On a stock trailer there are just do many corners and small parts to be able to use a roller and a brush would leave puddles where you went across edges. All kinds af rails, channels and tight spots you have to get into. If I would have seen this roller bit before i started this tractor, I sure would have gone that route on it though.

 

Hey buddy I have about 10 years experience as an industrial painter and it sounds like you are not waiting long enough between the paint and the clear. I dont know rustoleum at all, but many paints use Xylene as a base thinner and it takes time to evaporate. If you apply the clear too soon the xylene from the paint will still try and escape the paint layer, bubbling or causing an orange-peel effect once you apply the clear. Just a thought!!

 

We painted my brothers old farm truck with a brush one time. It came out pretty good if you ask me. Very few brush strokes. The paint looked factory if the truck was dirty and you were looking at it from a distance.

 

Now I'm officially pissed. Been paintin this tractor body with Rustoleum Enamel spray and it's looks good. But I have stripped this hood to bare metal twice now. I let it gas out for two days between paint and clear coat but as soon as I hit it with clear coat patches of it start lifting the paint. Only happens in patches not all over and I have done several other body parts that worked just fine. I even did this piece by the book with primer, wet sanding and tack cloth between paint coats.

When this works, it works great. My other body parts look like they got a high gloss Laquer finish on em. To shiny for a tractor, that sun's gonna blind me but the old Massey's gonna look good while I can see it.

 

Been usin this Rustoleum and roller to finish this tractor body with now and I gotta say this is slick as hell how this paint flows out. I'm usin Majik enamel tractor paint with hardener and reducer. It does have to be thinned out to a milky consitency though and practice on something you don't care about to get started. My first try at it I left it a little to thick and the edges of the roller left some tracks, not bad but they were there. I sanded that off and tried again and now I'm startin to get the feel of it. It does take some practice and experimentation but it does work and looks good.

 

I would love to see some pics when its done Dennis....

 

I'l post em up once I get it all back together. Gonna be a few weeks. Now I'm havin to strip down all the other pieces I did with the spray can and clear coat so I can do them with this roller method to. I poured a little gas on the sprayed pieces and the paint lifted right off. Poured it on the rollered pieces and it don't budge. Got a new full set of decals to put on once I'm done with the paint. I'm also gonna pull the fenders and fab up some more tool boxes on them before I paint them. Now all I need is some new stickers for the end loader on it and I'll be all set to start on it to. Haven't been able to find a source for them yet.

 

Just a follow up on this thread. I've had this tractor painted for about a year now so I wanted to report back about the results.

Some of the smaller body panels were painted with a spray can of enamel tractor paint and the larger panels using the same brand of paint and a roller. Now keep in mind this takes some practice to get the paint mixed to the right consistency so I'm sure it could be done better after some more time spent but this was a quicky job on an old, everyday use and abuse tractor.

After a year plus of sitting outside all the time the rattle can parts have kept the shine much better then the rollered parts have. The roller parts still look good and probably would brighten up with some buffing but as is they are kind of dull looking. By the way, I never did any finish work like buffing or waxing on the finished parts. But on the on the other hand the rattle can parts have some scratches and nicks in them and the rollered parts are hard as rock. I've walked across the hood of this tractor using it as a scaffold and not left a single scuff.

With a little pratice there is some serious potential for a good paint job here without all the fancy equipment and mess. I tried this mostly because it's a pain for me to hang all the tarps around the spray area to keep the rest of the barn from being covered in overspray, this was much easier for a small project and i am completely happy with the results.

 

never painted a car with a roller but i do know a lot of painters at good well know shops that have jammed in vehicals with a spray can.

hell both of these trucks are spray paint primer.