[AT] paint question

[louis at kellnet.com]

Tractor Supply no longer uses Valspar paint.  You pay for what you get.  The 
$35/gal paint has no UV resistance, they use cheaper binders and pigments. 
Hardener helps it last a little longer, but it still fades pretty quick. 
Cheaper paint tends to not be as durable.  If you don't care about looks or 
overall durability, cheap paint is fine.  Back in 1988, I painted my John 
Deere D with Dupont Imron.  At the time it was $100 per gallon, outrageous. 
But 25 years later, people have a hard time believing me about how old the 
paint is, because it still looks really good.

If you are using the paint where rust and corrosion are a problem, POR15 is 
the product to use.  If the metal is properly prepared, you will paint it 
once and never have to think about it again. POR15 will kill any rust that 
gets painted over.  It will seal the metal tight and won't come off.  A 
friend of mine has a landscaping business.  He has a 1987 Ford F350 that he 
bought new, it has a stake side body on it.  I painted the sides with Imron, 
the bed frame with POR15, then went over top of it with black Industrial 
Imron.  That was 12 years ago.  At the same time he had his other truck done 
at a body shop.  The one I did for him, the paint still looks pretty good, 
the one the body shop did looks tough again.

You might want to consider Dupont Imron 3.5 HG.  It is an industrial 
polyurethane paint.  You can brush in temperatures' down to 35 degrees. The 
black color is fairly reasonable in price.  I think a gallon is about $70 
plus activator.  Once it is dry, good luck on getting it off.  I had to 
sandblast some off one time.  It used 5 times as much sand and time to get 
it off, compared to enamel paint.

The cost in doing a paint job, is not so much in the cost of the paint.  It 
is in the cost of properly preparing the surface that is being painted. A 
poor prep job equals a poor paint job.  Consider how often you want to 
scrape and sand the items you need to paint.  If you enjoy doing that type 
of work the cheaper paint will work fine.  If you don't want to think about 
again for at least 15 years, use the better stuff, not necessarily show car 
paint, but tough durable paint.  I know all of Cedar Fair parks (Cedar 
Point, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, etc... 11 parks in all) use Dupont 
3.5 HG Imron.  My Dupont paint dealer sells it to them. I am within 20 miles 
of Cedar Fairs headquarters and main park.

Just my 2 cents,  I work with this stuff all the time.


Louis Spiegelberg
Spiegelberg Restoration and Service, LTD
440-965-7679 shop
sales at srstractor.com
www.srstractor.com
http://www.facebook.com/SRSLTD

-----Original Message----- 
From: Cecil R Bearden
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 7:33 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] paint question

I have used the Tractor supply paint for trucks and trailers.  It is
Valspar paint, if you use the hardener, It is the same as the $200/gal
House of Color paint.. I always use the hardener.  Also it is only
$35/gal w/ the hardener.  The hardener prevents fading....

Cecil in OKla


On 2/7/2013 9:00 PM, Mike wrote:
> I've had good success with the oil based enamels like Rust-Oleum,  just
> be aware that they dry S-L-O-W in cold weather. Finish durability is
> excellent on things I have that sit outside. May fade in the sun though,
> some of the older Tractor Supply Farmall Red would turn almost pink if
> it sat out in the sun.
>
> Mike M
>
> On 2/7/2013 9:03 PM, jtchall at nc.rr.com wrote:
>> Got a couple items I need to paint, nothing fancy as I will brush both of 
>> them. They are a sprayer frame I am building, and the chassis/frame of a 
>> nitrogen tank trailer.
>>
>> I THINK the paint we used to buy for tractors was acrylic enamel. The 
>> Magic brand paint that Tractor Supply sells and the Rust-Oleum that Lowes 
>> sells are oil based enamels. How good are these paints? I looked at 
>> Por-15 and was turned off by the price.
>>
>> Opinions?
>>
>> John Hall
>> _______________________________________________
>> AT mailing list
>> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at

_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at