Hot Rods Is a nice paint job really that important?

Amen to that!!

This car was painted with rattle cans!!!!

 

And it looks great! HRP

 

here´re my 2 cents... I´d rather have a thin, worn old factory or well worn old paintjob on my car than a halfassed new and shiney one. But once a car needs a full restoration anyway, it makes sense to go full tilt and to do it right. I´ve done both and have to admit I rather drive the car with the worn paintjobs or one that are in primer stage and have not got the final paint yet- the first scratch in a beautiful perfect paintjob just hurts too much.

 

I’m with you !
My ‘29 A roadster with full fenders was “painted” with black primer over red primer in 1999. It is still the same except for the fact it now has paint chips and is faded.
I guess I’ve never worried too much about paint !


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I want both

 

I have been painting cars,buses,trucks,boats,wheel loaders
exavators and motorhomes for 25 years.
I can appreciate a perfectly painted car,,,,I have 2 of them,,,,,
but one of my cars is matt (flat) and one that have 35 year old paint.I like them as much as the perfect ones.
It is the attitude that counts.

 

If someone else paid for it, would you? I like your ride like that honestly harp.... That's exact what I think of when I think patina. Not rusty, aged.

 

I like both ways but for me personally I dont even want nice paint. I hate detailing, I like to park in a lot and not have ti worry and I'm also a guy that leans and sits on my cars. I've done 2 cars for myself with nice paint and I didnt keep either one very long.

 

When the friend who was going to laydown the black cherry on mine had to back out, (health), I took it to the local Maaco folks. They wouldn't do it saying they won't do it because its to great a hot rod for them to touch. That was a nice complement but I think it was and excuse not to, thinking I would be a PITA, (pain in the ass), to work with. I wouldn't have been.

 

If you were talking about a house, which one would you buy?

 

Yes, and it does not have to cost a fortune to lay down a nice paint job

 

Yes


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Would you buy a derelict house and spend all your money on new siding, a fancy copper roof and land scraping, but replace or at least check the electric service, plumping, and heating unit?

 

I like shiny. I grew up in the early 60s and I like the chrome and shiny paint. To each his own.

 

So I said to my friend who was going to work on my Model A front fenders...."let's just make them presentable, since I just want to rattle can them with satin paint. It's intended to be a driver, not a show car."

So, now, here we are weeks later....patch panels cut out of a donor fender and welded in, hammer and dolly work done, running board mounts repaired, fenders taken to bare metal, epoxy primer applied, filler applied and sanded repeatedly to get it right, more epoxy primer, 2 coats of hi-build primer, and now it's time to wait a couple days for primer to cure so we can block sand them some more and hard telling what else it will take for him to not be offended by me saying "it's good enough!" Oh....and the satin rattle can paint.....that's out now too. Color and sheen wanted is being matched to do the paint with actual automotive paint and a regular spray gun.

I kinda hate to think about it, but I guess we'll go through it all again when it's time to do the rear fenders.

Lynn

 

I reality the town and neighbors only care about the outside, lawn & shrubs also matter. Bob

 

This is why I'd never do "ok, nobody will ever see it work". If it looks like shit and the customer is happy but someone points out it IS shitty my name, or a fellow bodyman gets the blame not the guy that would settle for crap work. Bob

 

"Crap work" ....hardly what I was saying, but I completely understand your point.

Lynn

 

Here is a thought. I have always liked old paint. I usually drive beaters, my dad called them jalopies.

I have always liked old paint, one that was painted say 30+ years ago and the paint was still passable with a little bit of rubbing. The paint can be crazed (crackly looking) or have stars on the fenders but it is solid. Perfect in my demented world.

 

Painting a car isn’t real difficult. Prepping it is lots and lots of work...which is lots of hours too. Getting it done professionally is quite expensive...and rightfully so. To top it off, a painter has a reputation to uphold and that coupled with lots of time and expensive materials results in lots of dollars.
So, it makes sense to paint it yourself, as a expensive paint job, CAN take the fun out of a car!
You have no need to uphold your “painter reputation“...at first anyway. So, you can use lower cost materials too, no customer... no worry...no warranty! If you do some homework (a little research), chances are the paint job will turn out pretty good. Most car nuts will appreciate that you did it yourself, and say so...and probably wish they could do it too. And an added bonus, your car won’t be in paint job jail for months on end!
Take some notes as you proceed...they will be helpful for car #2!
Oh, and use single stage gloss...it’s easier to block sand/buff out small mistakes. Flat paint...you get what you get out of the spray gun.

 

Your comment on fellow car guys appreciating a DIY paint job brought up a memory of the first car I painted, A Boner do you remember Terry from the Hot Rod shop in Milwaukee, he was the worst counter man in the history of shops IMO, I went there to buy something and he came out to look at my car, looked at my paint job and said, who painted that ? Proudly said I did, his comment, get a better broom, the worst paint job ever. The Hot Rod shop failed, thinking somehow he had money involved, nobody would keep him employed as a counterman, he chased customers away. Ralph, the backroom/machinist guy was a good guy, he ran the shop at A&A for years after this. I did repaint that car after more block sanding and it was pretty damn good for a driveway job, it wasn't that bad the first time. A Boner said it all, it's the prep, bodywork, block sanding, running the spray gun is the easy part, not that difficult IMO. You remember Paint by "Butch" had him paint a cycle gas tank, he did that beautiful work in a filthy 2 car garage behind his Mom's duplex, the man was an Artist.

 

mine paint job cost $A3000 and it was painted in a pro shop

 

A Boner....your post made a lot of sense. The Model A Coupe I'm working on now was actually going to be built using a different body. That original body was going to need a lot of work but I was able to buy a nicer body to avoid as much patch panel work. My desire was to get my car running and driving much sooner.

I have a plan for another car that would be using my "original" Coupe body. I've never been much on body work but the little I've done with my friend that I referred to a few posts back has removed a lot of the "black art" fear I've had of body work. It's going to be a slow, careful process to do all the patch panels myself, but I'm confident I can get it looking good. In fact, I'm looking forward to getting Coupe #1 done so I can build Coupe #2 in more the style that I want long term.

Bottom line.....A Boner....your post was motivating Thanks.

Lynn

 

Shiny paint jobs falls under "Nice To Have" in the thought of Nice To Have and Need To Have in the process of putting together a Hot Rod. Plus budgets also influence the process.

 

With all the videos out there anyone with the ability to build a nice car\truck has the ability to produce a nice paint job.. Even the deaf, dumb and blind kid could play pinball

 

its a funny thing paint is. Most of us are not going to be involved in the politics of show cars. We build cars that we play with. So best in show paint is not probably going to have to happen.

Even at that sometimes you get lucky. I am certainly not an accomplished painter and prep work is tedious. I did land a Best Paint paint job once on a friend's bike. It was really nothing special just Aztec Gold metallic. Like I said sometimes you get lucky.

Most of the time if we lay one on that does not have too many sags you done good enough.

 

Rustoleum brush job.
It’s a hot rod.
Love it or hate it, it’s dependable and that’s all I ask.
It does have a 327 in it, that’s what I had, that’s what I used.ATTACH=full]4899115[/ATTACH]


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For 18 years I painted and made paint in the industrial finishing business. I inhaled enough MEK,MIBK,TOLUENE,TOLUOL ACETONE.etc for one lifetime. Quit that gig 22 years ago however...I get a whiff of automotive paint and I'm sick as can be. Instant headache...skin crawls...lungs ache...feel like I might lose lunch. No paint jobs for me. Can't handle the chemicals. Last car I had painted I didn't get near until I was sure it had cured enough.

 

When it gets done, it's something you'll be proud of. Unless it's Chartreuse and flat

 

I just looked at the exchange rate. Shoulda brought it over here to get painted. Coulda cost you only US$2226.31. Woulda had enough left over to get some stripes laid on. Beer woulda been cheaper too. Look at all the money you would have saved!!