Projects Painting a truck with tractor paint

I am putting togather a 66 F250 for a work truck and was considering painting it with tractor paint from Tractor supply,their Ford blue is real close to the original color and would save me a bunch of money. This truck is not going to be a show vehicle and will get worked so I dont want to have a ton of money in paint when it will get some scratches from daily use so has anyone painted a truck with tractor paint and if so how did it hold up.

 

There's a guy in my town that paints his cars with John Deere flat black from TSC and it holds up good.

 

on another car site im on there has been a few people to do this but i think they had to thin the paint down some but it turns out good a guy did this on a show truck it turned out nice but he had to wet sand it and buff it out but it sure was nice.

 

Just my opinion, try this stuff instead, it is good stuff, and inexpensive.

http://www.bennette.com/pdf/Imron3-5HG.pdf

Way better than any alkyd enamel.

 

I have a buddy who painted his '49 Merc with black John Deere paint and it looks great. He's very happy with the finish and he say's that it doesn't fade out ... and at only $50 a gallon you can't loose.

 

I did a jeep a few weeks ago, used Vansickle brand paint from Atwoods. The guy that owns the jeep bought it for like 30 bucks a gallon I believe. It flowed out like a wet dream but took a couple days to cure enough to handle.

 

I was just talking about this the other day with a guy from work. He had to paint some wheel tubs and floor pan for a car he was working on. He used the Valspar tractor paint from Farm & Fleet (a local version of Tractor Supply).

The can recommended using naptha as a thinner. He tried that and said it sucked. Went on runny and still tacky-wet the next day.

He tried some Dupont enamel reducer he had on hand, as well as hardener. Said it looked great. He'd paint a whole car with it.

 

I used the same stuff from TSC. Works pretty good, but, yeah, you do need to thin it pretty well. Seems to take a long time to dry, though...at least compared to currently available auto paints.

 

I believe both the TSC and John Deere paints are made by Valspar. They need to be thinned to spray well but so do any others. Be sure to by the activator and use it. It lays down well and cover nicely. I've used the John Deere enamels and like them. The activator will speed the cure.

 

Imron is TOXIC, many an old timer can't breath because of this stuff!
You must use a fresh air resperator!
Single stage enamel with a hardner.

 

This stuff is not like the old time Imron. in spite of its name, It is a single stage enamel, but better than alkyd enamel by a long shot, both in coverage and durability. Coverage alone is at least twice that of Rustoleum, no exaggeration.

 

The last time I checked the paint from TSC is a little over 30 dollars a gallon and is alot cheaper then the local automotive paint stores,I know the color selection is limited but since the Ford tractor blue is close to the original color I will be buying 3 gallons and enough hardener and get painting..

 

I've had good luck with premixed oil paints, just don't over thin if you want it to be shiney. I tried a custom color from Home Depot, lousy coverage and drips and sage galore. Japan Dryer speeds drying time.

 

Hey, you might want to check out PPGs Performance line of commercial paint. You should be able to get a gallon of any of their blues with hardener and get change from a $100 bill. It sprays well and is as durable as anything I've seen. It would not surprise me if Dupont and the other biggies have something similar as well.

 

I've used Valspar enamels for a lot of projects and had a lot luck with it. I always add there hardener, makes the paint dry faster and shinier. I use their hardener in all the oil paint I spray, Sherwin Williams and Rustoleum. I stay away from Rustoleum whenever I can, it takes way too long to dry even with the hardener and I don't think it as durable as Valspar.

Valspar also sells a line of specialty tractor restoration paints in all the well known tractor colors. The paint has it's own reducer and hardener and sells for less for $100 for a gallon of paint, gallon of reducer and pint of hardener. I plan to paint my truck with it when the time comes.

I also was give this link on another web site, I haven't bought from them but the poster highly recommended them:

http://www.paintforcars.com/

 

TractorPartsASAP.com aka All State AG Parts, sells Tractor Paint. They claim it's enamel and I have one of their catalogs that lists a variety of colors. In addition to the enamel they sell hardners & laquers. The hardner is for the enamel. So it may well be acrylic enamel. Ford blue is $30.00 a gallon. Ford Diesel Blue is $57.00. Hardner is $26.00 per pint. They also sell gloss acrylic lacquer. In the Ford section the emblems are also bitchin'. I ran across them looking for parts to fix my '51 Ferguson tractor. Order line #a is 1-877-530-4430. My favorite color they have is John Deere Industrial Yellow.

 

Okay......but a lot of work.....had to thin out and took a long time to dry....should use more harder. Big Bad John

 

my avatar is painted a mix of ford tractor blue and another blue (cant remember the name) with some flatening base worked a treat . My car lives outside all year all weather still looks fine so go for it (remember tractors were for work and needed to hold up well without turning to shit)

 

I've used this also with good results, although I've only used the black semi gloss...

 

the stuff is thick,like mako paint,but its durable as hell and will hold up for years,,,just make sure when you paint it everything around is covered,you will find everything in your garage including the floor and your shoes blue for a long time,and it runs easy,i painted a car with sorta the same paint in my house garage 13 years ago,my washer,dryer,floor,ac unit etc. is still red,,,sorry honey

 

paint is tough, for sure, but IMO does not hold a shine very well. I painted an old pedal car with massey ferguson red and it just does not really shine without seemingly constant attention.

 

There still is the traces of red paint on the floor when I painted my 37 chevy in 95 so I am not worried the paint going everywhere,I keep hearing about it being thick but every paint I sprayed had to be thinned anyway so whats the problem.

 

I say go for it if you're not fussy..and don't let anyone rain on your parade. Regardless if you paint it with high end stuff out of a gun or rattle can...it's all about the prep, how much money you want to spend, how long you want the finish to last, and how much experience you have painting....

get the best finish you can with the money and skills you have

 

I posted this in another thread.... Same will go for tractor paint.

If some of you are thinking about the rust-o-leum, here is an option. These range in price from $ 75-95 a gallon of color / reducer everything you need.

Here are all the colors..
http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/rspcolors.aspx

Comes with ...
<TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>&#8226; KIT: 1 Gal. ACRYLIC ENAMEL COLOR, 1 Qt. Med. REDUCER, 1 Pt. Wet Look HARDENER, 5 Sticks & Strainers</TD></TR><TR><TD>&#8226; Complete Ready-To-Spray Kit.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

You mean if the name of the company is 'burger' the paint they sell is for coloring a big mac?

If you buy it to put on your truck, it's truck paint.

 

While I'm tempted to try the Valspar Implement paint myself, over on the tractor forums the guys are really impressed with PPG DelFleet 'Essential'. It's a tougher paint, much more chip resistant, with good gloss.
Do some web searchs on it.

 

+1 on the dry time.
I used tractor paint on an old Datsun 280Z once,and no lie,the finish was still tacky a month later.lol

 

Here is my daily that I painted last year with Valspar (Tractor Supply) a gallon of John Deere green and a quart of white. No high gloss or anything like that but it doesn't look bad at all, it's my daily driver and not a show truck!

 

I am not after a show truck just want it to hold up and not spend a ton of money on a paint job that will get some scratches.

 

Mix it 8:1 with Synthetic Enamel Hardener so it will dry faster and be more durable. You can also clear over it then if you wait 24 hours and rub the body down with a yellow scotch pad before you clear. I usually use the "Autobody Master" brand from AutoValue hardener. You will also probably have to use almost as much thinner as paint to make it spray right. And like it has been said, everything in the vicinity seems to get covered in the stuff since it takes so long to dry. Other paints often dry into a dust before they settle, but not impliment enamel.