I am planning to paint a D5K soon. This will be my first attempt to spraying anything of this size. I am not expecting to do a number one job but don't want to make a mess of it either. I have a few question and would welcome general application recommendations from those more experienced in painting equipment. I am thinking I will get a gallon each of Caterpillar primer, paint, and black. My first question is will these paints work with a cheap Harbor Freight HPLV gun? Will I'm need a thinner? Paint says it's ready to spray but seems like I should have thinner for clean up and just in case I needed to thin the paint a little more. Which black do you recommend for this machine? They have three different gloss levels for black. I will be painting inside of unheated barn. What temperature does it need to be to for things to go well? I have the blade C-Frame and cylinders all disassembled. I am thinking it would be best to paint each of the components of the blade assembly individually and then assemble after paint. May need to touch up after assembly. Also Planning to paint bolt heads before assembly and use new unpainted washers. Planning to paint side panels off the machine. Are there other recommendations?
Its been years since doing that, and I've never done anything smaller than a D8 and all had rippers, I think it took close to 5 gallon ish for a D355 Komatsu, 1 gallon primer will do, but I think at least 2 gallons will be needed maybe 3?, depends on what all is getting paint too. Blade face and tracks?
I didn't think about it taking that much paint but I will certainly watch that. Thanks for the tip!
If you paint bolts or any threaded holes you'll have to clean the threads with a die or tap.
I’m going to say at least five gallons of yellow with blade and tracks. One gallon won’t even do the track frame. Plan on thinning it. Unheated is fine as long it’s above freezing.
The last time I bought Cat yellow paint I got from CAT....5gallon pail was $100.00 bucks but that was several years ago, if it 's anywhere near that today it's a good deal, but with things being what they are now it could be double that. The more paint you put on it short of running off, the longer it will last imho. JD paint may tell a different story.
I have not priced 5 gal pail but a one gallon bucket of Cat yellow is $69 from local dealer.
5 gallons for a D5?? That sure seems excessive.
I didn't say he'd need all five gallons, I was just saying what it cost at the time for a pail.
I just painted my D5HLGP, I roughed up the surface with DA, took off anything that was bolted on, covered all hydraulics, removed rops, cab & seat. I actually used that Harbor Freight Low pressure gun with container on top and the pre-thinned CAT paint. Just pour it in and spray, worked nice. I used just under 2 gal. I made holes in cardboard and put every bolt in standing up and painted all the heads. After install might have to touch up heads. I didn't paint tracks. I just used rust-oleum black spray cans for cab. Don't forget to spin those rollers when painting. good luck Nick
I painted alot of stuff years ago . Rent a sprayer like you would paint a house one that sets over a 5 gallon bucket with a 30 foot hose . Just prime the bare spots a steam cleaner would be great. I am not sure how much paint you will need we bought a truck load at a time. I bet there is away to figure it out i dont think 5 gal will do it but i was never worried about that before we always had a good supply on hand.
This was result, took about a week.
i have never ben a fan of the 1k paint that is good to use right out of the can. The 2 k stuff is more wear resistant but more expensive. We have a 2.5 gallon pressure pot from harbor freight that works pretty good once you dial it in.
Pictures look really good, nice job! I hope mine turns out that well. You said you roughed surface with DA. What is that? I thought I would use and orbital sander to rough up the surfaces but was not sure what grit to use for that purpose.
I am pretty new to this. What is 1k vs 2k paint? Maybe you are are referring to urethane's or epoxy paints that require hardeners?
I think DA means dual action sander.
Asking about grit, 220 was used at the dealership paint shop. I would fill in when things got busy or a painter went on vacation. Learned a lot about production painting. And the night life of Portland’s Columbia Blvd, even before PDX went off the rails.
DA = dual action or orbital. I use 80 grit sticky back sanding disc. Wait till you see how much the decals are. Nick
Appreciate the info and thanks for the warning! I rarely get out of the Cat Dealer for less than $300.
It's always nice to walk out of a Cat dealer for under $300.
It was not directed at you and I didn't mean to be nasty to anyone. Just my opinion .
No problem most of us here have thick skin...lolTE="oarwhat, post: 1110592, member: 13142"]It was not directed at you and I didn't mean to be nasty to anyone. Just my opinion .[/QUOTE]
i k does not use hardner,2 k has a hardener or activator. whenever we paint our stuff like trailers i always use epoxy primer and 2k acrylic urethane paint.