painted, so i cant help you there
 
The key to any good paint job is in the prep work. As Lanse already mentioned, there is no need for high temp paint on the engine. The only paint I have found that holds up reasonably well on the manifold is black barbecue paint, and even that will eventually burn off. IH did not use any primer when the the tractor was first painted, and if you buy the genuine IH 2150 from a Case-IH dealer it will adhere very well without the use of primer. On the other hand, the primer will help to smooth out the imperfections in the sheet metal that have developed over the last 60 years. I also agree that a gallon should do it, but it sure won't hurt to have an extra quart or two on hand just in case. The clear coat should be used only if you want a "customized" look.
 
Has anyone tried using the "flat" clear coat yet? I would think this wouldn't give you that shine normal clear coats do, but still give your paint job some extra protection. I have seen it used on some hot rods that were painted more of a flat black and it looked really good. I agree with a gallon should do but to have some extra just in case. If you are having the paint mixed somewhere instead of buying it right from Case-IH make sure they mix your gallon and any extra all at the same time for color consistency.
 
It took a gallon of 2150 and a gallon of CIH primer to paint my Super H. I did prime the wheels tho, they were painted silver. If you don't prime I think you would use a gallon+2 quarts for an M. Hard to say, just depends on the number of coats and your painting style. The 2150 does go on a lot smoother with a coat of primer.
 
I would use a single stage such as PPG's Omni with hardener. You will like the end results. Buy yourself an HVLP spray gun it will reduce the paint loss from overspray. Just remember when you use hardener you cannot save that paint any length of time it has to be used and don't pour it back into your paint container that hasn't had hardener added. Dupont and Martin Senour all have their single stage too. Here's a tractor painted with Martin Senour's paint. Hal
3ymg0oh.jpg
 
Here's another tractor painted by the same person that painted the Super W6. This AC WD45 was bought new by the original owner in 1954 and his daughter had him to paint the tractor as a surprise for her dad for this last Christmas. It was pressured washed, sandblasted, then painted.

I would liked to have seen the expression on her dad's face when he saw his tractor. This was painted with Martin Senour's paint too. Hal
85onksz.jpg
 
On IH tractors, I always like the OEM paint, 3 coats, over top of two coats of laquer primer, wet sanded. With the IH paint, I accidentally discovered that by using laquer thinner instead of reducer I got a lot more shine out of the finish. But...... its got to be put on below 82 degreess or it may crack if you do it this way.
 
I bought 1 gallon and 1 quart of paint to do my Oliver 60. Martin Senour from Napa. It was just enough. No room for error. I'd buy 2 gallons of paint to do an M minimum. I used urethane. Supposed to be much more fade resistant than the original enamel.
 
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