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restoring 15 year old 5216


DorneyMA1

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My father in law gave me a model 5316 that is about 15 years old. It runs beautifully and it cleaned up well. I have put a coat of wax on it and it looks sharp, except for the paint that is mostly missing on the mower deck. Other than being scraped off in places due to general use, it also has chipped off around several of the bolt heads secured to the deck. My question is this: I want to paint the deck myself and I'm probably limited to a can of spray paint I get from my local Simplicity dealer(my technical skills won't allow me to do much more). What's the best way to do the job? I assume I'd have to do some sanding and some priming, but I really don't know. Please give some pointers to a novice. Thank you.
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If you sand, finish up with some 320 grit wet or dry paper used with water, this keeps the paint from clogging the sandpaper. We usually wipe the surface with a lacquer thinner soaked rag. Be very careful as this is flammable. If you have any questions about using it, talk to a local body shop. You can prime the bare spots with spray can automotive primer. We have had paint custom made and put in spray cans to reduce the cost of cleaning up used tractors. We quit however and just buy the genuine paint, because it covers so much better. If you have never done any spray painting, practice moving the can at a uniform distance. Six to 8 inches works well. Have the can moving before you press the button. If you go accross and back without stopping the material each place you change directions you will get a big run. You need to practice lapping the previous pass about 50% go slow enough that you get a WET coat. The paint should look slick and wet. If you are too far away or go too fast the paint will look like dust and dry without gloss. Caution with the Simplicity paint you can recoat in 10 to 20 minutes. If it dries for an hour or two you are done. The solvents in the new coat disolve the skin formed on the previous coat and cause it to shrivel up and wrinkle. The only fix then is to take a solvent like lacquer and wask off all of the new paint. Once this paint is dry you may have nearly a year before you can put on another wet coat. We often put 3or 4 wet coats on in succesion, particularly with the white. The Orange covers faster. Good luck with this project. AL
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Al covered this process pretty well for the do-it-yourself home paint job. I do automotive refinishing and frame alignment as a side job in the evenings and have been in the refinishing business for 15 years. A mower deck doesn't require near the degree of perfection that a show car would. Most people think that one can't achieve good results with a spray can, but the critical part of any paint job is the time and attention spent on preparing the painted parts.

I would hand sand the entire deck, with 220 or 320 grit wet or dry sandpaper being sure to smooth out any imperfections. Next apply two or three coats of laquer based primer (spray cans will do) in gray. If you use the red oxide primer it will require more coats of paint to cover evenly. After primer has dried for a few hours (preferably overnight if high humidity area) wet sand with 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper til surface is smooth. Don't sand through the primer though. Thoroughly dry then wipe entire deck with some form of prep solvent (removes any oil or contaminates). Do NOT use turpentine, gasoline, diesel oil or any other oil based product!! If you do not have prep solvent, you can wash it down with a mild mixture of dish soap and water and rinse thoroughly.

Now it should be ready to paint. Use the method Al mentioned above for use of the spray can when painting.

I mix my own colors in base coat/clear coat finishes and apply with a spray gun. The finsish hardens up faster and lasts longer. Don't have to wax as often either!! Occasionally my tractors go to shows so I like to keep them clean and shiny.

My current project is an older Massey Ferguson 14 tractor that I got for free. I am going to paint it up in the woodland camo pattern to match my military 4x4 cargo truck, trailer and 3-wheeler (all camo). This way I can sneak into my neighbors' yard at night and mow that jungle they call yard!!!

Brian R.
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Can I just prep and paint the bare spots or must I paint the entire mower deck? If so, how do I feather the new paint into the old paint, which is in pretty good shape?
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To achieve the best results for feathering, you will need to rub out the original finish with some fine grade rubbing compound. DO NOT USE WAX!! The rubbing compound will remove old oxidation and some surface imperfections and allow the blend to take easier.

Most automotive paint suppliers sell a special solvent called blending agent. It's purpose is to soften the old finish to allow the edges of your painted areas to flow into the old paint. After each coat of paint you would use a spray gun and feather the edges with the blending agent. I don't know of any smaller quantities of blender other than 1 gal cans. You can also use a slow drying enamal "hot temp" reducer to achieve the same results if you cannot find blending agent.

Hope this helps
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