Hot Rods Patina or paint

Thank you.
31 years old with a sweet wife and three little ones.
He was one of my students, one of those boys, little boys I helped train. It's really something to see those guys, gals too, to grow up.
He was a fireman. That's why he's a brother. They see what they ought not see. They know what they ought not know.
He took his own life. He was a Captain. He would have went so far. Look how far he already did go.
It's hard for me to process.

In this life we will always have pain and strife.

A car, any car, really in any condition, can be rebuilt and live again at this place, on this ground. It's just a machine. That hope is available to people too, but not at this place and not on this ground. That's as far as I will go.

The ones we know and love, the one's we come in contact with, we only have them for just a little while.

Some like to build, some like to drive.
Remember all of us are only here.....just a little while.

 

@F-ONE

I am sure I speak for all of the HAMB when I say that we are all saddened by what has happened. I trust that your community will rally around his wife and little ones and see that they get all the support they need. It is times like this that need us to come together. We are stronger when we live through our hearts.

 

what was the question?
.. no don't paint it, start with a better body then paint that one.

 

I knew an older couple who painted boats with medium quality marine paint using only brushes.
They used some "brushing fluid", a good brush & she followed up with a high quality foam brush.
Absoloutly wonderful finish. Looked like a spray job at a fraction of the cost. Just say'n...it is a workable option.

 

Alright, @fortynut, thanks for answering my question, taking the time to articulate it. I see your perspective.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I blame the body shops for a lot of this. Three cars at a local shop.........7 years, 10 years, and for the win....17 YEARS for body and paint. These were not magazine cars either. Not sema stuff.
I will drive something in primer and enjoy the crap out of it before I will die with a car STILL in the shop for paint.

 

bangerbob

Hello,


Here is an example of one that is similar in style and stance, including the wire wheels. The paint looks great and the roadster looks to be a daily driver with lots of care taken in its upkeep. (Or, he cleaned it up for the photos posted.) Personally, the number and non original flames don’t do this style of roadster justice. Don’t get me wrong, I like flames, but for some hot rods, it is better left simple and clean.

Plain is how most were built and raced back in those old days. If they were built in the 50s-60s, the number was on the window and not the door. But, that is beside the point. @bangerbob’s roadster looks well prepared and care was taken to showcase its style. Nice look…


Any hot rod that is well taken care of in the build or afterwards has its rewards. The roadster you purchased does need a lot of work, but the rusty look needs some extra care.


Jnaki

You have a good starting point and just needs some upgrades after you get it running right.

 

^^^^^^^ The first impression I get from seeing this is that is is a Brookville on an original chassis. Or with out closer examination, a fiberglass body.

 

I just picked up an old Standard oil gas barrel(looks like a keg) with a date of 1915. And it ain`t getting painted either.

 

Wasn’t it Ed Roth that said, ”every car has potential, until it’s painted”!

Some cars look better when they get painted...some don’t!

 

I don't know if it has been mentioned here yet, but many old cars were painted by brush back in the day. Why not bring a technique like that back? There may have been a special type, or mix of paint used that had a self-leveling formula? Anyone know? When my dad was stationed in Cuba in the mid-60's he bought a used Metropolitan to get around in and fixed it up in his spare time, including a brushed lemon yellow and white paint job. He had it shipped home and I got to drive it now and then. It looked really good but the paint didn't make it any faster. Never does, eh?

 

Back in the sixties, instead of saying patina, we used to say, "looks like shit"....

 

Rust or paint, who cares? I just enjoy driving my 40 even though it's not a show truck. All I care about!

 

Yep. A beater. Rust bucket. IE, a car you didn't give a fuck about because it was headed for the dump once something major quit working. On the flip side, no "good girl" would get in one. All the better, I suppose.

 

...this "paint or patina " thing won't go away anytime soon,...it's like saying "do you like red, or blue?"
...I've always liked old weathered, even rusty, cars and trucks,...they have so much character,...aged by Father Time & Mother Nature.
...seems to me most of the cars on the HAMB are not perfect show cars, most showing their age , but we all seem to like em.
...in the end, it's do as you wish, it's your car....be pretty boring if every old car/hot rod looked perfect....just my 2 cents...

 

Man I'd love to drive around in the op's car...

My last car was a c10, rust here and there but a super solid and fun truck. I wasn't interested in painting it because the price tag was outrageous and it looked pretty good as is. The dude I sold it to did a frame off and it's all painted now.

My shoebox came to me with beautiful paint, so I keep it nice and would repair as needed.

Just depends on the ride for me, but I think the op's car is dope....

 

Me too.
Mine has had one respray.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

Notice all the service stickers starting at the door post. All of the original headliner is there and in one piece. Notice the stars in the seat upholstery That must be for the Custom Deluxe interior. That stuff does not exist anymore.
Grey wool does, so I'm going to overlay wool broad cloth over the seat and leave the original stuff under it. The seat backs I'm going to leave as is and maybe patch if needed. I want to keep this together as long as possible.

Once it's gone it's gone. BTW...the dash is in it's factory colors. The carpet, has to go.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Look at this door panel. To me it would be a crime to rip this out. The stars, match the stars on the upholstery.
Once that stuff is gone, it's gone. The only stuff you can find for a Shoebox is pinstriped material. Some shades reproduced today look like a carnival barkers pants. This is what the stuff in a deluxe coupe really looked like.
My car still has a lot of stuff worth preserving. It has always been cared for. It's worth the effort to keep it preserved as long as possible.




Again for some comparison....
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

One of these is not the same.

Each car is a individual. Each one is a little bit different. My car and that Victoria we found in the woods, are both "unrestored cars".

The point I'm feebly trying to make is that each one is different with different needs and in different states of repair. Each owner is different. You cant lump them all together with blanket statements or a blanket philosophy.

 

No offense taken but, I could spend a few days touching up the paint, filling in the scratches and rubbing until my arms cramp up but personally I like my car just as you see it.

I could replace the ORIGINAL top & RUNNING BOARDS but I like them to show their age.

I could make a show piece out of this car but I'll let the next owner worry about that, I fell in love with this car many years ago and it's still basically the same car.

 

I can't vote in this poll because there are too many and, or, buts... I think both are cool. Something that shows enough remnant of an artistic paint job from the past, evidence of cool striping, race numbers or sponsors decals. All of that can't be replicated and is provenance and should be preserved IMHO.

Sometimes people put history in a box that never really existed. These original hot rods show us there really were very few hard fast rules.

But...nothing is lost by repairing rust and remnants of old factory paint. They made millions of old Fords.

 

Paint

 

Patina is a Politically Correct Term for Rust. I hate Political Correctness.

 

help. I can't decide what camp I am in. we have been fixing stuff and painting it. can it be called patina if we are painting some of it. I guess this is both.
build thread here:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/fixing-a-smashed-31-model-a-pickup-cab.1143362/

 

I guess I am on both sides of this as I have each. My '49 Cad is the one extreme with exceptional paint and chrome so I tend to drive it seldom. My '51 Plymouth has an old repaint that has aged through the years and I drive it a lot.

Although I blended in some paint when body repairs were done, I chose to keep the majority of the paint after several friends thought it should be preserved as a part of local history.

To me, true patina is the effects from age and experience, kind of like grey hair or wrinkles. Unwashed or left in the condition as found in a state of decay, like a field find is different, that just seems like preserving neglect.

As the old repaint has worn away on the '51 over the years it revealed the name JOE had been painted on the driver's door in small letters. Joe was the old guy I bought the wagon from in '84. History is what real patina is about.

 

I like both. Ive had clean cars and they're nice to look at, but this thing survived New Jersey from day one, and it shows. I enjoy looking at it and think it has a lot of character. Would a nice paint job look good? Of course. But I get a lot of people admiring the age it shows without being over the top "patina". Show me a 58 year old person from New Jersey that looks any better without work haha. I think a roller job would be killer on this car but if you don't have active rust cancer and like the way it looks, enjoy it for what is.

 

rust never sleeps! leave it another week and it will be worse than it is now. In places you cant see it will get so bad you won't be able to ignore it, and then it's too late!

 

We all have different opinions -

When the term patina is used in reference to old or antique furniture, rust has nothing to do with it, patina on a surface resulting from age or polishing.

I have been around antique dealers most of my life and have heard the term thousands of times, but never referring to a rusty surface, any ornate or wrought iron surface that had a coating of rust was just that Rust! HRP

 

I agree patina is a misused term. There's an impala for sale on here that literally says "rust free car. Beautiful patina" and there's clearly visable surface rust all over the car, lol. I actually voted paint, and appreciate the rusty look as well when done right, but call it what it is. I consider patina faded paint, etc. I think hrp's ride is a great patina car...

 

I was a sales rep for years and one of the products I sold was Rust Oleum, the company was founded by Robert Fergusson, In his early days as a sea captain the idea came to him when he noticed the oil from whales slowed the spread of rust on metal, he began the business in the early 1920's.

For many years one of the primary ingredients. listed as fish oil, that would change to alkyds in later years. HRP

 

Here's an original car that was polished and had a little bit of blending done here n there along with some pinstripe touch up. Ruined or respected? Can't find a single owners or service mamual that says NOT to touch the finish on these old heaps. I'll make matters worse, we even put in a new top insert. Maybe that gets a pass because it was near perfect original material to replace the torn and delaminated stuff. Whatcha think?