Again with the tractor paint...

I have sprayed many a trailer with the naphtha (sp? ) based Tractor Supply paint, but never a car, and hear tons of reference to doing so. What I am asking here is does anyone here have a 5 or so year old paint job that still looks good? Did you use the hardner available at TSC? How about Rustoleum? Same basic questions.

I am not looking for a show car finish, just a nice daily that can be touched up fairly easily, and will not chalk up and look like crap too quickly. Without being too snarky, I m hoping to hear tales of first hand experience, as I have read tons of "should work" stories. Thanks in advance.

Waiting with interest, too. My Challenge car will be painted with TSC products, one way or another.

no, it did not look good after 5 years. it faded after one, and was chalky in two.

The mumpkin has several year old Alice Chalmers orange from TSC. It looks OK with most of the issues being from too thin amatuer application. We used hardener and thinned it and sprayed it. It isnt chalky at all. The previous color was rustoleum aluminum, THAT was chalky.

Go to the FLAPS and ask for a mistint automotive paint? Should be cheap?

I like the feedback people. Keep it coming.

This is Rustoleum industrial enamel. It has had 0 care for the 3 years the car has been sitting. It is no longer glossy, but it isn't chalky. A couple of hours with a buffer would probably bring it back to life. It is not flexible and cracked on the bumpers. This paint is about 6 years old. I'd give it a 5 out of 10.

This is TS Farm and Implement paint in Ford grey. I used their hardener and their thinner. Glossed well with no buffing. It receives no care other than being wiped down to keep the oil and dust from building. It doesn't receive any sun so I can't say how well it would weather outside. It was a pleasure to work with and I would paint a car with it in an instant.

This is TSC paint with no hardener. It was very soft/easy to damage. It sprayed good and flattened nicely. Can't speak to longevity because the guy sold the bike shortly after I painted it for him. I didn't expect it to look good for long because of how soft it was.

It should work

In reply to Toyman01:

Did you try mixing a flex additive into the bumper paint? I don't have any first-hand experience but that seems like it would be the way to go, if you can find one that's chemically compatible.

In reply to ssswitch:

I did not, and I should have. That would have solved the issue with the bumper covers.

In reply to Nick_Comstock:

The hardener helps a lot with the durability of the TS paints. I haven't had any problems with the durability of the lathe paint and it's get some fairly hard use and abuse.

I rolled Rustoleum gloss white onto the 924. Thinned about 50/50 with thinner. It's been outside in the rain, snow, sun for years. Not chalky and with some touch up and buffing should come back decently.

Note: the 924 is mostly fiberglass on the hood, nose and quarters and no cracking yet (except where the glass is cracking, but that's not the paint's fault).

How can white paint appear "chalky?" My impression of chalky is a paint that has lighter coloring in places, or cloudy patches. Can't see that effect would be visible on a white car. Or in this context, does "chalky" mean flat, with no reflection? Perhaps my definition of the term is confused.

I always felt chalky was like chalk. Run your hand over is and some colored dust is on your hand, or feels like it could be.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: I always felt chalky was like chalk. Run your hand over is and some colored dust is on your hand, or feels like it could be.

This. If the paint is coming off on you hands, it's chalky. Like a piece of chalk.

look at paintforcars.com i got a gallon single stage automotive acrylic urethane kit from them for the challenge car for $81 with hardener and reducer.

I had posted some old pictures and info on tractor paint on this thread:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/so-i-want-to-paint-a-car-flat-black/103130/page1/

Tractor enamel is tough paint to chips scratches rust etc. It is a single stage enamel that does require a good clean rub down. I found that Nu Finish worked very well for this.

In reply to patgizz:

JThw8 painted his daughters smart car with paint from there. He said that after a couple years it was not holding up as well as he had hoped IIRC.

Speaking of tractor paint, John Deere colors are a pretty good match for Lotus, just saying

I friend of mine painted his Dodge power wagon with case tractor red-orange, it looked pretty good for the first few years, but over time it faded to a chalky pinkish color. IDK if he used anything other than thiner with it.

I have a motorcycle tank (metal) that I painted 3-4 years ago with Rustoleum Red (sprayed from sprayer, not can, so it's pretty thick). The bike sits outside a lot. Paint is pretty easy to scratch or damage and it will fade about every 6 months. A quick polish (for a small bike tank of course) brings back the full color.

• Soft
• Fades quickly, but can be maintained with a good amount of waxing.

My suggestion for a car? If it sits inside a lot, or you really don't mind doing a lot of waxing, or you are really short on money, it's a reasonable choice. For your case, it's probably unlikely you will want to wax your trailer a lot, so if at all possible, some sort of hardened auto paint would likely be more appropriate unless you don't mind faded paint (white would be a good choice in this case).

a friend of mine painted his off road toyota john deere blue because it was cheap so when it would get scratched up he could just paint back over it and it would be good as new. pretty good stuff and like I said, cheap.

Used Rustoleum hunter green enamel on the metal roof. Started to chalk in a year. Pretty much total failure in 3 years.