Topic: How do you paint your mower????

[Tom the Canuck]

i sand it to bare metel,than prime with a spray can,than spray with a spray can. Buy a quality spray can though or else you'll really run into trouble. Than when im  done spraying severel coats and it is dry i bring out the wet sand paper. I use 1500 grit until it is super smooth than wax it!! looks awesome.

[George Herrin]

Yes I thin it down as per the instructions I use a HVLP with a 20oz cup, They also sell small cans of harder/wet look additive that I put some of that in it also. Mine are not the glossiest paint jobs like a base/clear coat but it does look good holds up well and like I said it is easy to touch up with just their bomb cans. I have repainted/touched up my grill twice this year with the bomb can and it is very hard to tell where I started or stopped.

[Tom Fox]

Yes I thin it down as per the instructions I use a HVLP with a 20oz cup, They also sell small cans of harder/wet look additive that I put some of that in it also. Mine are not the glossiest paint jobs like a base/clear coat but it does look good holds up well and like I said it is easy to touch up with just their bomb cans. I have repainted/touched up my grill twice this year with the bomb can and it is very hard to tell where I started or stopped.

Thanks George!! I will have to check out my local TS store and see what colors they got! (better have a silver or gray!)     

And by the way.... sorry about the cape on the Bunny response I left on the ARMA site. 

[birdman_express]

Bunny with a cape... have to go look now... lol

[MadNax]

Whatever paint/method you use, it is all about the prep!!!! Paint won't cover up mistakes......it just makes them a different color.

[George Herrin]

Not a problem I am getting use to the cape following me everywhere.

[mowdak1]

[Ty]

well I usually go for the cheapest way to paint  . I sand blasted the hood and fender on the huffy , primed , sanded and finish off painting with rustoleum metal flake blue rattle can.looks good but it could of been better.had some lighting issues which caused striping.proper lighting is important to have a good paint job if you are doin it yourself.

[SteveD]

Dittos to what MadNax said. A good paint job starts with the prep work.

[mowinmachine]

Another way to get a 'good' looking paint job if you don't want to spend all day sanding is choosing a color that doesn't show mistakes. Black, dark blue, other dark colors, etc will show EVERY mistake. So will anything that is super-shiny. The cheapest easy way is to paint the whole thing BBQ flat black,which looks crappy, but hey- that whole ratrod look is back. Just paint the wheels red and put a betty paige bomber chick sticker on it and there you go- instant ratrod lawn mower! Lighter colors don't show mistakes as bad, like yellow, white, silver, etc etc.

[TheMowinCuban]

mowinmachine, your half right,
if your original color is a dark color, and your new color is a light color, it will show the mistakes and vice-versa.

[mowinmachine]

Yup- that is absolutely correct. Nothing like a black mower with white scratches showing through. I'm all for that sleeper look though... leave it all original and rusty and throw in a modified Vangaurd. Makes your competition get off gaurd.

[coreyk]

When using automotive type paint (ppg,napa,etc..) black is not forgiving at all and shows almost everything...

[septemberrein]

Ty uses good old rattle can.  But for mine, unless of course Ty gets an itch and just can't wait to have the paint on it, we have a friend that offered to pro-paint for us.  So, if he can get it done, I won't have to worry about having decals ripped off like last year.  However, if we had to pay for a pro-paint job, I'd stick with rattle can... as Chris said, it's good enough for something that gets beat to crap.  My paint job didn't look so hot last year after the first couple of weeks on the track.

[MadNax]

I went to an Indy car race a few years ago and had a chance to get up close to some of the cars. They look flawless on the TV, right?   Get up close to them and take a look.........they have weld marks, bondo blobs, scratches....the whole bit. So why do they look so good on TV?.........They start off with a really good graphics package and a really good basic paint job. Racers are racers. They have to be touched up as you go along. When you are building a machine, you tend to be too close. Take a look at your machine from a distance. That is the view your spectators have.