Painting the Frame of a 22-36

I was hoping to get a response to all of my questions, by posting on the Paint and Bodywork Forum, but no joy, so I'll try here. Thanks for any advice!
1930 McCormick-Deering 22-36.
One-piece cast iron frame, completely stripped by me last month.
I have placed wooden dowels in the threaded holes.
I have masked out the bearing surfaces.
I want to sandblast it.
Then, I wish to use brush-on paint, since the cast will not show brush marks.
Brushing will be the most practical way for me to go.
After sandblasting, I will wash it, thoroughly dry it and then apply acetone, as my thought, to give the final preparation before painting.
Should I prime?
Do I NEED to prime?
Do I need a paint hardener with my color coat?
Do I need supplied air to use brush-on paint with hardener?
Do you have recommendations for a brand of paint?
Thanks,
Tom.

myself i would stay away from the water if thats what you have in mind by washing. water makes rust. i would just blow the sand out with air. use primer and spray on the original paint on this kind of restoration. the end product tells the story.i am no fan of paint brushes either. this tractor should look better than it came out of factory because its not just another Farmall M.it has collector value.

Be VERY careful sandblasting a partially intact tractor. Sand will get into every moving joint and create havoc down the road. Heavily mask those areas with thick vinyl tape & avoid blasting those areas. Greasy joints will not allow the sand to blow off afterwards.

Sand blast, blow off carefully with dry air, then prime that day. You have the barest of metal at that point. No need to wash or treat. Just get all traces of dust & sand off. Most primers have a window of finish-coat application, so don't wait for days to apply the top coat. If you don't prime till the following day, once the dew sets in in the evening, expect to see a brown tractor in the morning.

Stay away from the $6/quart "tractor paint". It coverers, but doesn't hold its shine. Can't remember what type of paint I've bought at the local CASE/IHC dealer, or the "restoration" paint bought at Tractor Supply, but both took a special reducer, & not mineral spirits. This stuff stilll looks great over time.

It takes a lot of effort to properly prep & paint a tractor. Don't go cheap on the paint unless you like to paint every few years.

Pete

Sandblasting small parts you took off isn't bad but that sand finds it's way into everything and if it gets caught up in moving parts will casue excessive wear. I wire wheel the base of all my tractors. One wouldn't be happy to finish the restoration and then drive it around and have bearings and stuff go out on you.

I am a big fan of brush painting cast iron with a good paint like centari. Did it on my 10-20 and it looked absolutly fantastic! Sheet metal on the other hand must be sprayed unless you want to do a bunch of wet sanding and buffing. I also didn"t use hardener with the centari for one reason. Hardener makes the paint more prone to chipping. A straight emamel paint will have some flex and give to it like if a chain bumps it. When I painted my 10-20 I just used a dark colored primer. let dry a couple days and then applied the centari with a good quality varnish brush. A cheap brush will only create headaches. I used ONE coat and didn"t go back over ares where the paint was starting to skin over. Makes a mess if you do that. Before I painted my 10-20 I repainted an IH M stationary engine and it looked fantastic also. Might be worth taking the time to also clean up a chunk of junk cast iron to practice on before doing it. The reason I brush painted in the first place is I didn"t have a good place to spray and no compressor or any other equipment to spray. I did all my painting in an open faced pole barn with a dirt floor and it came out looking like it was done in a professional spray booth. If you get gnats in the pain get them out quickly before the paint skins and use a needle or toothpick to flip them out. If you miss one and the paint has skinned, just leave it alone till the paint drys and it will rub off and you can take a tooth pick with a daub of paint on the end to touch up the spot if need be.