History Patina, Primer, mailbox scoops and other things that never happened.....OOPS!

Patina




Primer and lots of it!



Mailbox scoops

 

Just like that when I grew up, built not bought!

 

Spray can primer, under a buck a can ! No mail boxes, only paper boxes.

 

Robert, thanks for the pictures of the real cars from our youth. The M.G. pictured at the drags appears to be Pat DeStefano's M.G.

 

Marty that is so Pacific North West. When I was old enough to play with my own cars Oregonian boxes were really popular.

One thing that people do not understand about the '50s is that money was tight. So primer was king and everyone was waiting for money to paint it. Hell money was still tight (at least for me) in the later '60s and '70s. If it got painted it was usually rattle can. I owned a '58 Buick that was flat black, grey primer, white and sea mist. I was always going to do an earl schibe job on it when I finished the body work. That never happened. it ran good though.

 

Beaner, My brother Dave used to go to the 88 cent store in Portland, and buy enough spray paint for a whole car. He would spray till his finger got sore, and then graduated to the Electrolux vacuum cleaner with the glass jar, like my old friend Ernie Martin did on his 32 coupe.

 

I bet that thing absolutely hauled. Looks like fun!

 

Pat donated the M.G. to the Motorsports museum at the New Hampshire.

I have said it many times, traditional/period correct hot rodding call it what you will has been invaded by trend chasers and is starting to degenerate into what the Billet and Tweed, ZZ Top, Heartbeat of America, splash graphic street rod scene.

Pull your lawn chair out of the trunk sit behind your car for 3-4 hours, bash on every car that doesn't have a banger or a flathead, put your lawn back in the trunk after the judging whine and cry that your car didn't win.

Then tell guys who have a built-in period car what they have to do to make it a traditional hot rod!

I am convinced that is why vintage racing is becoming more popular everyday.

 

Primer for sure but never flat paint for a finished finish. RON

 

Electrolux spray set up and dark gray lacquer primer, for the win in 1959!

 

BTW, that 32 evolved to this, after Ernie returned from the Army.

 

In the 50's my Dad painted his midget race cars and cars with the vacuum cleaner setup, back in that time frame he owned a gas station and flocked christmas trees to sell. In my teen years, the 60's he had a compressor, a used I'm sure, a Binks spray gun that I used for Many years. Best part of the HAMB, the memories that are brought back. Thank You.

 

That's cool!

I a racecar guy inline Chevy 6 guy, but I like period correct hot rods, customs (I not sure I would ever build or own one), cars with bangers, flatheads, early overheads, even the evil small block Chevrolet, and finished cars with super shiny paint.

I have always said there are car guys and there are guys with cars.

For Car guys this isn't just a hobby or a passing fad at some point that will be replace by golf, hiking, it's their life. they are well rounded, they like appreciate and know the history of all cars.

Again, I am not a huge fan of drag, or road racing but I like it watch it and know it's history. The same goes for British Sports cars.

Guys with cars it is just a fad and not all consuming, the history doesn't mean anything to them all they care about is the car or cars they currently own and will at some point move on to something else, golf hiking, pickle ball (does anyone know what the hell that is?).

I am going to go on a side story here...

There are all kinds of people here who insist that stock car racers were drunks who beat and banged who ruined perfectly good cars.

This is George Proctor was a family man (family friend) patriarch of the Proctor racing family.

This car is a 37(?) Ford with a Chrysler flathead 6.

He won a lot of races; he was winning $500.00 a weekend his regular job paid $72.00 a week.

He quit his real job and supported his family with the racecar!

If he beat and banged and tore up that car he lost his source of income, and the family didn't eat!

He was far from the only person in that era who supported their families by racing.

 

Cool pics for sure and love the stories. As I am inching closer to completion of my 56 with a 30 year old paint job I am more and more glad I didn't go full paint for now anyways. NOT a faux patina job or rat rod which I dislike both.

 

If you want to emulate the look of primer from the 50's but want a lasting finish, why not flattened paint? It might not be your cup of tea, but as illustrated that's how some cars stayed back in the day.

Isn't this forum about how things looked back then?

 

I'm pretty sure the second pic was in Vancouver, BC. Probably Hastings St.

 

Failing to understand what your looking at,,misread of old photos happens too much.
Jump to the assomption you want! Not So most of the time.

Not so many more years,before those of us,who were really there an building rods an customs,in 50 n 60s,will no longer be around to try an set record straight,by saying how it really was,even when some did not want to know!

Fact is a old auto photo is,only a split sec. in time*,right then,not the next day or week or year.
If it was not your car n photo*,highly likely,your going to try an say it shows,something it dose not.
There were lazy guys who never got around to finishing any thing, or got side tracked. Other's that payed for unfinished car,and never did ether,part of why they payed for it,vs,built it too start with..
The rest/most* finished as nice as they could with gloss.and shin!

Yet in nearly every case,of old photo,,in a short time,the same rod got finished pretty well=didn't stay as in photo for long.
In the 1950s n on, { I was there an very active in hotrods an customs. In 3 car clubs,helped with many rods an built my own.
There was a strong scents of pride in a good finish,<It was just after WW2,an every one had enough of crap,an a lot more of ,I can do this nice now, Attitude.!*<Passed to there kids as well!!
No one I knew { I knew a lot of hotrod n custom guys,an did a lot of get togethers}
No one thought of primer*,as anything but a preparation for gloss paint. No one thought rust,dents,or sloppy work was good.
The secret lazy inter self of some ,in away they don't admit.=Knows deep down, its a lot of work,to finish things,so decide they love ruff/primer,rust,bullet holes or other crap=So they don't need to work. Joined by others who have fooled there self in to same game.
Are there a lot of primer photos=Yes,after all each shiny car,got primer first,and photo taken,before the next step.
Photos were not at all like today,fast n EZ to do now. Then often Old Browny Box used, an,photos some times sat in camera tell all the pics were used up, be for getting developed =may be a year or so.=date of photo often shows wrong.
For the most part,primer"Hotrod Black"is BS,an patina=needs fixing ASAP was the thought then, before the new lazy guys started looking for a way out of work.
Fool your self,if ya like*,others know better,an look better ,doing as we did do it!!
Sorry to pop some ones bubble,some may just stay in denial,an try to defend to the death the cop out on work. Excuses"How it was"}but was not,oops

 

Love this pic

cruising a beater. Luv em. My crap gets the rodent name. Even won best rodent this weekend at a show I didn’t enter it into any category. I just showed up. Judges called it a rodent cause it isn’t painted. No rebar or pressure cooker air cleaners. Just old paint and rust. Got the same trophy the guy with the painted ride got. No exterior paint planned for my current 2 builds other than spot work. Lazy? Don’t care. I usually build orphans no one wants anyway.

This 32 is a newer build. Built out of collected parts. Friend of mine helped build it. Goal was to assemble it to resemble the builds from their youth. The 2 builders for this recreation built off their experiences. The friend of mine that helped owned and built lots of “finished” rides. The owner (seated) loves it. Mission accomplished. Therefore it’s “finished” for now.


I seen this car during its assembly and told em I could help with the body. I was told no thanks. It’s done. Then I was explained what the goal was. The car was built to resemble their abilities and means from their youth. Both were like teens again. I would never dare suggest that the decorated Marine vet, diesel mechanic, business owner was lazy or that his experiences with cars growing up was incorrect.

All these pics from the past are millisecond excerpts in time. How do you recreate that unfinished look by finishing it? Why is an “unfinished” goal considered lazy? What’s wrong for an old beater that operates properly? I guess just cause some things don’t suit some peoples tastes.
Paint and chrome cost$$$$$$$$. It’s easy to spend other people’s$$$$$$$$ or tell them how they can do better from an arm chair.
Make it go and stop. Enjoy the crap out of it.
I’ll paint one one day just not today.

 

I am not saying these cars in a finished state, or that they look better or worse then a finished car, I don't see how having a car that doesn't have paint or a finished interior makes the builder lazy.
To me the chassis and engine are the main focus, I don't want a car with rotten sheet metal, or no floors but I would much rather be out driving or racing then have paint and finished interior.
Others don't want to take a car out until it is complete is one person any more right then another?

Yes, you are correct it is a split second in time, but it is proof that an event happened.
That is my point there are many people who just flat out deny the past, and make blanket statements, this never happened or that never happened, when the truth is just because you or I didn't see it or it wasn't in a magazine doesn't mean it didn't happen.

A good example of this is my local county Fair Grounds the Delaware County Fair NY.
I have always wondered if there had ever been auto racing on the Fairgrounds, some people said yes others said no.

The Historical Society and the Delaware County Fair board and Delaware Fair historian have insisted that there was never any auto racing on the fairgrounds.

This spring I bought a 261 Chevrolet from a man who has photographs, including his father with the checked flag and trophy from the one and only race on the Delaware County Fairgrounds (He still owns the car too) along with the newspaper clipping.
Without those photos there would be no proof that this event ever happened.

I was talking with a man who owned an owned an 50s era Austin-Healey (as it turned out he knew nothing about his car or cars in general) about his car.
He told me he saved it from a "Hillbilly" who was going to put a Small Block Chevy in it. He then when on to tell me a Small Block Chevy wouldn't even fit.

At which photo I show him a photo I took of an Austin-Healey with a Rochester Injected Small Block Chevy, the engine had been it the car since the early 60s.

 

This car was built in the early 50's and was featured in Hot Rod in primer. It eventually got a coat of red paint. Many years later and a replacement chassis by me, it is now in primer again, and will be on the road this Fall.

 

Wasn't your mother jealous?

 

It's a FIAT body correct?


I have a copy of the August 1958 of Hot Rod and there is a feature on 33 or 34 Ford in primer.

There are many people who have argued with me over the years that the magazines would not and did not feature cars in primer and when presented with that are in total shock, I did have one guy who still insisted that it never happened.

 

True, a complete primer job was sometimes the final finish.

But for a car with rust and damage and primer spots, it was always the assumption that the car was a work in progress and wouldn't remain that way.

 

As long as no harm is done. Shitty paint might look shitty to some, but it serves the purpose of protecting the bare metal. In the future, it can be stripped off, and then improved.

 

The next guy can “finish” it.

How do ya turn a lazy loser into a hard working winner?

add a few mills of shiny liquid.

but if buying a project I’d rather see it without a quickey cheap paint job.

 

Yes, it's a 23 Fiat. Makes you wonder how many were shipped here from Italy.

 

Regardless of whether it was the final plan, they were driven and used that way.

Nearly all the photos in the first post show cars that are being driven or used in some way. Sure, maybe it wasn't the intended final state for them, but they did get driven, used, and enjoyed that way, as evidenced by the photos. Guys seem to defend that shiny paint was always the intended final outcome for these cars, and I'm sure that's true. However isn't the spirit of this forum to do things the way they were back in the day, and represent that era?

The truth is that hot rods have been used in an unfinished state throughout their history, as evidenced by these photos. It did happen, if even for short periods. Some builders today choose to capture that state of the build in their modern build, as you would have seen cars driven like that at some point in time.

I would suggest that if you think people don't want a shiny finished rod because they're lazy, you don't understand their motivation for wanting that look. I would suggest it's much simpler than that, people want something different or like a certain look.

On some vehicles, old weld repairs, dents, and scratches show the history of that vehicle. What it survived and lived through. To erase that and make it into another shiny car is just boring to me. In the end I build my cars to please myself and not anyone else. If someone else doesn't get it, I'm not losing sleep over it.

 

I understand the attraction to Patina. I almost sort of like it even. But as far as emulating the past, nobody was proud of rust.

 

Regardless of whether they were proud of it, cars were enjoyed in that condition. When you look at a snapshot of the history of hot rodding, they enjoyed cars without them being in perfect condition. That seems to be the lesson here, in my eye, and what we're getting back to. That's what some people are emulating, enjoying something without it being perfect. Some of those cars will go on to get finished nicely. Others would have turned into scrap instead of a hot rod and are getting another life.

Isn't that what we as hot rodders want to see?