Another project begins

[rmaynard 14,926]

What brand of primers do you use? I used to use American Finishes, AP-440 epoxy, but I can no longer find it.

[Kelly 1,028]

Long over due update, I've been picking away at this, so far the engine is resealed, trans got new seals, everything is in primer, and about 60-70 % of it is painted, all that is left is the sheet metal, and a few other small items, I still need to block sand and prime it all that is left one more time, I did prime and block sand the front of the frame only what shows, the paint turned out great, not a true candy apple red but looks very cool it changes hues in different light from very dark to very bright, I bought a couple cheap paint guns from harbor freight with coupon only $10 each I'm pretty happy with them for cheap guns, at that price I can almost throw them away after this project, but wont, I did put a coat of silver base on the parts before the red, to help make the pearl in the red shine more, I also sealed the inside of the tank, it had light rust not bad but this will set alot so I coated it for cheap insurance, I have 90% of the stuff ready to get silver zinc coated I hope to have that done this week, I'm sending alot of extra stuff just to have in stock for the next project, this last weekend I spent about 30 hours on this tractor starting at 5am getting ready for paint and the 90 deg temps baked the paint very nice, I do all my painting right in the driveway, with very good luck, anyway here is a few pictures, I almost forgot to take them as I get going and don't stop.

And the engine stand trick is the cats meow, I will do all of them that way.

Silver base coat

All painted and this is dry in these pictures, and you can see the light changes the color from light to dark, I took some with a cloud blocking the direct light others with full sun, you have to see it in person to get the full effect.

[rmaynard 14,926]

Fantastic work so far.

How do you paint in the driveway without getting bugs in the paint?

[Kelly 1,028]

What brand of primers do you use? I used to use American Finishes, AP-440 epoxy, but I can no longer find it.

Sorry Bob I missed your question, I'm using Omni bare metal epoxy and PPG K-38 fill primer, sands like nothing I've ever used, and tuff, paint I went on the cheap side and used Nason ful cryl II this will not get road use so it should hold up nice with lots of wax, I plan to wax everything before assembly, another nice thing about auto paint very fast dry times I left this stuff hang for about 6 hours then took it all in the garage, but it was dry to the touch in a hour ready to handle in 3 hours, with care.

So far the paint drys fast enough the bugs don't bother it, I had 2 that there little legs are still in the paint I leave them till dry them pick them out, unless they are crawlers then tweezers pick them out them a bit more paint to fill there tracks.

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Lookin good Kelly, cant wait to see the finished product

[rmaynard 14,926]

Thanks for the info. I have been looking for another brand of epoxy primer, and the info on the filler/primer is helpful too.

Every time I try to paint outside, I can't get one coat down before the gnats decide to take a swim in the paint :woohoo:

[Martin 2,130]

looking really nice kelly.

that color is awesome.

when its done i think that color is going to really make it stand out from the sea of red....i think the wheels will be a good contrast too.

seeing the silver base coat makes me think about one day doing a tractor totally silver. would look different. did a car once with some nice body lines silver. i always like how it brings out sharp lines.

[Kelly 1,028]

I got a little done in the heat, it was 115 with the heat index, just plain HOT, I got my wheels back from the powder coater, they turned out pretty nice, they got some dirt chunks in them but all in all nice, they look like alum. I also mounted the tires and figured I would white letter them, my steady hands are no more, I built model cars years ago and could paint all the chrome trim on them, I could barely paint the letters on these tires age setting in I also dropped all the parts off at the platers to be zinc plated, tinkered with a few other things but, I'm happy the wheels and tires are ready, I had them do the aircleaner too, for a little bling, I wish I had more little stuff done, maybe on the next custom one, I think the fake chrome/alum. look will be nice with the candy red, now to just get it done in less than 2 weeks before the show

[bell 11]

Looks FANTASTIC Kelly! :woohoo:

[Martin 2,130]

looks great kelly.

you know the dirt chunks are a no cost option. we sometimes supply them on some of our parts too.

its usually crap that falls from the burners in the ovens. i try to hang parts so the high cosmetic areas are down, so at least if stuff does fall then it ends up somewhere it doesnt matter too much.

ive always liked the chrome. we used to do some work years ago with it. looks good. we also used a black chrome which had a dark tint to it and that looked ok too. the custom colors are getting numerous these days and theres quite a lot of really awesome colors available in powder.

anyway, i think this tractor is really coming together nicely, cant wait to see it complete at the show.

[JimD 3,345]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product on this one Kelly. Looks great so far. :woohoo:

[Horse'n Around 22]

Wow those wheels turned out fantastic. Your daughter is lucky to have a cool Dad like you !

[312Hydro 473]

Those rims really look great :woohoo:

[Kelly 1,028]

Did some more paint work today, I have to repaint the fender in a few days, I put a run in it, and with the metal flake and pearl, wet sanding will not fix it, so I'll block it out and repaint it, everything else turned out good, minor dirt in the hood but it should wheel out, I'll pick up all the zinc parts and Stainless tomorrow, so it should start going together soon, I only have about 10 days total to get it done, might be a few late nights coming up.

I wish I could get a picture of how the paint really looks to the eye, color wise.

more pics soon......

[rmaynard 14,926]

Very nice I know about those late nights.

[312Hydro 473]

Gonna need shades just to look at it ! Great color.

[clintonnut 126]

SWEET! What brand paint?

Charlie

[can whlvr 991]

wow,thats areally nice color,its going to be a really sharp lookin tractor for your young lady :woohoo:

[smokin joe 31]

This is gonna be one AWESOME tractor :woohoo:

[Kelly 1,028]

Mini update, got my stuff from the platers, I like it, wish I had more done, but I ran out of time to blast all the small stuff, I will be going back again, no more painting things silver, these all look like new, unless they were pitted but still look good, also picked up my near 400 pieces of stainless, to assemble the tractor, I picked up extra just in case I needed something, or for the next project, I also waxed all the parts I painted a week or so ago, it helps with cleaning them later and what better time to wax it when it's apart, I also wet sanded and wheeled the stuff I painted mon. like I said I need to paint the fender again because of a run, time is running out, but I'm almost at the point where it will go kinda fast, I tried to have everything ready, but I'm sure I missed something, any way here is pictures.

Zinc parts, I'm putting a decal on the dash but I figured I would have it plated so the back looks nice, the drive pulley, hood latches and seat latches are just plain SWEET, should have done this long ago.

Bags of stainless

[Martin 2,130]

fasteners and parts look great kelly,

you will appreciate them even more as you assemble. no more paint chipping from bolt heads as sockets and wrenches are used on them. also wear items just look better longer with the zinc.

ive always liked doing the zinc thing, so easy and looks more 'complete' with all the brackets etc done. im still looking for a plater myself as i really miss not having one around me. i didnt enjoy powdercoating alot of the brackets etc for the 1054. takes too long and theres always areas/edges/hook marks that just dont quite cover as good.

it was great back in the day to be able to take a 5 gallon bucket of bolts and small parts and pick them up all done. the place i used to get stuff done was cheap( in my opinion) so it was a given to get a whole bunch more done than you actually needed. how many times are we looking for a bolt or whatever for another project? i noticed in the zinc pic that you got extra stuff done. with the amount of extra stuff you must have laying around, getting extra stuff done really doesnt add to the cost that much and you have more that one part to choose from.

you mentioned that you blasted the zinc parts first. is this a requirement of the plater or you just felt better taking in blasted parts?

the plater i used back home didnt care what the stuff looked like as it all got thrown in a bath to clean first.( i was doing cars and not tractors so i had a bunch more stuff to do). that alone saved me a bunch of time......

that tractor really is going to look awesome when done. i like your attention to detail, very professional........ :woohoo:

[Eriks Red horse herd 43]

Kelly that tractors going to look SWEEEET!!!!! Cant wait to see it in Person! Lots of caffeine should HELP get ya through! :D

[Wheel Horse Kid 104]

Wow that is really coming along nice! Hope that you are both having fun with that! I am also 15 and really have fun working on tractors with my dad!!!! :woohoo:

[Kelly 1,028]

Got some done after taking tractors to a parade today, got home about 2:30 worked till 8pm then had to drive 60 mile round trip to my buddys to pick up the hood and fender I sprayed last night in his paint booth, they turned out sweet more on that later, but I'm still in love with the engine stand idea, I put all the steering together, the parts on the trans, all on the stands, it's rolling now, it is turning out very nice even if I say so myself, I should have it about 75% done tomorrow, I hope, I tired so no more typing here is a few pictures till sun. night.

First time on the new rubber in it's new life.

Where I stopped before picking up the hood and fender.

rear hitches turned out nice, glad I did both.

[Zeek 2,284]

That is one heck of a paint job

I love the color of the body and wheels. It's nice to see a custom job

By the way, can you tell me what blast cabinet you got and what size air compressor you're running it with? I'm on the fence about getting one with the single stage 60 gallon compressor I have :D