L35 - BT900 Separation and Derusting

[Nicksacco]

CONTINUING THE WORK


I've been delayed a bit with various things, but still making some progress.
Not all dealers stock Kubota paint and I prefer to use that even though the price is egregious.
I used Kubota Dark Grey:
--Quart Part number 70000-73358 and
--Rattle can Part number 70000-00210.
These are the High Gloss versions and not the Semi Gloss.


Here are a few pictures of the ongoing progress.

The next two photos are how rust is being converted using OSPHO.
Rust turns black as the process continues.
I don't know why that section of the axle shows as orange - it's not paint.

The result after two days was a slightly rough surface ready for primer.

Frame supports after cleaning and before/after blasting.
I decided to powdercoat these.

I used high zinc powder primer, then top coated with Dark Grey powder

I had both white and grey primers so I used both:

The first color coat turned out rather nice!

More to come...

 

[Nicksacco]

CONTINUING.......

Here are a couple of pictures from the latest work on the L35:

I won't bore you with pictures of the painting action - just a few pictures from the now-completed frame.
I think I'll give my back an extra day to recover, then I'll start putting the tractor back together (without the rust!)

Sometimes the flash makes the paint look light grey - but I assure you it's dark grey.

Next will be reassembly of the tractor followed by removal of the front wheels and tire replacement.
I won't include that but will include the upcoming backhoe work.

Fortunately I already redid the back half of the backhoe - just need to work on the part that joins with the tractor - and those darned release levers!

 

[Nicksacco]

Random thoughts:

I thought that I'd use my front rims again after having them blasted.
Sounds good on paper - as they say.

Just for kicks I cut out the sidewall of one of the tires so I could see what there was to see.
Wow! Those sidewalls are thick! The rubber is much tougher than a car tire.

Cutting was horrible. I used an angle grinder with a cutting disk - which was a mistake.
Cutting reminded me of my son's drift car burning the tires around the course!
Hmmm, I probably should've used a recip saw or similar.
Nonetheless here is a photo.

After thinking about the costs and especially the time to dismount the old tires, sandblasting, (possibly finding rusted spots), cleaning and painting and remounting, I just decided to purchase new front rims.

 

[Russell King]

You may be able to get a set of tires and rims through the sales department of your dealer through a wholegoods sale.

(and you probably already know that but you said “rims” so I thought I should mention it)

 

[Nicksacco]

You may be able to get a set of tires and rims through the sales department of your dealer through a wholegoods sale.

(and you probably already know that but you said “rims” so I thought I should mention it)

Thanks Russel
I purchased tires about 2 years ago in anticipation of this. Today i ordered rims from my fav dealer.
When all said and done - no more worries about cracked rims and cracked tires!

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I just pulled a wheel off the truck, blasted the rim, and took it in for zink plating and powder coat: $100
Tire: $200
Unmount/dispose of the old tire/Mount/balance: $35

Given what I bought rims and tires for from Kubota "new" makes sense.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Thanks Russel
I purchased tires about 2 years ago in anticipation of this. Today i ordered rims from my fav dealer.
When all said and done - no more worries about cracked rims and cracked tires!

Whatever you do, don’t use (insert name here) for liquid ballast….. JK

But in all seriousness, the stuff you posted about Ospho is very interesting.

I have tried using it for “very light surface rust” on some of the signs I have made, and although it neutralizes the rust, its a “bitch” to get smooth again.

For the life of me I can’t figure out how to apply it and get a “smooth surface"

I basically have to “sand it all off” to get a “nice smooth finish”.

I will have to try the “paint brush” technique….So far all I have tried is rags and spraying.

It works great on parts that you don’t really care about the “finish” though.


EDIT; Excellent write up too….Keep up the good work sir!

 

[Nicksacco]

Whatever you do, don’t use (insert name here) for liquid ballast….. JK

But in all seriousness, the stuff you posted about Ospho is very interesting.

I have tried using it for “very light surface rust” on some of the signs I have made, and although it neutralizes the rust, its a “bitch” to get smooth again.

For the life of me I can’t figure out how to apply it and get a “smooth surface"

I basically have to “sand it all off” to get a “nice smooth finish”.

I will have to try the “paint brush” technique….So far all I have tried is rags and spraying.

It works great on parts that you don’t really care about the “finish” though.


EDIT; Excellent write up too….Keep up the good work sir!

Ha!
Thank you.
OSPHO is a funny thing to use. It is so thin that a very little goes a long way. One thing i was told by the Ospho guy is to not get things dripping wet.

A key step in the process is to have very clean metal. Any oil residue will cause an "orange peel" effect - like when painting something. Dawn dish soap was recommended.

The Youtube vids show people spraying Ospho on and it running everywhere. Totally wrong and not needed.

Yes, it took me some trial and error but the brush needs to be quite dry. It certainly seems counter-intuitive but it works.
You want as much of the rust removed as possible too. I had so much flaky rust it took a while to get down to metal!

As you brush, you will eventually run into non rusted metal. That is where you will have the most chance to leave "brush marks" . And yes i found that the hard way!

I found that Ospho gets tacky as it cures and going over rough spots lightly with a microfiber rag dampened with Ospho or a fairly dry brush will help a lot.

PS use a good brush and not for example a "chip brush" .

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Ha!
Thank you.
OSPHO is a funny thing to use. It is so thin that a very little goes a long way. One thing i was told by the Ospho guy is to not get things dripping wet.

A key step in the process is to have very clean metal. Any oil residue will cause an "orange peel" effect - like when painting something. Dawn dish soap was recommended.

The Youtube vids show people spraying Ospho on and it running everywhere. Totally wrong and not needed.

Yes, it took me some trial and error but the brush needs to be quite dry. It certainly seems counter-intuitive but it works.
You want as much of the rust removed as possible too. I had so much flaky rust it took a while to get down to metal!

As you brush, you will eventually run into non rusted metal. That is where you will have the most chance to leave "brush marks" . And yes i found that the hard way!

I found that Ospho gets tacky as it cures and going over rough spots lightly with a microfiber rag dampened with Ospho or a fairly dry brush will help a lot.

PS use a good brush and not for example a "chip brush" .

Thanks for the tips.

I will have to try this “dry’ish method”.

I too was kinda “soaking” it…….

I mean, if a little is good, more must be better…..right?…….