Powder - paint instrument panel
 

I'm getting ready to powder coat my 149. This question is to anyone who has powder coated a tractor in the past. How did you coat the instrument panel it's plastic? Where you able to match the color of your powder in paint?

I think you can buy decals to replace the actual face of the panel, with printing and all. I know they are available for the QL series. I suspect your results will be less than satisfying if you try to powder coat that plastic. Not sure whether the fiberglass part will take the heat required to cure the powder coat either. If you use automotive paints, you can get the dealer to match the color. Just take them the color code and a chip, or a small part that's already powder coated, and they'll match it with regular paint.

speaking of powder coat, what are the general opinions compared to other paints? I was gonna have my 126 blasted and powder coated. I want a shiny finish as possible.

I had the seat pan on my 1210 done with powder. Great results. Also did the front wheels. Used to use these guys when I lived in CT.
http://www.centralctcoatings.com/
They also did the headers on my race car. Ask for Gene. He can pretty much match any color.

I would not choose powder coating, just the traditional paint with hardener. If you have a scratch or need to touch up at some point, it will really stick out on the powder coat finish but not as much on the traditional paint finish. Of course, it is always a matter of personal preference.....I just think it is easier for touch up purposes if needed.

Cub Cadet 123

I'm pretty sure traditional powder coating requires conductivity to make the powder stick to the charged part...plastic and fiberglass are non conductive, so it wouldnt work, not to mention the required 400 deg temps might dilapidate the part. There are other types of "baked on" finishes like cerakote in the gun-smithing world that might fit the bill, but I'm not sure about color availability.

Jeff (teet)

edit...ok, I'm guessing I misread the queston, lol... My local powder coating shop works with a auto finishing company near by to use computer color matching to get a correct formula for automotive style finishes. I would think most finishing supply places, or auto paint suppliers would be able to color match your powder coat job.

Teet, you are correct at least as far as I am capable of doing. Parts need to be conductive and cooked at 400 for 10-15 minutes. So based on this I cant powder coat my instrument panel.

I was wondering what other members have done with the instrument panel. I have zero experience with paint I was more so wondering if paint can easliy be formulated to match any color or if anyone has done anything else.

Paint or powder each have there pros and cons. Ive never painetd anything before so working with hardeners, types of paints, humidity, cold, venting, etc is all voodo. Powder is pretty easy considering everything else. I agree when there is a chip or scratch fixing something that has been powder coated is not as easy.

ii powder coated my 149 & if your just doing a white ,the rustoleum white in the tall cans matches pretty good you cant tell the diffrence look at the pics of mine the dash & tower is painted with the rustoleum white. the plow & frame is powder coated too :biggrin2:

I would recommend going to an auto paint store and having some paint mixed up in the proper colors. Usually each paint company has cheap and expensive stuff, and the cheap stuff (~$25/quart, plus hardener and reducer) is still far better than rattle cans as far as finish quality and durability. Instructions for gun setup, mixing, spraying, cleanup, etc, are all provided, so there is minimal guesswork involved. This makes painting much easier...it's not as hard as you'd think.

not to sound like im getting nasty but powder is not a paint ,it is a plastic in powder form its feels like baby powder then it gets put in a 400-500 DEG. oven for 10-15 MIN. then it comes out and has to cool before its as hard as nails,now for the shine theres what they call DEG. of shine the shinnyest is 100 DEG. then it gos down from there to 90,85,75,ECT. & you can get just about any color under the sun in powder.i made this color my self by putting a candy apple red as a base & then putting a flip flop clear over it it changed from orange to green to gold,it had hevy flake in it ,the pic dose it no justice in the sun it looked like a million diamonds twinkling. i had this on my 74 shovel harley & the guy from tiger drylock witch is one of the supplyers wanted to know how i did this.i know how powdere works because i worked at a powder coating company for 3 years. hope this helps