The story and transformation of "Pinkie" the 1963 70

A couple months ago I added Cub Cadet #5 to the collection. A 1963 70, that I have dubbed "pinkie" because of the paint job it had when i bought it. The man selling it was very kind, he told me that the tractor was originally planned to be used as a pulling tractor for someone and their daughter. Stuff didn't work out and after being modified a little it sat for a few years. He had gotten it running and used it for a while. I ended up paying $200 for it.

The serial number makes it a 1963. It has the large battery box as well. The engine seems to be the factory k161, with the yellow painted over to black. The machine was at one point orange, but with sitting that orange faded to the dull pink you can see. Besides the paint a couple other changes had been made to it. The clutch plate in it appears to be a slightly heavier duty pulling clutch, as it has 6 pinholes instead of 3 and seems to be thicker than the stock plates. The engine is bored .020 over and the cylinder head was machined for higher compression. The steering wheel also had foam tubing wrapped around it and secured with electrical tape, which was weird. That was the first thing to go after i brought it home. Besides the paint, it was quite noticeable that this machine has seen little use and/or was taken care of really well. There is very little rust, the hood is in impressive shape, even the seat is basically immaculate. The only real corrosion is around the battery box, it would seem there was a battery acid spill in the tractor's past and part of the battery hold down is corroded away.

So now begins the transformation... originally I had hoped maybe i could re-expose the factory paint underneath the pink stuff. Unfortunately this proved to be not possible. However I did discover another coat of paint from before the orange/pink, an odd neon yellow color. So clearly the machine has a history of non-factory paint. So I decided that I would try and continue that, but with a paint job done better than the previous one. I got to work tearing down the machine and stripping it to the frame. Its strange how once you know these things well enough you can have the machine stripped down in about 30 minutes.

After teardown I guess I forgot about grabbing the camera. The majority of the machine had all of its old paint stripped off it. This took a pretty long time but it was necessary if I wanted to get a result better than the brushed on orange/pink paint. Unfortunately I lack the tools and experience so everything was done with spray paint cans, so removing old paint was crucial. With everything stripped down to bare metal a coat of primer was used to hopefully improve the results further. So what color did I choose instead of Federal yellow? Well, based on some suggestions from other people I went with a light shade of purple. Specifically Rustoleum "French Lilac". The hood, seat, and wheels retained the correct white. No pictures were taken of the frame before the wheels were reinstalled unfortunately.
With a rolling chassis i went to work reinstalling the engine and all the controls, so I could do a test run before continuing assembly.

quick video of the test run:

With the engine functional it was time to finish reassembly. I reattached everything that I previously removed and after letting it sit an extra night finished applying decals. Oh and I also repainted the fuel tank because I couldn't leave it orange. I wanted to replace the head gasket anyway so it was no big deal pulling it off. The final piece to be reinstalled was the seat.



and well, here it is all put back together



I haven't removed the tire covers yet because there's a couple little spots of paint to touch up, and i don't want to take chances getting it on the tires. I did not paint the rest of the engine, that is a project for another time, though i may paint the air filter cover real quick because the paint is chipped on it and I have a new decal for it. For what it is and what I had avaliable, I think it turned out pretty nice. To me the purple works really well with the IH white. Being that it is not a factory paint job, I am curious to know what other people think. But I personally am quite happy with how this little project turned out.

I agree with you. The hood really jumps out at you versus the purple. Note I am not saying I think you chose the right color, just that I do like the IH white with the purple.

It is your tractor. Also note I am not trying to tell you what to do with it, or what you should have done with it. If you are pleased, that is what matters.

jkoenig said:

I agree with you. The hood really jumps out at you versus the purple. Note I am not saying I think you chose the right color, just that I do like the IH white with the purple.

It is your tractor. Also note I am not trying to tell you what to do with it, or what you should have done with it. If you are pleased, that is what matters.

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While I love the Federal yellow, there are many colors one can use that will look nice. Pink, Blue, gray, red, even black. I've seen some great restomod Cubs, some of which styled to look like the big IH tractors of the era. I don't have any issue with a repaint in colors other than factory, as long as its done well.

The only thing I don't like to see is a really poorly done paint job.

It's your tractor, you can paint it what ever color you want to. Looks good, a bit different, but nice. What kind of primer did you use?

i like it. given its history its a good chapter. it can always be turned back to yellow if someone desires. i have a 71 with about 3 layers of various colors of paint and other non-factory mods. when i get around to it i think i will paint it farmall red with a IH white hood, seat, wheels, etc.

I believe in the golden rule. And that's "He who is spending the gold... makes the rules"! On my monitor it looks grey. Like grey primer.

mgwin said:

It's your tractor, you can paint it what ever color you want to. Looks good, a bit different, but nice. What kind of primer did you use?

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We have a hardware store chain around here called Ace Hardware, I don't know if they exist outside of New York. But they have their own "rust stop" paint brand. It's good quality stuff and pretty cheap. I used their primer from that paint brand.

rogerdleonard said:

i like it. given its history its a good chapter. it can always be turned back to yellow if someone desires. i have a 71 with about 3 layers of various colors of paint and other non-factory mods. when i get around to it i think i will paint it farmall red with a IH white hood, seat, wheels, etc.

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Sounds like a nice idea. I've seen some really nice red and white Cubs.

mfrade said:

I believe in the golden rule. And that's "He who is spending the gold... makes the rules"! On my monitor it looks grey. Like grey primer.

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My camera quality leaves much to be desired, but I promise it's not gray! Could also be the barn lighting, it was sprinkling so I couldn't take it outside.

Mike needs a new monitor for his PC!
ACE hardware is everywhere.
Good thing you did not use rustoleum rusty metal primer.

Painted the air filter cover tonight since the existing paint was chipped, and I have a new decal for it.

While you refer to that philly as Pinkie, I can’t help but think of Lilac when I see those pix of the new paint.

May she remain as sturdy and resilient as farm lilacs, too!

Keep up the good work.

mgwin said:

Mike needs a new monitor for his PC!
ACE hardware is everywhere.
Good thing you did not use rustoleum rusty metal primer.

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Guess I just didn't know ACE existed nationwide. I have never tried rustoleum primer.

CӞ44 said:

While you refer to that philly as Pinkie, I can’t help but think of Lilac when I see those pix of the new paint.

May she remain as sturdy and resilient as farm lilacs, too!

Keep up the good work.

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A name change might be in order, it fit when it was still the old color but not so much now. We have a few lilacs around the property, they've certainly been growing. One of them is starting to rival the house in terms of height.

mgwin said:

Mike needs a new monitor for his PC!
ACE hardware is everywhere.
Good thing you did not use rustoleum rusty metal primer.

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why not rusty medal primer?

Came out real nice.

Great story and a very nice job of repainting!

I will add something on paint prep.... Now this is coming from an near 80,year old mind, remembering my teenage years of "Black Magic" Bondi and "Green Stuff" glaze.

Not having access to welding equipment or knowledge of using llead for filling seams and advanced body techniques of the '50's, we were forced to use what was available, which was Black Magic to fill in big areas, and Green Stuff for the tiny pits.

One thing I did learn from a custom body shop was too use Metal Prep, which is a watered down solution of muriatic acid, on areas that had rust on them. I remembered how my friends would sand or wire brush the rust off, primer and paint it, and in a year the paint would flake off from rust, which came out of the pores of the pitted, cleaned up area.

The body shop owner told me to apply it with a rag, let it sit for awhile, while keeping it wet, and washing it off with clear water. He also said to do this on a very low humidity day. After rising off the metal prep, dry well, with a propane torch and prime it immediately after drying.

I remember "Frenching" in the head lights and taillights on my '52 Ford flathead. I removed the complete headlight assembly from the front of the fender and installed it inside the backside of fender opening, so I could change the headlight bulb if needed. He would then hit the exterior rim with a few braze tacks, so I had a solid rim/fender connection. Had a lot of ground issues, until I figured out to run a ground wire from the bucket assembly to a solid ground on the car. If there were any holes from trim being removed, I had this same body guy braze them over so the bondo wouldn't crack. Kids would pound on the hood with their fist, to try to make the filled holes either crack or fall out, to no avail.

I wore out a lot of brooms, sweeping up the guys shop and making sure everything was tidy..... that was my payment to him for his 10 minute braze job, and my PHD in body work!

NOBODY uses lead anymore, because of health reasons, and there are products out now there that turn a nimrod into a genius...... and there's nothing wrong with using "rattle cans" for painting. I think that accessory they sell, that hooks on the can to depress the button, makes using a can very close to a gun job... if you remember the basics of spraying.

Light coats = No Sags, keep the csn moving, past the object being sprayed, and don't try to finish the job by using every last bit of paint/accelerant in the can, as you'll get overspray and spatter as the can empties it's last breath on your hood or fender!

I've got to get back to my Whitney catalog and order some lake pipes and bubble skirts for my Ford!

Joe,
I am no expert on painting, but I can tell you what I know. The rustoleum rusty metal primer does not work with Case IH Irongard paint. I am not sure of the ingredients, (haven't looked) but just know it don't work with Irongard paint. It will wrinkle up like a prune.
On the other hand, rustoleum automotive primer will work with Irongard paint. I still use it today, but I think it is getting hard to find.

Nice story Art! That was some history there.
I agree with you, except for rattle cans being a good source for painting. Maybe I am not doing it right, but I have rarely had success with rattle cans.
Most cans I have used either spit and sputter, or don't work at all. Some do this on the start, or soon after. The can I hate the most is the one that sprays like a dream, and about half way through the can spits out a glob, messing up the whole paint job.
I do use cans for primer, but I can sand off the globs and spatter.
I use an inexpensive finish spray gun from Lowes, and it works great. If I were to use cans to paint, I would have to buy about 100 to do one tractor. Case IH Irongard in the quart works great for me, and I can put it on as thick as I want. It takes about 2-3 quarts for me to do a tractor with a "thick" paint job.

While many people are Purists when it comes to nice, old... Anything. I stand on both sides of the fence. I love seeing totally stock oldie stuff, yet I'm the guy that pits Small block Chevy engines in cars that certainly didn't have them 'off the line in Detroit'.
If you like purple... Purple it is.

I say that it'll definitely stand out... and I'm in total agreement, whatever color anyone enjoys, good for them