Choosing between saving money and keeping your car looking good can be difficult, so consider painting your car with tractor paint if you're on a tight budget. Tractor paint is significantly cheaper than automotive paint, but it still comes in a wide range of colors. Enamel tractor paint works well on that old car or fixer upper that needs body work, and the painting process for tractor paint is the same as for other enamel paint.
Sand away the old paint job on your car using 80-grit dry sandpaper. The sandpaper's coarse grit will take the old paint off your car. Rub the sandpaper over your car, using a buffer if you wish, until your car shows bare metal.
Cover any area of the car you don't want painted with masking tape.
Spray a tractor paint primer onto your car using a spray gun. Once you've sanded down to metal, apply the primer to protect your car from rusting. Allow the primer 20 minutes to dry, and apply two more coats in the same manner. Wait one half hour to sand the primer.
Plunge 350-grit wet sandpaper into a bucket to wet it. Remove the sandpaper, and run it in long strokes over the surface of your car to remove blotches in your primer job, which is necessary if you don't want those same blotches showing through the finished paint job. Wet the sandpaper as often as needed to remove paint chips and to keep it wet. Continue sanding until the surface of the car is smooth to the touch.
Rinse your car, and dry it with cotton towels.
Mix enamel tractor paint and tractor paint thinner according to the manufacturer's instructions. Different types of tractor paint will require different amounts of thinning; thinning will help your paint pass through the spray gun. Once you've prepared the paint, Yanmarowners.com notes that it's good for 10 hours before it starts to destabilize.
Spray your car with a coat of tractor paint, working evenly. If the paint starts to run or drip, you are spraying too much. Allow the paint to dry for at least one hour, until it is no longer tacky to the touch.
Repeat step 7 two more times for a total of three paint coats. At this point, your car will have complete color coverage. Allow the paint to dry overnight.
Sand out any imperfections in your paint job using 1500-grit wet sandpaper. Work in the same manner as you wet sanded the primer. The 1500-grit sandpaper is much finer than 350-grit, making it ideal for removing drips and blotches without stripping away the paint.
Rinse and dry your car. Using a soft cloth, apply polishing compound to one section of your car. Wait for the compound to cloud over (but not dry out) and wipe it off with a clean towel. Polish the entire car in this manner to bring out the shine in the tractor paint.
