HD15 PAINT SHOP OPEN

Wow, great progress.  Do you suppose the previous owner will come to the show to see it?

Mel,
Thanks for posting. The crawler is looking real good! I like the shot painting underneath. And your small parts are half as big as the tractors I work on!
Regards,
 Chris

Ok, guess I'll try that again. John we have a call into the previous, previous owners from the 1950s / 1960s to see if they will provide us some history. Late this afternoon we got the blade C frame back on and were able to get some new cable on it
It's a CARCO model L front cable control unit. So far it seems to be working ok.

Wondering   how many gallons of paint will you have spray'd when you are done?

On equipment that big, with orange paint that covers so poorly (my experience), he must buy it by the 55 gallon drum, IMHO!

Ok, let me help with some of those questions.
  JC is right about using cheap paint. We've done that too and it does fade to pink.
   2 years ago we used Finishmaster paint on the HD5 and we're very pleased with it. It was very expensive. (how expensive?)

 For this HD15 paint job we will have used
            4-gallons paint @     211.86                    847.44
            5-qt.s hardner  @     53.80                      269.00
            2-gallons reducer@  30.85                      61.70
            3-gallons laquer thinner(cleanup)@27.00  81.00
            Misc body putty                                      20.00
            27-bags sandblast sand @7.50                202.50
                                                              tax-     114.83
                                                              TOTAL   1596.00
                                                               (or over 2000. I'm sure)
                                                 tractor stories   (priceless)
       Yes, the paint cost more than the tractor. Would like to thank John Guilliams again for donating the tractor to are collection.
      Would like to thank Bob Kirtland for stepping up at the right time and buying a TD14 International dozer we had for sale for his International Harvester collection (that was the funding solution for painting)
      Mactractor- The after work beer time rules are pretty easy to follow. "you can only drink beer if you're working on a tractor or not working on a tractor"
    Ok, I'm going out to put the final pieces on (i'll keep you posted, LOL)


                                                            

 Ok, so this is what happened since I made that last post at 7:30 this morning

Got he big Taylor sky crane to put the roof on (with Hooch's supervision)
Got the sweeps put on also
Went out and turned around
Front grills still fit after painting

Ok kind of looks like this now
We're waiting for new seat cushions and armrests and some more lettering,but wait there will be more!

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said so, you do awesome work Mel!!  Just like your other machines, this one looks great! 

While I'm thinking about it, one of my boat customers who is an owner/operator logger said he may have an AC parts machine. He doesn't remember whether it's a loader or dozer but he said he'd get back to me.
I can't use it but I thought of you guys and maybe you could--if it's not too far gone.
I asked him to please keep an eye out for old abandoned or what have you AC machines that he may come across during his woods work. He said he does know where a few crawlers are but they're Caterpillars.


Edited by ACcrazy - 09 Mar 2015 at 8:14am

Ok, this is almost the final, final. This was yesterday at 5:00 PM. We're waiting for all new seat cushions which should be here today or tomorrow and a couple of more decals.
The HD5 needs to be washed. It hasn't been run since the steamshow back in Sept. But it started, so almost ready for showtime.   
We also have made contact with some of the original owners of the HD15 (1951). They are planning on coming to look Sat. afternoon.Needless to say the chance to learn some history will be very exciting for us. I will be making notes (and yes pictures).
 It took a couple of phone calls to catch up with them. I was able to forward this actual Forum link to them. Got the call, we have to come look. I'll keep you posted

It is so great that you posting doing this. Looks great. If the owners have some interesting stories or any stories WE would like to hear them. We know how old cat skinners like to talk. Again a BIG THANKS.

Ok, got a box of new seat cushions yesterday. We're almost done.

Did a quick inventory to see what adjustments needed to be made
I knew from speaking with Debbi at SPEER CUSHION CO. that we would have to use our hardware and brackets but there cushions would have the threaded inserts already
WOW!  it worked great. I drilled out the old brackets and cleaned them up
So it hasn't been that many years ago that when you said you had a new tractor  with the seat still wrapped in plastic, it meant NEW. So what do you think I should do, leave them wrapped? (It's pretty cool)

The Speer Cushion people made this job a whole lot easier. There catalog system which is online has almost all of  the Allis Chalmers tractor seats listed by model/part number/and even dimensions. Makes it very easy to cross reference parts. It appears they have almost every other manufacturer also Cat / IHC/ etc. and new type seats also, So check them out   http://speercushion.com  1-800-5258156

Did all of them have a buddy seat, like that?

Mel,
 It sure looks awesome! I vote for no plastic, let that new vinyl show off. I like the LOVE SEAT!
Great pictures and documentation!
I might need this tip on the seat MFG if I ever get into my IH crawler project.
Regards,
 Chris

Mel,

John,