I currently run a 29 A Tudor which has been primered in flat black. What's the best way to care for, clean, and generally make it look as good as possible? Thanks for the help. Hope to see you guys in Louisville.
Thank you for asking this. I have the same thing on my car. I'm really hoping to hear something specifically for the primer. FG
what about base coat clear coat satin black? i had black primer on a car, soaked up bird poop and oil wont come out. i just did a frsh primer coat every couple months, screw that.
Lightly sand it down and then put a shiny finish coat on it. It'll look 10X's better and be a lot easier to take care of. That's the reason why they invented the finish paints.
I presume you want to keep the flat black. Once a year, wash it, lightly sand, tape it off and shoot a new coat of flat black primer.
I have been a big fan of primer for years,hence my screen name,and many of my cars and trucks have worn it with pride!. Looks great the first month or so,,,then it starts to fade,grease,bird crap,bugs and it stain and streaks,,,looks bad. I have tried all kinds of flat black primers and epoxy primers and all manor of implement and tractor paints,,some lasted a bit longer but none last very long. Paint is what you need. HRP
I know your gonna laugh at this but I've had 2 deuce trucks and 2 deuce 2 drs and 1 deuce roadster painted flat black and on all 5 I have used the aerosol Lysol Basin, Tub and Tile cleaner with the scrubbing bubbles. Use it in the shade and get it on and off quickly. The cleaner has a mild abrasive which over time begins to give the high spots a little shine. 2 were black primer, one Chevy fender well semi gloss, one Krylon semi and the roadster was a semi gloss urethane.
How about put some paint on it. Primer cars have to do with no cash to lay out for paint. Why brodcast that you're broke? It wasn't done in the '50s because it was cool it was done because there was a minor recession, it didn't mean this is my show car it ment this car is in the process of becomming a smooth ride. Otherwise get yourself some scotchbrite pads (medium to fine) and rub that bugger every little bit or just let it look crappy, and when you get the cash to paint it paint it.
The statement that a flat black paint job means poverty is bullshit. I got top money for every flat black car I have built with 2 of them being featured in magazines. (Oct 05 R&C and HopUp 10) The last one being the roadster. I build toward a style and sometimes that style is flat or semi gloss black. Never once did one of these cars look crappy as they were all maintained on a regular basis.
Well they say there is one born every minute. The fella asked how to maintain it and I believe addressed that along with the history lesson. This is a trad board isn't it? I don't believe you addressed the maintenence issue at all but you did find a chance to preach your 21st century rod culture. There is one thing that a large majority of the general public fails to grasp is that primered cars had more to do with lack of cash then style. Sure a primered car looked better than one with crappy paint and rust but it was just a stage that a car went through on its way to being a finished car. I have nothing against primerd cars or flat cars but we as a whole have taken what was never ment to be "style" and turned it into a modern trend. Flat paint doesn't make it traditional it just makes it flat.
when i was a kid i had a car in prime and accidently got car wax on it and of course wiped it off.. the spot looked good! i waxed the car added some rubbing compound too and buffed it and ended up turning out ok as i recall. a lot of work.
Car wax can work well and in the past I have used cans of aerosol silicone spray which we used to use in bike show rooms for making sure all black stuff was black and so on. Last one that I used was vinyl gel, the stuff used for making old plastic bumpers look revived.
The problem with primer- is that it absorbs water and the metal underneath will rust, I had my rambler in primer while I did body work and drove it, had to redo abunch over because it had rust pits all over it. So I would do a base of epoxy then do primer, as for keeping it nice ,I suggest reg washing, and fine scotchbrite when it starts to get blotchy.
I've always wanted to get some John Deer Blitz Black and try rubbing it. its paint as opposed to primer so I guess you would want to prime and block prior. But I think it will come out looking like old black paint. I just love the look of aged paint, I think because I couldn't afford to paint my own cars when I was a kid and always had old cars that I waxed the crap out of. Of course I lived in the NW and in the humidity it didn't take very many years for paint to get well weathered. OK that's way off topic. Kapesh there are a million and one ways to keep your paint looking relatively fresh. When this first became popular a lot of the fellas used fine steel wool. But the down side was that eventually it wore the paint away. You will have the same basic results with scotch bright pads. I used to run parts of my Harley in flat black before I bit the bullet and painted everything that wasn't chromed or polished gloss black. Anyway I regress, I used Formula 409 when I could get it to clean the bike. It worked real well. You might try that on a patch. If it works for you its cheap. If you like the trouble to keep it clean and it suits your style there is no reason to not leave it flat. I don't have anything against primer cars. They have done real well for a lot of the fellas like HRP, Flamed ABone for instance. No one says they're not trad rodders, or that their cars are unfinished. That's their style. Its just that the only real solution is to paint it. If you really dig it and get paint money or time or both ahead it is a good idea to go two stage with flattener in the clear coat. Then it is just a matter of hoseing it off once in a while. Well that and lots of bug and tar remover to keep the front of it clean. Another option for keeping the front clean is to flame the front with gloss. Gloss flames on the front of a flat car are not just for looks. Knock yourself out buddy. Life is too short to stress over paint.
Why not just paint it flat black,paint not primer?From what I gather,primer doesn't really seal anything from the elements, except maybe epoxy primer,which I have no experience with. If you don't have the means to spray it with a gun,maybe go to a hardware store or somewhere else that sells the spray cans with the adjustable nozzles.These can be adjusted to spray a wide vertical or horizontal pattern.I get them from Ace harware in my area and they work pretty well. The downside to this is you may end up spending more on the spray cans than a gallon of paint would cost. That's my 2 1/2 cents
I pretty much agree with all of that,porknbeaner,even though I wasn't around in the fifties or sixties.But some of these fellas must of just plain liked the look,don't you think? I've seen a lot of cars,that to me ,looked a whole lot better in primer than after paint.They didn't look better to me because of some trend,I could care less what the''cool'' guys down the road were doing.I like what I like,no matter what.
Exactly!/\/\/\ I do remember a few cars in early HOT ROD magazines that were in primer. The one that comes to mind first thing is a '29 on '32 rails in the second HOT ROD annual. Seem to see lots of primer in the Don Montgomery books as well. I do consider a primered car transitional, I personally would not consider painting a car semi gloss with real paint, but then I don't care if my cars are ever done either. They just seem to get reprimed every four or five years, and cleaned up again. My current car is over due by about two years! The original question was how to care for a primed surface on a car. There are allot of us that have them, lets hear some ideas.
Flat primer, grey, red, or black looks great on hot rods, has every since Christ was a Corporal. Anybody that proports that it isn't traditional, ain't been there, or was asleep.
I use a product called Wash/Wax All. It's a WATER based spray on liquid that you just wipe off(looks like blue water). It leaves a slight shine to the primer. It's made for us on planes, boats, cars. Can us it on wheels, windows, rubber, chrome. Look for it at Aerocosmetics.com First saw it at a high end car show, been using it ever since-also use it on daily drivers.
If you like the look of the flat black primmer , then just paint it with flat black paint ! That is the easiest way to fix your problem or just carry a few cans of F/B primmer with you ! Retro Jim
Bombed sprayed mine in '95, 5 cans of Pep Boys $1.99 a can............ looks like shit after 15 yrs. Who cares , I drive it almost every day , I'm not out to make a statement or set a so called trend , I'm re-living my youth. At this point in my life..............
imnezrider beat me to it, but yes, we have just what you need to care for your flat/matte finish. Our Wipe Down product is a quick detail spray that won't add a gloss to your flat/matte finish. And be sure to use coupon code HAMB15 for 15% off of your order!
Clean it up as said already with some brite pads for a time,think of it as smoothing it out on the way to some shiny when ya can. IT's not trad the way most now think about it at all,and was only temp then,all my rods and all the others guys I knew that happened to have flat on there rods was just trying to get bucks up for the shiny. No one I knew was ever thinking flat was even cool,just a stop along road to shiny. If your flat cus your thinking that was a finish,it was not. Being 68 years old ,being in many CC and having done a hell of a lot shows between 1955 and 65 all over the South East US dose mean I was there and have a fair idea how it was,if thats any back up to those that are to young to of been there there self. Still comes down to have fun with your car.
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