Horse(Power) of a Different Color
Walk into the paint booth at Foley and see two unexpected items: Cat engines that aren’t painted yellow & a woman doing the painting.
Walk into the paint booth at Foley Truck Service in Topeka, Kansas, on any given workday and you might see two things you don’t expect: Cat® engines that aren’t painted yellow. And a woman doing the painting.“I originally started out in high school — I went to tech school for autobody,” says Kayla Simpson, the painter in question. “I always had an interest in cars. My grandpa was a mechanic. My dad was a machinist and a smelter. I guess that interest just got passed down.”
A Woman’s Eye
It was in tech school that Kayla discovered she had an aptitude for painting. After graduation, she went to work at an autobody shop in Topeka, where she was responsible for painting and detailing cars. In 2017, she came to Foley — first working in the parts warehouse, then moving up to parts counter sales.
When she learned that the Foley Truck Service had an opening for a painter, she jumped at the opportunity. Stepping into another male-dominated work environment was never an issue.
“I was the only woman in my class at tech school, and in quite a few of my jobs I’ve been the only woman,” Kayla says. “I’m the only female painter at Foley, but I was taught a long time ago that females can see colors better, so I think that gives me an advantage. It definitely helps with custom engines. I can see the minor details really well.”
The Cherry on Top of a Rebuild
Kayla spends most of her time painting components, truck engines and generators that come into the Topeka facility to be repaired or rebuilt. She also helps the other painter on site with large machines.
Painting is a standard part of the Foley rebuild process, one of the final steps in returning an end-of-life product to like-new condition. About 90% of rebuilds get painted the traditional Cat yellow and black. It’s on the other 10% — most of which are truck engines — where Kayla really gets to let her creativity shine.
If a customer’s interested in a custom paint job, the Foley Truck Service advisor gathers details on the desired color scheme. Kayla and the master truck technician then work together to plan out what pieces to paint, what colors to use and how in-depth the paint job will be.“A lot of times they want the engine to match the exterior of the truck. Some people just want a creative engine,” Kayla says. “We did a purple and charcoal C18, which is a really big truck engine, that turned out absolutely gorgeous. There was also a custom turquoise and black C15 with a lot of minute details that really made it pop.”
A quick scroll through the Foley Power Solutions Instagram feed (@foleypowersolutions) and Foley Service (@foleyengines) reveals some of Kayla’s work — and the almost unlimited color palette available.
“A lot of people don’t know a custom paint job is an option until they see someone else’s engine,” Kayla says. “Then they say, ‘Oh, that would be neat to do with my own truck.’ It’s their livelihood. They want it to look nice, and it gives them a little bit of bragging rights, too. Paint lasts for a long time, so they can get pride out of that engine for a long time.”
Creativity Meets Physicality
Painting may sound simple, but there’s a lot more to it than dipping a brush in a can and slapping it on a machine or engine. In fact, there’s no brush involved at all.
Kayla works inside a paint booth that’s fully filtered to ensure overspray and contaminants don’t escape into the environment. She uses compressed air to do the actual painting — gravity-fed and pressure-pot paint guns in sizes ranging from one quart up to five gallons for different types of equipment.
A typical rebuilt engine requires about a gallon of the primary paint color and about half to three-quarters of a gallon of the accent color, depending on the amount of detail involved.
“When you’re painting cars, every panel is pretty flat. There aren’t a lot of hidden spaces,” Kayla says. “Machines and engines have lots more nooks and crannies, lots more pieces and parts you have to get coverage on and make sure there aren’t any light spots or missed areas. You’re going in different directions with your paint gun.”
It’s not a job for the faint of heart — or the weak of body. Especially when she’s helping out with a larger machine, Kayla spends her days climbing up and down on equipment, stretching and lifting, tearing down individual pieces to paint them different colors.
“You have to be fairly physically fit and have endurance,” she says. “You have to be a critical thinker and a problem solver, too. Paint does what paint wants to do. If you make a mistake, you have to correct it on the fly and move quickly before the paint dries.”
Not-so-hidden Talent
With her unique mix of mechanical and creative skills, Kayla’s found a perfect work home at Foley Truck Service, which specializes in engine rebuilds for both Cat and Cummins engines to keep customers’ trucks on the road where they belong.
“One of the most fun things is watching something come in that looks pretty horrible and being able to make it look shiny and new again,” Kayla says. “I love seeing people’s faces when a rebuild comes out and it looks like a brand-new engine, machine or component.”
That’s artistry on iron.