did I ever mention that

I HATE prepping a tractor to be painted. What a longggggg ugly task.

I feel your pain also! Been there done that.
It IS WORTH IT when your done tho.
I guess that is why after only a short time we go right back into another.
Ray W.

The total time of a good paint job is probly 90% or more of the time in prep.

Bump

The beer washes down the dust shameless.   
CrestonM,
It is best to get as much off as you can. You don't know what is underneath the existing paint or what type of paint it is. Then you don't get that thick multi layered paint over look. A lot depends on how much you want to put into it. Do you want show quality or just get the rust off. It is all up to you. It is your time & effort.
You should use a good primer coat no matter how you do it. That will seal up what ever is underneath so it doesn't have as much chance to react with the new paint.
JMO
Ray W.

CrestonM wrote: I'm prepping my first tractor for paint, a Ford 8N. Any advice? I don't know too much about it, other than remove ALL grease and oil and loose paint. Can I just spray over the old paint and get a pretty good outcome? I'm  going to sandblast the dash for sure.

Old solid paint can be sanded and painted. Where you have bare metal places in a painted area you will need to use a primer. The primer will have to have enough build up to block sand to the same level as the rest of the surface or the low spot will show in the paint. It all depends on the type of paint used whether or not you need to prime over the old paint. If you thin coat any of the bare areas with bondo you will need to prime all of the surface of sheet metal. If your not using epoxy primer you will need several coats of primer over the bondo or you will see where the bondo was used in the finish paint. If you want to check you prep job you can put a very thin coat of a contrasting paint over the primer and sand with a block until the contrasting paint is gone. That will find the places you need to use more primer. It takes sanding over the bondo areas between coats of primer.

It all depends on how you want the paint to look when done. Lots of tractors painted with a brush without much prep and look nice from a distance and it keeps the rust away. Very few tractors you see at tractor shows have had a proper auto prep and look just fine.

The only place I spend extra time in prep is the hood, grill and dash. then I use cheap paint that fades in a coupla years. This is not advise just how the big boys prep.

I thought I hated prepping a tractor for painting until I did a plow.

Are you going to have it ready for the Manchester "Days gone by" ? They are featuring AC this year.  Sure would like to see it. 

Hummm,
 I have a tractor and a plow to do also! Guess I better get started:)
I tend to go the route of removing as much paint as possible. I don't have a sandblaster but have taken items like rims to local blaster which was worth the money in saving cleaning time.
Yes the prep just takes a long time! But it is going to be the foundation for your nice paint job. Keep up the good work.
Pictures? I know the Ford is off color for this forum .You could come over to Antique tractors Forum if you wanted?
 Regards,
 Chris

Dick is spot on (no pun intended) when it comes to priming and prepping. That is very time consuming. I've learned over the years with my restorations that if the paint is smooth, hard, and isn't going anywhere especially on drivetrain parts, (and especially after they're pressure washed) I usually will block sand the area's to see what the end result is. If the painted surface is rock hard, I'll paint over it. If the sanding loosens the painted area due to rust underneath, then depending on how big the area or part is, I usually will have that part or piece sandblasted or I'll glassbead it cause' I don't know how good the adhesion is to the surface underneath. That's somethin' you learn from trial n' error. Frame rails I usually just automatically have em' sandblasted so when the good paint goes on, the paint lays down nice and even over the block sanded filler primer. Sheetmetal I always take down to bare shiny steel. Then hand it to my body man to do his magic on. Saves me a pile of dough than having him do the messy stripping grunt work! Some parts that you can save some money on at the sandblasters, can go toward new hardware to put the Tractor together with. Nothin' like nice new Grade 8 Bolts for assembly! I like to use Stainless bolts on the sheetmetal with a flat fiber washer or nylon washer under the head of the bolt so the paint isn't torn up when tightening the bolts up...
Steve@B&B

As a side note, here's some info for anyone that experiences what Thad does.