What condition is the machine in? Is it rusty? How greasy is it? Has it been repainted before?
Here is a page from Ritchie Brothers that has the basic steps.
http://www.rbauction.com/refurbishing/refurbishing_service.jsp
The approach I would take is oil and grease remover and a hot pressure washer to start. Just remember the more time you take cleaning it with pressure washer is less hand cleaning once its inside.
I painted equipment for years in the winter time and cleaniless is next to godilness!
From there it all depends on the quality of the paint job your looking for determines the next steps I would go thru.....auction paint jobs to me are far less than what I would perfer, but I'm a little anal about that kind of thing though.
I think I gave my 2 cents about this before, but heres what I do. Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, is the key word. In my area we have guys with the hot water pressure waters that come out and clean it, for about $200, they do a great job. I have my own pressure washer, but that hot water is the trick. Do the body work, or buy replacement panels from a salvage yard. a bunch of trouble to pull the glass, but if its rusted bad around the seal, takeem out. Now sand, sand, sand and sand, then prime with good primer. I painted my Cat 320 about 2 years ago, I could find the exact paint color at my local Napa store, so I went to Cat and bought the smallest container of Cat yellow, for that year, took it to Napa and they matched it with a good 2 part paint. I also bought a clear coat, to go over it. Some of the paint has a clear coat in with the paint, but I added just clear coat over the paint. Machine still looks great. I got my local sign guy, to take some pictures of the decals and make me a new set, cheaper than Cat.Im going to start spraying in the am i let you know how it came out ive been cleaing and sanding for four days hope it comes out nice
Hey fellows I m looking for info on painting my excavator how do you guys go about painting ,thanks hope I'm in the write post KMSEXC
where are PicsHow's those pics coming along ?
Hey fellows thank you for all your help , i finished painting Excavator looks aw some except i don't really care for the link belt colors , paint was 365.00 dollars for one gallon red and one gallon white decals were 650 dollars we cleaned the machine for three days that was the key the only thing i regret was not using primer on some areas Thanks again Ill send some pics
Willis your points are valid. I liked it. In this way along with doing a better job you can save your amount.Just a few hints on saving money and get a better job. I needed to paint my Cat 320L excavator and I knew the Cat paint wouldnt hold up, So;
1. bought the smallest quantity of Cat paint $22
2. took to automotive store and had them match the paint, with a quatity paint $158 a gallon.
3. went to local sign shop and had them download the decals I needed and print them ,$180 and they looked great and still does after 2 years. I have also have them come out and take pictures and make them from the pictures.
I figured I saved about $500 and ended up with a better product
But thats what I did
Old thread rehash; how many gallons to paint an excavator?