Clear Coat?

[LeeWI]

I am having a body shop paint the family's 530. They suggest a clear coat to add shine and depth to the paint job. I want the tractor to look like the day it was delivered to our farm 51 years ago. The tractor has retired to the city and provides rides to kids. I would appreciate your thoughts. - Thanks, Lee

 

[MoMark]

In my opinion, clear coat does not look right on these old tractors. If the body shop puts a nice finish on, it will probably be mush better than the original finish. A very nice shine & finish is possible with no clear coat. Of course that's only my opinion.

 

[dieselhotrodder]

to me clear coat is ok for sheetmetal. but not the castings, a good catalyst paint or impliment paint with hardner. clear coat does not handle heat from say a warm engine block or head very well,

 

[johndeerefan]

No need for clear coating. Like any aftermarket clear, it will peel with time. All vehicles I have ever had repainted adventually starting peeling the clear. If done properly, the standard JD implement paint with PPG hardener will be more than enough and cheaper too. I suspect the tractor will be stored out of the sun. The sun is JD implement paint's worst nightmare. But, if you keep it in a garage or shedded, it will last for several years.

Here is the paint on mine, using JD implement paint with PPG hardener, PPG epoxy primer, and PPG sandable filler primer. It shines like a new car.

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[jdjerry]

I have paintd several tractors using paint from John Deere using a hardner with it. Every tractor I have painted had a better paint job than the factory paint. The factory paint was never done for shows. I have two of them that have been outside in the sun for 5 years and they still look like new paint. I use them all the time and figure if it lasts 10 years it is not worth the extra expense to use acrilic enamel. By that time they will have a few scratches and dings and will get a little touch up. I will most likey repaint all of the sheet metal then. Last winter I took my 4020 to town to get some work done on the powershift and he dinged up my side panels, tore off one of the hood mouldings and scraped the decals up taking the loader off. I was not to happy about that but I had surgery and could not do it myself. It was not the shop of my choice but it was so cold out I could not get anyone to haul the tractor elsewhere. His shop was 18 miles away and I drove it there. Good mechanic but he is not worried about the appearence.
I pearsonaly do not care for clear coat. I painted cars for 28 years and the only nice thing I liked about clear coat was for spot painting.

 

[amnion]

John- That is a gorgeous tractor! Nice work.

 

[F-I-T]

Lee,

I use a clear over my color sanded acrylic enamel finishes for scratch resistance and UV protection. A clear-coat will certainly have more shine than the original Waterloo paint job, and it will most likely have fewer runs, too. My next project is going to get DuPont Ful-thane, their urethane system that gives you the hard, tough, shine of clear in one color step. I disagree that clear will eventually peel. It will only peel when it is over-exposed to UV rays and abrasive grit blowing over the surface. For me it allows the finish to look decent for much longer than you could expect from a straight synthetic enamel or even acrylic enamel, both of which fade and dull pretty fast. It's tough to stay objective about the quality and durability of particular paint systems when people generally keep the freshly painted tractors under roof when stored. Heck, given good storage conditions, a spray can Krylon paint job looks good, but sit it out on the patio in the sun 24/7, and it will be dull next year, and rusty the next.

This 70D was finished with PPG AE DAR paint (DuPont AE is the yellow) in 2002, with a clear over the top. I use it every week, and now it has some scuffs, but it stood up great to weather, branches, fuel, and dirt for 7 years now. Our 7 year old 4020 paint didn't last like that, the 4400 combine looked dull in three, and our '48 A I have some photos of in 1951 and in the sunshine, there was not a single refected shiny spot.

I'm not going for a show piece because I put them to work as soon as they are dry. My fun comes in using them, but I do like the paint to look good and last as long as possible.

 

[Fred from MO]

Wow those tractors sure look nice!!

 

[61-4010]

The tractors that I have restored were done so not for show purposes but to be put back to work. I usually use a high end paint like PPG Concept first applying an epoxy primer, then 2 coats of Concept and then finally a coat or 2 of Concept with clear coat mixed in. The last coat with the clear coat added does 2 things. First, it adds depth and higher gloss. Secondly, it adds some durability. So far, have been pleased with the results.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Now when you say jd implement paint do you mean the jd classic synthetic enamel or something different? That jd looks really good!

 

[Anonymous-0]

VERY NICE ! Looks great, I agree with most everything you said as to epoxy primer, JD synthol enamel with hardner, keeping it shedded and stored out of harsh sun. There are many name brand quality products but I know most bodymen/painters have their favorites and yours is PPG. My only quarrel with your post would be "all aftermarket clearcoats peel in time". Did you keep any kind of log as to the time spent on the repaint of this tractor ? Just wondering. Once again beautiful tractor and I know you have to be proud of your work. Thanks for sharing !

 

[johndeerefan]

I am talking about the classic green paint you get from the John Deere dealer. Don't use Rural king or TSC John Deere paint. They are lower end.

I am not quite sure which Deere you complimented, but you can see a video my A here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgj28W1f708
I completely went through it mechanically and added new tires before I decided to repaint it. I like for them to run as well as look good. Unlike a lot of those at the expo that get pushed around by hand.

If you are interested in seeing the entire repaint process, email me at [email protected] and I will send you the web address in which I took in process photos and told the daily trials and tribulations. This site won't allow me to post it. It took from Jan 1 to June 4 of strictly sanding and filling. That was 2-3 hours 5 days a week and all day everyday on weekends. I never was so glad to get it finished. I can't take all the credit though, I had a couple of bodyshop friends help out on the sheetmetal. They did wonders with it.

 

[johndeerefan]

The clearcoat statement was just based on 2 vehicles I have had repainted and both are flaking the clear off. Granted, they sit outside all day and it has been about 5 years since they were done. My brother in laws 2001 Chevy diesel also had to have a door repainted 2 years ago, and now the clear is starting to bubble up on it around the top of the door.

I love clear coat, but it just seems on a tractor that if and that is a big if, it does start flaking off, it would be hard as he*l to scuff it all up and shoot it again. There are way too many cracks and crevices to get to in order to get it all smooth. Believe me, I skinned my knuckles constantly, they have just now healed up.

 

[johndeerefan]

Here is another one my Dad and I did 2 years ago. We did this restoration before the model A one, and I told Dad the A was going to make the 520 look sick. The difference definetly shows, but mostly because we got really picky on the A and bought lots of little detail parts. We still use this one (520) several times a year. The JD dealer paint has really held up well on it. When we get ready to take it to a show, we scuff up the 3 point arms and drawbar and reshoot them. These are generally the only places that it gets scuffed and scratched. Only takes an afternoon to do this.