Another Fronkensteen

[kpinnc 15,145]

I decided the sheetmetal was gonna need to be stripped and repainted. But I haven't been able to make time for several weeks. 

 

Just for giggles, I decided to try Rustoleum mixed with hardener and a HLVP gun. I was surprised by how well it looked. The hood is gonna take some more work, but the fender turned out better. 

 

Time will tell, but so far so good. 

 

 

[Lee1977 7,317]

Using a gun with Rustoleum with Acetone and hardener is the way to go. I need to get the rest of the 308 sanded and ready to paint.  Got the hood ready it had a few rusted spot under the original paint that needed to be fixed.

[kpinnc 15,145]

Mocked up the seat on the rear fender. Looks good so far.

 

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,875]

The ACE brand implement paint works well too. It seemed to be thin enough when I painted the C-141 to run through a HVLP gun with no reducer. It came out great. I’ve used Rustoleum as well. It required a reducer.I like the ACE better.

 

[peter lena 9,373]

@kpinnc  nice work , try a  full length inner frame , steel  fuel line ?  eliminate  a large part of  fuel hose break down , the upper 90 degree angle bend , makes it disappear  , then a fuel rated hose with  , barb or swage connection  to tank and carb , filter on each end . pete

[kpinnc 15,145]

I do like wide tracks on these tractors, but this one will hopefully carry my 48SD deck on occasion. With that in mind, I decided to swap out the wide 2 inch spacers for 1 inch. 

 

I think on this tractor it looks better. The front and rear track is almost identical now, so that's a good thing. 

 

Before and after: 42 inches vs 40. 

 

 

Edited September 18 by kpinnc

[kpinnc 15,145]

Got bored and couldn't sleep, so I stickered some grip tape on the footrests. Hopefully It'll hold up. 

 

 

[ebinmaine 73,907]

3 hours ago, kpinnc said:

stickered some grip tape on the footrests. Hopefully It'll hold up. 

 

That'll do just fine. We've used similar on several. 

[Handy Don 14,398]

9 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Got bored and couldn't sleep, so I stickered some grip tape on the footrests. Hopefully It'll hold up. 

 

As long as the paint was well cured, that’ll hold on nicely. 

[kpinnc 15,145]

8 hours ago, Handy Don said:

As long as the paint was well cured, that’ll hold on nicely. 

 

Been a couple weeks since I sprayed them. We'll see... it's been hard to find time to tinker lately so the paint had plenty of time to cure. 

 

I'm a bit dissapointed in the Rust-Oleum paint that I mixed and added hardener. Honestly I think it takes longer to cure than rattle cans. I hope it cures to something harder than rattle can, but we'll see. 

 

I had to drill new holes in the seat springs. The bolt pattern was off by 1/2 inch on the width. Would've been easier if the difference was bigger. I'd rather fab an adapter plate than drill spring steel. But it worked.out and she's starting to look like a tractor. 

 

I'm gonna flip the pan pivot bar and set it down another inch. I'll have to trim the fender over the belt guard again, but it was easy on the previous cut. 

 

Stuck the first sticker on. Couldn't help myself. 

 

 

[Handy Don 14,398]

9 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

Stuck the first sticker on. Couldn't help myself. 

I can’t believe you are still working on the floor!

[kpinnc 15,145]

25 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

I can’t believe you are still working on the floor!

 

Normally I'd have the workstand in here, but this one has been fairly easy. 

 

Besides I'm also about half done with the 701, so having two going at the same time just takes up too much room. 

 

But my knees do occasionally agree with you! 

Edited September 21 by kpinnc

[oliver2-44 10,879]

1 hour ago, kpinnc said:

 

I'm a bit dissapointed in the Rust-Oleum paint that I mixed and added hardener. Honestly I think it takes longer to cure than rattle cans. I hope it cures to something harder than rattle can, but we'll see. 

I’m curious what happened

I’ve been very pleased with Rustoleum and Majic Hardener from TSC. I use lacquer thinner. I’ve spray with a conventional gun and now HVLP gun. When I spray in the morning I can handle it by evening and fingernail hard the next morning. I spray my self etching primer, aliow it to dry several day, sand with 320-400 then paint the rustoleum. 

[kpinnc 15,145]

1 hour ago, oliver2-44 said:

I’m curious what happened

 

You and me both. HVLP gun, Krylon hardener, acetone reducer. 4-1-1 ratio. Rear fender turned out pretty good, but it's still not as hard as it should be after two weeks. The hood was my fault, because I sprayed too many coats and the undercoats never hardened. I scraped it all off with a putty knife a couple days ago. Hopefully the third try will produce a good result. 

 

I knew it wouldn't be as hard as automotive paint, but I really didn't want it to be. Three of my tractors are painted with Dupont Centauri and that stuff is so hard it chips with a big scratch. It's beautiful paint, but a big chip is difficult to repair. 

 

Sometime this week I hope to re-shoot the hood. Fingers crossed...

Edited September 21 by kpinnc

[Bar Nuthin 1,236]

On 5/18/2025 at 11:53 PM, kpinnc said:

I'll either add a guide with bearings or double the link up. 

 

This lift I made for my chipper doesn't flex - and it's pushing a pretty heavy load.

 

[kpinnc 15,145]

Flipped the fender pivot and cutout the fender and dropped it down more than an inch. Looks much better. 

 

Still strange how the same paint looks different. I guess the level of curing? Oh well, close enough. 

 

Before and after: 

 

[kpinnc 15,145]

Only had a few minutes, so I stuck the tail light on and tested it. 

 

 

[kpinnc 15,145]

Clutch/ brake pedal and link installed. Of course my enforcement fabbing makes it where my clutch rod has to be mounted on the outside of the clutch arm instead of behind it. At least the left footrest is larger so it won't affect much. 

 

 

Edited September 24 by kpinnc

[kpinnc 15,145]

Under hood fuel tanks... I have yet to find one that wasn't really faded and/ or really nasty looking. 

 

So I did something silly: I took my little orbital sander and knocked all the grunge off this one, and put a light coat of red paint on it. 

 

At least it'll be the same color where it shows on the sides. 

 

I really wish I'd taken a before pic. It was multicolored and nasty. Looks much better now. 

 

 

Edited September 25 by kpinnc

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,875]

On 9/21/2025 at 12:18 AM, kpinnc said:

 

You and me both. HVLP gun, Krylon hardener, acetone reducer. 4-1-1 ratio. Rear fender turned out pretty good, but it's still not as hard as it should be after two weeks. The hood was my fault, because I sprayed too many coats and the undercoats never hardened. I scraped it all off with a putty knife a couple days ago. Hopefully the third try will produce a good result. 

 

I knew it wouldn't be as hard as automotive paint, but I really didn't want it to be. Three of my tractors are painted with Dupont Centauri and that stuff is so hard it chips with a big scratch. It's beautiful paint, but a big chip is difficult to repair. 

 

Sometime this week I hope to re-shoot the hood. Fingers crossed...

I'm debating redoing my C-141 at least on the hood and the top of the fenders. I've redone it a few times already, due to operator error, big scratches  or trash in the paint. It looks good in pics but less than 5 feet away its very apparent there is issues. It's a learning curve I guess.

[davem1111 2,212]

On 9/13/2025 at 9:33 PM, kpinnc said:

Rustoleum mixed with hardener and a HLVP gun.

 

 

Questions:   So, a while back I bought a Central Pneumatic HLVP gun at Harbor Freight, still new in the box.  I also have (had?) a quart of Rustoleum Regal Red that I bought back when the rattle cans were hard to come by, but danged if I can find it now. I brought all the paints in from the detached (cold) garage the last few winters and stored them in the laundry room, but I haven't seen that one. If it was left in the garage over the winter (sometimes negative temps) it's probably no good anymore, right? Or does the freezing only kill latex-based paints?

Anyway, I'd still like to try this method so maybe I'll buy another can. I have plenty of acetone but don't have any hardener and have seen several brands mentioned. It looks like Rural King has the Majic stuff, and there's a TSC not too far away also.

 

I'm curious about opinions on different hardeners, and what is the mix ratio? 

Does the acetone get mixed into the paint also?   

How much does it take to cover, say, a rear fender with an appropriate number of coats?

Are you also going over it with a clear coat?

 

If there's a paint thread elsewhere that goes into detail on this, please point me to it.

I've been pretty unhappy with any rattle can work I've done recently. I have 2 tractors that I may be repainting in the foreseeable future, if time (and temperatures) allow....

[Treepep 762]

On 7/1/2025 at 9:57 AM, kpinnc said:

 

Mine is a 30 inch. But hot air is still hot! 

 

I'm getting older. I sweat just thinking hard.  I want air conditioning!

 

\<Must sweat a lot sir.  You think a lot and create masterpieces!

[peter lena 9,373]

@kpinnc   love the  adaption , what if ?  in / on, a problem spot , found more improvements , that way , regularly use it, @BillD  fine thread  1/2 "  rod , heim joints , totally convert  a  plow frame set up , shoulder bolts , the steering quadrant  runs the entire show . drop of  super lube , in a heim joint  , makes it smile with ease . just sayin . 

[kpinnc 15,145]

4 hours ago, davem1111 said:

Or does the freezing only kill latex-based paints?

 

Honestly not sure. I've always heard to never allow paint in a can to freeze. Never seen the result. 

 

4 hours ago, davem1111 said:

I'm curious about opinions on different hardeners, and what is the mix ratio? 

Does the acetone get mixed into the paint also?   

How much does it take to cover, say, a rear fender with an appropriate number of coats?

Are you also going over it with a clear coat?

 

 

No clear coat on the HVLP paint. I mix my thinner/ reducer until the paint is the approximate consistency of milk. The hardener I mix 4:1 before thinning. 

 

A quart will nearly paint an entire tractor. A rear fender probably uses less than 1/4 of that. 

[kpinnc 15,145]

1 hour ago, Treepep said:

<Must sweat a lot sir.  You think a lot and create masterpieces!

 

Greatly appreciated. I definitely think alot!