Dell and willy and everyone advice needed

I am using a solvent like lacquer thinner to wipe it down when I am done, but there doesnt seem to be any end to the grime coming off the bare metal. Every clean rag I use with new solvent comes away dirty.

How far do I need to go with this cleaning? Is primer forgiving that some residue will be ok? Or do I ned to ceal it so good I can lick it with my tongue?

Dell, painting by brush and with air gun? do you spray over the painted areas with the brush within 30 minutes? right away? or let the areas painted by brush dry then paint it with an air gun to hid any brush marks?

Do you use the reducer when you paint by brush? or just the paint and the hardener?

Rick(GA)

I just finished painting Chigger (my 8N). While my intent wasn't to "restore" her (she's a working tractor), the paint job I did looks like a restoration.

Here's what I did for prep and paint:

Pressure washed as much oil and loose paint as I could. But I plastic bagged the distributor, oil fill, etc. to keep out water. Drained all fluids and removed hood, fenders, grill, seat, starter, generator, distributor, carb, manifold, air cleaning assembly, oil filter assembly, wiring, radiator, fan, etc. so as to get to as much of the block/tranny/rear-end as possible without having to completely disassemble the tractor. Along the way, I labeled wires and put DUCT tape (masking tape will come off) over openings in order to keep water/paint/dust etc. out.

Then I used a 3" wire brush on my drill and about 4 sheets of 200 grit sandpaper to remove all LOOSE paint. It isn't necessary to remove ALL paint unless you are doing a proper restoration and some will say that isn't even necessary for full resoration. That took some 10 hours of prep.

Then I hauled her bach outside and washed her with mild dishwashing soap and water to remove dust ad remaining oil/soot. Why mild soap? You MUST and I mean MUST not have any residual petroleum-based cleaners on your metal or paint will not adhere properly. The process you are using (laquer thinner, etc.) WILL leave deposits so you are gonna have to wash, wash, wash with mild soap to get it all off.

Then I bought two 2" medium quality brushes, 2 quarts of TISCO Ford red, 2 qts Tisco Ford grey paint, and 4 cans of the same in the spray cans.

I hand brushed UNTHINNED paint on the main tractor. Every 15-20 minutes I went back over the fresh paint with one light coat of spray can. That helps even out the brush strokes, but I found that it isn't necessary on the cast iron parts. The paint flattens out nicely on it own in 10 hours or so. Flat aluminum and smooth parts (like oil assembly, fan blade etc.) require a thin coat of brush followed by two coats of spray can spaced 15-20 minutes apart.

I took the sheet metal to a paint shop and had them sand blast, prime, and paint those parts. Didn't feel I could get those right with brush or roller and I don't have a spray rig. Cost $265 so not bad and it looks great. Personally, hardener is not necssary. That stuff's pretty durable, but you might wanna add UV to keep the paint bright for longer.

I'll post pics when she's back together.

maybe, i will wipe it down with super cleaner after all of the paint id off with rags, then, wipe it with lacquer thinner and get a hand wire brush and scrub tghe crevices and call it good?