Hot Rods Patina or paint

well it is not a rat. rat rods get nothing .if you want a rat rod it wont get paint as we know it they kinda put some on and wipe it off. yours does not look like a rat to me. so just my 2 cents. its yours ask your wife you 2 are the ones that matter.

 

Looks great
Enjoy

 

IMHO, I thought about this I know some think patina is fine.
Final answer from me ... we are just caretakers of this old iron.
I actually want to try and preserve the metal and pass it on to the next generation.
I don't even pretend I will do a good paint job, will be brought to bare metal and enamel paint. I will be comfortable knowing I left it better then I found it.
And drive the piss out of it!

 

L7
Might want to try boiled linseed oil thinned with mineral spirits! Wipe it on then wipe it off.

 

My old beater saw it's last paint job in the early 60's so the finish is far from pristine, it is definitely showing it's age and a new paint job would improve the looks of the car but I have loved the car just like it sit's and I don't see me changing it in the future.



I am able to drive my sedan anywhere, park anywhere and not worry about parking lot scratches and door dings. HRP

 

It's your car, do what "floats your boat". If it was mine, I would fix a few dents, and put a driveway paint job on it. I've just gotta make it mine...

 

Exactly do what you like not what others like

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Worried about that 10-15k paint job getting nicks, scratches, chips or dings?
Put your 'big boy' pants on and tell people you're starting your own 'patina' process.

 

Maybe some of this has been said in the above replies and I didn't read every one. This topic is right up there with oil and belted vs radial. A car with "survivor" looks is always fun to see. It still shines, has a battle scar or 12, lives right on the edge of too nice to do or so nice it would be easy. Survivors don't have to be 100% in all aspects as in interior or engine or upgrades like better brakes and such as long as they don't muller up the overall survivor status to the casual observers. Right away I'd best say this is my opinion here. I'm just another swingin dick that likes older cars. Hot rod or OG I can suscribe to the only original once ideal. Here's a couple "patina" survivors, one you've seen already and another in process:


The top one, a 41 Packard 160, is a very, very old repaint and all original interior. Car only has a verified 35K original miles. The pic above the Ford is the finish cut and polished. My Ford is original paint and will stay as such, but both will get enough love to fortify their "patina" status. I'll blend in where too much paint is gone or where excess surface rust shows. The Ford gets a new interior since there wasn't really anything left of it. These both represent what I think is automotive patina. Rust? Well shizzle my brizzles, it's fuckin rust! Even Niel Young told ya "...rust never sleeps..." so WTF? The New England states and upper Midwest ain't called "The Rust Belt" for nuthin. On a quiet night in rural Mich you can hear cars rusting. No, really, you can. Ok, you get it right? By touching up the rust you show the car the respect it deserves. By keeping it nice although original, same/same. If I'm to address the topic, PAINT IT. It's now yours so make it such. Don't want a Ridler Award finish? At least satin finish it which is still in style but for how long, who knows. What would you rather rest your arm on? Conclusion: rust ain't patina to me and given the choice I'd even prefer a primer rod over "field fresh" any day. Survivor? That's more like it.

 

No offense intended, but that paint looks dried out, it could definitely stand to be rubbed out with something to make it look cared for. Old, but cared for.

 

I have nothing against primer, or beaters, or anything that reflects the owner's pride of having something worth keeping long enough to repair, replace or restore the things that stand between that point and the other some people call perfection. One thing I have also learned is that no matter how much you preach about traditional, it always comes back to where the old saying that covers those who think differently and just don't get it. Folks, you just cannot fix stupid. If they don't get it by now, and are posting rebuttals to the gospel, they won't ever get it.

 

To the OP, I'd drive the shit out of that car just as it is. If anyone didn't like it, TFB. Someone else made the point earlier that I agree with, if you paint it you're gonna have to dress up the engine as well, and then you're also going to have to do the interior. Which is OK, it will still be nice, but it won't have the same originality to it. Screw it, drive that puppy. Maybe scrub it with CLR to stop the rust, followed by a rub down with some Gibbs or something. Nothing that is going to keep it off the road for more than a couple of days.

 

Did someone strip it 20 years ago and then leave it outside?

 

Well, when I was a kid in the mid 60's there was no patina. It was called rust then. Of course it is yours to do as you wish but you asked.

I like shiny paint and chrome. What do you like?

 

On a quiet night, you could hear an old Ford rust.....
Till there's nothing left of it.....

 

Patina is when something's been polished so many times over the years the primer is showing through.
That's in car world anyway.

I believe it has been 're-branded' since the advent of the rat rod . In fact, I'd put it in the same category as all those other euphemisms used by used car dealers/real estate agents.

 

One more comment and I'll stop.

That little '28 roadster accurately represents what a REAL unmolested 1940s hot rod might look like today, as opposed to a 1940s period correct hot rod that mysteriously transcended time (70 years) and arrived in 2020 in shiny, near perfect condition.

Picture this scenario: A young G.I. returns home from WWll and builds a hot rod. Races it around for a few years, then Korea starts up...and he perhaps doesn't make it home from that one. The little roadster sits in the barn until the family sells the farm many years later...and it is re-discovered after sitting in that dry barn for 60+ years.
I'm convinced it would pretty much look like this. Can't get much cooler than that

 

What about this one?


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"...what a REAL unmolested 1940s hot rod might look like today..."

It might, but what is it now? Is it that transcended version (vision) mentioned earlier?

"Ya see back in the day we took old rusty shit and cobbled together a junker that went fast. It wasn't even allowed to make it nice, and if it had too much shiney paint we'd wash em in Ajax and rough that shit up. One it started rustin, gittin that ol patina going, well son yer done. Now THAT is a hot rod yung'un, the rest is all bullshit."

Yup, all the old mags and little pages are full of rust and old parts. Remember it well. Or, the reality might be that from one end to the other the O/P is seeing more of what he's not as satisfied with than the inverse. Must be so edgy that other's opinions have become welcome if for nothing other than perspective. If this was indeed "Mr Sombody's" car from back in the day there could be a case made not to fuck with it. 1st time the car shows up somewhere and it's "Franks old A V8 roadster" and not Jeff's new hot rod it's only gonna feel worse. I'm not advocating a full on professional refinish, but after a good cleaning and even a coat of flat color all of a sudden it gets a new identity. Flat red oxide, flat grey, flat black primer and a quicky gloss black weekender on the frame. New old car that doesn't say Street Rod in any language. 6 ways to Sunday the old vibe can be maintained, and should that be done? Since opinions are requested mine is 'fuckin eh, I would.'

 

Try some boiled linseed oil thinned with a little bit of mineral spirits (wipe on then wipe off). It will brighten up the dry neglected appearance a little and preserve the metal (sort of a satin finish)! If the metal is preserved, in the future it could always be painted!

 

I always love hearing the tales of how this was how they where built in 1940. You do know that was 80 years ago! And that Model A was a 11 year old car and the original paint and interior was still in pretty good shape at the time for a 16 to 20 year old guy to pop off the fenders and toss a flathead or hop up the four banger and cruise or race. My first car when I turned 16 in 1971 was a 63 Catalina convertible . It was 8 years old, a hand me down from my mon and had 75,000miles on it. All I had to do was add a couple glass packs, some chrome reverse wheels and some air shocks and cruise. The paint was nice with a coat of simonize and the interior was great. I later sold it and moved on to a 68 Super Bee in my senior year in 73. BUT! had I parked it away in a shed or out in the back 40 for 47 years would you call it pantina or a forgotten rusted out, rodent infested pile of crap! If that Model A had actually been built 80 years ago, the original builder who would be pushing a hundred in my opinion would be heart broken to see what was his pride and joy at that time , deteriorate into what many of you people think is a Traditional car!! To the OP it is your car ,your choice. But I have spent over 50 years as a car nut and I only see a old car as how I can make her awesome again! In my collection of Custom Hot Rods I have several that I have owned for over 35 years. When I bought then they where in super nice original condition. And they still are because they have been babied and cared for. Some times over the years I have consider redoing them. But they are original paint, upholstery and chrome. One is a late 60.s and the other a 72. so I will not post pictures. But when you put on a fresh coat of polish these cars look brand new. They are Survivors!!! Rant Over. Larry

 

Some "paint it" people sure do seem pissed off, and some are rude. You can't see the appeal in this mobile?

There's nothing wrong with the as is look. He's not saying he wants to accelerate the process. It doesn't look like it was faked. It's not over-the-top.

 

I’d totally drive it for now. Just don’t do what I always tend to do and that is take it appear so as to “restore” it and let it sit in pieces!!! Nice hotrod!


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Another great example of what probably 75%+ of the REAL late '40s/early '50 hot rods looked like. Only a very small percentage of cars made it to magazines back then...and they only did features on "pretty" ones.
I love this one

 

There's more baloney being thrown around on this thread than at the Oscar Myer Factory on ship day!

This is an example of social forum hogwash where it's not about really about the car but rather a point of view. If the P word had not been mentioned this thread would be full of ooohs and aaahhhhs.

9 out of 10 Hambers would love this car just like it is. Right?
Right!
But it's not about the car is it?

 

Oh shit! That makes me the one out of ten. Cool. Always good to not follow the herd.
Happy to be a 10%er.
To me it looks like a real good starting point.

 

If you don’t want to do a ton of body work, rub it with a scotch brite pad and thinned linseed oil. Painting a car that isn’t ready for paint makes it look like a real piece of crap.

 

All this must have scared off the OP he hasn't posted in here since his first post in here. He's been on the HAMB but not posting in here. Time to lighten up this debate will never be finished.

 

here is an interesting thought. Why not put it up to a vote majority rules. We could call it the democratic hot rod.

Sometimes in life you have to bite the bullet and do what you want. I never ask anyone when I decide to do something. Granted I have nothing to show for my life but I have discovered that living your own life is very very pleasing.

 

No man crosses a chasm in two jumps
BUT
A man eats an elephant one bite at a time