Primer Question

O.T., saw a N for sale down the road, glanced at it, saw HORIZONTAL grill bars, all gray paint. Shock my monkey, I thought I had a shot at an early 9N, maybe with aluminum!! Went back asap, pulled up next to it and saw 8N wheels (huh?), and a strange OHV engine....awww, it's a Fergie! They need to put a big label on them things so you can see it from the road. These rapid mood swings are bad for my health.

While some paints are better for direct application than others, all the paints I know of adhere better to primer than to bare metal. And, a good primer adheres to bare metal better than finish/top-coat. Although I doubt any of the tractor was primed originally, I would spend the extra time, effort, and expense to do it. Although adequate precautions must be used, an epoxy primer would be best. Dupont and PPG both offer excellent epoxy primers. Not only is epoxy primer extremely durable and waterproof, it is also capable of withstanding the engine’s heat better than anything else. If it is topcoated within the time specified sanding is not required.

On the acid prep..... it is worth doing, but follow the instructions. I have seen problems from people not reading and/or following the directions. Good luck...Al English

Many people are using etching primers. These are not as effective as a manual pre-treatment, but it's better than nothing. The biggest problem with etching primer is people assuming it eliminates the need for good preparation and cleanliness. Good luck...Al English

My take on "official color" paints. Doesn't really matter what the color is unless you are trying to match a repair patch. And I'd bet that even at the Ford factory, color varied from day to day, and week to week, and month to month. And ontop of it all, paint fades, so todays fresh paint job is going to be different color 10-20 yrs later anyway, unless you never let it see sunlight (grin).

But I do believe that there is differences in paint quality and you get what you pay for (to a certain degree).

If I were painting my 8N, I'd probably use a red tinted epoxy etching primer for better color stability and add UL inhibitor to the vermillion red top coat..... ...Dell