This hood is driving me crazy. I re-sanded it and re-primed it and I think it looks worse than it did before, it seems to be full of Bondo.
So much for the good looking tractor, I was kinda hoping it would be considered as a tractor of the month but that is one less worry I have for sure.
Im just gonna stay with it and paint it as best as I can and use it untill I get another hood. There was a nice one on E-Bay that was same as mine painted white and real nice for something like $78 I think and if its still there when I get paid next week I will prolly get it but for now Im just gonna use this one to cover the tractor and not worry so much what it looks like, I'll do my best with what I have and heck w/it.
I dont get it, when it was sanded it seemed fine but when I applied the primer the bad places seemed to just pop-up out of thin air!
I finally quit smoking two days ago after smoking 50 cigs a day for 40+ yrs. and my nerves are about frayed as they can get and it was all I could do to not smash the darn thing lol! Well here are some pics anyway.
I wasnt sure how many pics a post would hold so the top ones that show all of the chipping and stuff is Bondo/fiberglass I guess and thats what it looked like after I sanded and primered it the first time so the shiney ones are what I did today B4 priming it and the last ones w/primer is what it looks like for now untill I figure out what to do next wich is prolly just spraying a cpl coats of white paint on it to get this darn project moving a bit.
God I hate that! Look at those little stipples all over the place. I even bought some new rubber bumpers for it to, but that has nothing to do with the looks of it and Im sure they will come in handy for whatever hood I wind up with.
Gerrard,
Last year when I was all gung-ho about painting my units, I spent a little bit of time sanding the hood... I mean just a little bit of time... probably about two minutes, at most. I then approached this project in a slightly different way; I used oven cleaner to help remove the old, original paint. The oven cleaner worked remarkably well but one word of warning - never use this cleaner with sandals on as I still have a scar on my foot to demonstrate the caustic nature of the oven cleaner!
My hood was somewhat straighter than yours but far from the way it left the factory. After stripping it with the oven cleaner, I neutralized the solution with vinegar and copious amounts of water. I then sprayed it with two coats of primer followed by three top coats of white. Most of the imperfections that were clearly visible when it was stripped of paint became less evident when the primer and final topcoats were applied. Oddly, I opted NOT to use the hood after I finished the painting project as it seemed to make too much racket due to vibrations when the machine was running. I think that the hood spent about an hour in place after my completed pictures (see avatar) were made and then it was neatly tucked away in my shed... where it still resides today! Although the rubber bumpers were in good condition, it just made too much noise... this was probably due to my out-of-alignment flywheel that has since been corrected (thanks beaner2u for the guidance on that daunting project!). I have run my 1974 many, many hours with no hood and other than a stray branch removing my spark plug wire from time to time while brush cutting, I have had no other problems going 'topless'.
I think that you will find shipping to be prohibitively expensive on a hood. This cost will probably be equal to or greater than the cost of the hood itself. Your son will undoubtedly appreciate the extraordinary gesture that you have made and especially the time, work, and dedication that you have put into this project that you will be handing over to him. Put the hammer away... Gerrard, you have GOT to find your own Gravely that will remain in your possession!!!
Hammer a few of the big dimples out and then throw some paint on it! Gravely over built every component but the hoods on these tractors! I understand the need for perfection but you are rebuilding a tractor to work not show! From the pictures you attached it doesn't look too bad to me at all. Better than any of the hoods on any the three L models I have!
Agreed Broncoman76, and I already slapped a first coat of semi-gloss white on it and I wasnt even sure if the primer was dry yet lol!
And Fireant911, yea I know what your talking about w/the stripping because I used actual paint stripper on it and I pretty much got it down to the bare metal as can be seen in the pics, plus a Black & Decker Mouse and then a elect sander I bought for it last weekend and numerous hand sanding things including Sta-Brite pads.
See I used to semi-professionally restore & refinish old wood furniture plus I worked at a factory for a decade that made all the stuff to do it with at a polyurethane and solvent factory so I know all about the stuff but I had no idea that wood and metal was so different when finishing. I used to even re-do gun stocks by hand rubbing them w/tung oil but when I was done sanding this metal hood I ran my hands over it several times and I could have sworn it was smooth and just like the first time after I gave it a coat of primer then the blemishes started to appear, but like I said (and Broncoman76 ) heck with it lol!
Heres some new pics w/its first half-coat of white on it.
Looks like I shouldnt have 'quick replied " it, gonna have to put them in a new reply.
OK here we go, and here are some of the other things to strip & paint, as can be seen the previous owner must have just painted over everything without any prep work at all and its all coming off so I have to take it all the way down to get my paint to stick.
Heres a pic of my old motor tins and new ones, the old set has a strip of metal holding them tight and together that I thought was stock but I was wrong but I might still put it back on the new ones .
I checked that out JRD but it looks like it just has a coat of rust on it, other than that its not to bad. That was a interesting thread though, did you ever get that thing running? (kinda stupid question I guess)
One thing I have noticed about Gravely is they kinda over-build the exhaust system for something (like the muffler) to wrot-out in hardly no time, I mean they have to be changed but its like you wreck the rest of it getting the pep-pot off of it ya know? And then you have to deal with the dern fastners. I think I still have one in mine.
You're looking at the pix with just primer. Look a little further to where I got the first color coat on it. It looks like somebody worked it over with a ball-peen hammer
It's hard to tell from the pix, but it looks like you may be down to the adhesive. In that case, MEK or Toluene will soften it up. If you're through the adhesive, and what's left is just paint, a decent paint stripper (not the crappy ecological ones) will do it.
What is the deal with this here? As can be seen this has been taken down to the bare metal and the remnants of the sticker is still there, I thought the adhesives we had today were supposed to be good but what could have done this 50 yrs. ago? Its really something and I cant take it down anymore (assuming I did it over again) and have no choice but to paint over it. Unbelievable..
OMG That means another total paint removal/strip again. Oh well. That pic was before I painted it....again! lol.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
My Tractor Forum
4.3M posts
216.7K members
Since 2005
A family friendly forum community dedicated to all Tractor owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about specifications, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!