Can anyone give me an idea of what it takes to paint a piece of equipment? I want to paint my 963 but not sure how to go about it. I have heard some bad stories about sand blasting damaging engine and other related components and cant imagine being able to sand every inch with paper. I am thinking that I might sand blast the rusty areas such as the bucket and removable pieces and places where the paint has blistered, then sand the reminder of the machine with with a DA sander and by hand. How can the track frames be prepped? I hope not sand blasting. I am also wondering about what grit paper or media to use and how many many hours to budget. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Happy new year to everyone.
Not sure, but I think a really high pressure power washer will do most of it.
How is sandblasting the outside of the machine going to damage the engine? I wouldn't think it would matter on the undercarriage either.
scrape off the heavy rust and loss paint, scuff up the good paint and break out the buckt of paint and a roller
Sand gets everywhere! I bought a machine at an auction once and the starter gave out a few days later. Opened the starter up and out came a lot of sand. I can't imagine how the started worked with so much sand. I talked to some other people that bought auction equipment and they complained about sand also. I even found sand in the air filter.
I might just do that.
I used a sandblaster on a farm tractor once. It's good for the parts you can remove like the fenders and hood, etc. But bad for areas where there are bearings and/or seals like water pumps, axles and hydraulic valves and cylinders. Also, stay completely away from the radiator. Mine leaked in so many places, it had to be replaced
Don't have any experience with sandblasting a machine, but we used a high pressure washer (3400ish psi) when prepping our 175. We used the applicator hose on the pressure washer to soak it down with ProForce Heavy Duty Degreaser and let it set for 30 minutes or so. The pressure washer with degreaser will take off most of the oil and loose paint. Remove as much sheet metal as you can. Sand any areas that are rusty and/or to rough up the paint. Remove your decals with mineral spirits and scraper. Mask off your serial number tags, decals you want to save, chrome rod cylinders, radiator fins and anything else you don't want painted. Get a face mask and a sprayer and go to town. Give yourself a day or two, one to prep and one to paint. One and half gallon should do you.
I've painted about a dozen or so machines and about the same number of trailers. Consider your expectations for the final product. Is it going to be a show-quality machine, or a usable machine? Mine are typically the latter, so this is what I do. First , I pressure wash it or steam clean it to remove dirt and grease. When available, I like to use a 5,000 psi washer because it will clean AND strip paint and remove decals which saves time later in the process. Second , I use wire wheels on high speed grinders to remove any additional loose paint and/or to go over all the surfaces. I'm not real big on sand blasting anything with moving parts, but if you have an industrial compressor/blaster you can use it on non-moving parts if so desired. If it's not a show machine, don't spend time getting everything down to bare metal; if there is still solid paint in places, just get the surface. Remember, the are a wide range of wire wheels from coarse to ultra fine, and these will handle anything from the rough cast metal to sheet metal without damaging the surface. When finished, you will need to clean the dust and such from the surface before painting. This can typically be done with a clean rag that is wet with thinner. Third , it's time to mask and paint. When possible, I use a good equipment paint or industrial enamel that does not require primer, but if primer is required, be sure to at least prime the bare metal. When mixing your paint it is critical to add a good catalyst/hardener. It makes for a much more durable finish that is chip-resistant, and of equal importance, fade resistant. Do not paint equipment without it, otherwise it won't last long enough to be worth all the hard work. If your local paint store is competent, they can suggest a good paint. If not, I can provide some info. And last, but certainly not least, get you some good decals. That will really set it off. I'm currently painting an old dump truck, and here are a few pics of a couple of fork lifts I've done. My Allis lift, before and after. More pics and info here. My Clark lift, before and after. More pics and info here. There are several other projects posted on my blog that I thought came out pretty good.
Nice work Omni. I like to detail equipment to your quality but then I freak out about scratches and getting it dirty.
What brand of paint and hardener do you prefer to use? Very nice work.
I know what you mean. That's why I don't spend all the time and money making it show quality; I still use all my stuff. I just keep a can of touch up handy and hope for the best.
Thanks. I've been experimenting with a few different types of paint. For ease of use, I like oil based enamel. I've been using Majic brand catalyst hardener. I buy it from Crow Burlingame. It's expensive ($25 for a half pint) but it treats a whole gallon and it mixes with any kind of oil based enamel. I also like and recommend the Majic brand Town & Country Tractor, Truck, and Implement oil based enamel. Again, it's expensive compared to regular industrial enamel, but it doesn't require primer so you end up saving time and money overall and the finish is awesome. I've also used Ace brand and Sherwin Williams brand oil based industrial enamels mixed with the Majic hardener and those have turned out well, plus they are less expensive and are available in many colors, but they require primer. I recently used Rustoleum on one of my trailers shown here. It works well, but takes a long time to dry, although I didn't use a catalyst with it. I painted my John Deere M with Dupont Nason machinery acrylic enamel. Check it out here. It applied and covered really well, but you have to use lacquer thinner instead of mineral spirits.
I just Painted our d8r. I used to do automotive bodywork before I did this work. Which meant I was the one to lead this project. The machine was cleaned, pressure washed and degreased. Took all the lights and stuff that was kinda in the way off, painted seperatly. We wired wheel the rust areas and all the undercarraige. I sanded everything with 80 grit, then 150 grit, and the main body was sanded to 320 grit. Everthing was taped that wasnt getting painted. I did the ROPS and roof first. Then all the black on the cab. The next day I did the main body, then finally the blade and ripper. I worked my way top to bottom so I could stand on the machine. I always masked off what wasnt getting painted. I primed and painted everything, even had the primer tinted to cat yellow. Boss bought a 55 gallon drum of cat paint from cat, has painted 3 artic dumps and now this, still alot of paint left. Its a alkaline enamel and i got a hardner for it for the local paint supplier. I sprayed it all with a hvlp gravity feed gun. The owner is real anal about his stuff looking good, toldme it looks brand new and I am pretty proud of it myself. Takes a lot of effort, but its worth it. I will try to post a pic tomorrow.