Hot Rods To Paint Or Not To Paint? That is the question.

Maybe you can help me decide what's best? I have owned my '39 Ford coupe for 22 years and I plan on having it for another 22 years (wow, that will put me at 93 years old, if I'm lucky). Anyway, when I bought the car it had a black lacquer paint job that was pretty good and I could polish it a couple of times a year to get a nice shine. A few years back, I bought a "Good" brand name waterproof car cover that very quickly dulled the horizontal surfaces which seemed to be the death of the soft lacquer. Recently, I started wet sanding it to try to bring it back even though it had some imperfections that I thought I could live with. I'm at the point now that I started thinking that maybe the sympathetic restoration of the paint job is not worth the effort and I should just strip the whole car and start the next 22 years off with a new paint job. What would you do?
Ron

 

Do you have any pictures of the problem area(s)? I'm not sure, by ***essing that photo. That car is beautiful.

 

Looks great in the picture. I do know that pictures sometimes lie though, my Mom took a pic of my '38 Olds coupe and the paint (in the pic) looks great ... in reality the paint was in very poor shape. That's a hard call too make just from a picture. Here's one way to look at it, is the money spent on new paint going to make it any more enjoyable? I say if the car is protected from the elements (no bare metal or bare water-soaking-primer spots) then just keep putting gas in her. It still (appears) to look good, and if you do give it a new paint job you just might end up worrying too much about getting the first scratch, first birdie poop, first rock chip etc and that would detract from your overall enjoyment I would think. A former neighbour (black '64 GTO) had his car repainted black ($15,000) and everyone on the street said it looked just the same as it did before the repaint. You should see him stress over that car now, I even suggested he sell it if it just isn't fun anymore. Decision is on you, I say drive it . To help with your decision ... price out a paint job.


Your car is beautiful in that shot.



To put my opinion into perspective ... I have found that I have the most fun with vehicles that are not perfect. I did strip and repaint my Olds because it really needed to be brought down to bare metal (tons of tiny little bubbles in the very old paint, I needed to see what was under it all) ... AND ... here's the kicker, I repainted it with Tremclad (custom tint mind you), so I am probably not qualified to give you the answer you are looking for.

 

I was thinking the same thing about the pics. I would leave it but in the end of the day its your decision. Do what will make you happier, very nice car Ron!

 

Feel free to add more pics of the car ... ... please (not to help with the decision, just want to see more of the car).


If I absolutely had to change one thing on that car it would be ... the name on the ownership ... that is one fine looking ride Ron.

 

It's not the original paint on the car, right? So you have nothing to lose by repainting it. The question is which way would you enjoy it the most - nice and shiny all over OR the way it's been as long as you've owned it?
I'd personally repaint it but I'm sure more sentimental folks would leave it as is.

 

Let her Roll as she is, from what I see enjoy the ride!!!

 

Would you drive it and enjoy it more with a new paint job ? or would it set in the garage because your afraid to mess the new paint job ? Dave

 

I'd leave it alone and enjoy it.. Very nice car.. Great stance...........

 

If you decide to paint her I could not think of a more beautiful car (with all her lovely curves) to be waxing and polishing on a Saturday afternoon and black is the "colour" that looks best at it's best.

 

A few years ago, I had a black 1940 Ford businessman's coupe. I drove it most every where and really enjoyed the coupe. I was involved in a rear fender bashing accident and I after replacing the fender and the other body damage ... I had the coupe painted.



Before





And AFTER ...

After the new paint, the coupe was not as much FUN to drive, because of worrying about the $$$ on the paint job. I saw the coupe this past weekend @ GG Charlotte and the the little coupe still LOOKS GOOD ... but I wish I had never had to paint it. And that I still had it ... like it was before the new paint.

 

Ron...here's my answer to you in the form of an anology...

Tuesday the carpet layers finished recarpeting the bedroom.

Last night my wife informed me that it is hard on carpeting to walk barefooted on it. You need a slipper with a hard sole.

There was nothing wrong with the old carpeting that a good shampoo wouldn't cure.

There is probably a $2000 cost involved here but I didn't ask.

 

It's your decision. If it bothers you that the paint isn't perfect then by all means paint it! A good buddy told me, when I questioned him about going 4-wheeling in his brand-new '78 Ford F250: "I didn't buy it to look at it!" Couldn't argue with that. My point is paint it and drive it! Looks like you plan on having this car a LONG time.

 

Don't repaint it if you don't have too.HRP

 

My vote goes to leaving it as is.

 

x2, it looks great.

 

Another anology:
If'n it were me , I would tell her to put on her slippies with the hard sole and walk right out the same door she came in .

Course maybe that's why I ain't married anymore

 

My opinion is to drive it like it is. I base that on the 38 Chevrolet that I have had since the early 70's, it was painted in 1984 and has a myriad of rock chips on both front and rear fenders (didn't have running boards and lived on a gravel road), a day or two after painting my four year old son who had been helping sand in preparation for paint helped again. The car has a bunch more scratches and a couple of dents when it was di***embled and if it looked as good as your car I would be happy as the ****ens. All that said, I don't plan on ever painting it. I am going to call the lack of a perfect paint job "patina", and never have to worry about a door ding or a rock chip. I can use the paint job money to fund other toys and activities.

 

o.k., i'm only guessing here, but i ***ume the car sits outside, that's the only reason i can think of why a good car cover would ruin the paint, cause of the elements. until you find a place to store the car , i wouldn't waste my time or money on a paint job.

 

I don´t know...By the picture You posted, the car looks just fine to me...To drive and enjoy, the way it was designed to bring joy to its owner/operator, anyway. I personally always fancied the type of old cars the most that showed their age, be it a few warts or not. For one thing, if You do repaint it, chances are You become more wary of driving it, plus depending on the quality of the repaint and Your current state of finish on the rest of Your car, You may start re-evaluating Your chrome- and other trim, gl***, upholstery etc. and how it stands up against Your fresh paint. I don´t know, I guess what You´d have to figure out for Yourself is what You want out of that car; enjoy it for what it is, or win trophies at a show, (including everything that that kind of thing entails...)I for one wouldn´t set out to fix anything that ain´t broke. Just my 2c, again that´s a beautiful car! Good luck.

 

Don't paint it - enjoy it as it is - my car has a 22 year old paint lacquer paint job too - I had to color sand it last winter because of lack of care before I got it and have been doing a few body mods to it. I'm having the best time with this car because I have not got a expensive "show car" finish. When I bought the car last year it was a "30 footer", and now it's a "20 footer" and that's just find with me. If someone wants to point out some flaws I will be glad to point out theirs because nothing is perfect. You have a beautiful car - enjoy it!

 

thats the problem with car covers and laquer paint they trap in moisture and it bubbles you can probally wet sand entire car with 400 grit paper seal it and spray it with 2 stage, basecoat/clear coat and be on your merry way! good luck! nice car

 

You said it was laquer paint, Well laquer is VERY easy to repair and it is black, easy to match. Have you thought about just repairing some of the "bad" areas? that way you will have nice paint and won't cost too much to enjoy the car.

 

it will never be a cheaper time than now to get that car repaired or repainted. that said there is something to be said about not having to worry about every little ding or scratch.

 

One of my buddies spent 30 grand on paint and body on his 55, this car was absolutely awesome, perfect as you would expect, he had it done by a high quality shop.
I did my own paint, it's not perfect, it's very tolerable, could be better, next time maybe it will be, I'm not paying to have it done. It cost me about 2500 in materials.
My bud has always been so afraid to drive his car, worried about rocks and debris, he got a chip in it and you would have thought life had ended, the repair was 2 grand.
I got a pretty good dent in mine from a tree branch, oopsies, I took the hood off, fixed it and by Monday it was buffed out, no harm. He watched the branch hit my truck and watched my reaction and decided I was just an ***hole and didn't care. Not true, I'm a realist, I drive this thing, it doesn't just exist to sit in a roped off area, it cost me 150 bucks and some of my time to fix my truck, no tears, just fix it.
I would see if I could find a product called liquid ebony, it's black, grits to about 3000, you need a product called beef or cheese cloth, skip the gym and go out there and get a good karate kid work out on it, I did this about every 3 months to the whole car with my last laquer job, my nickname was monkey arms.

 

Your call, your car...(and a dandy it is) but you did ask.
Leave it alone...drive it an enjoy the memories you have had with it.
Let your kids (or whoever gets it when you are gone....hopefully long after your ninty's, make the decision!!
Cheers,
Bob

 

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If the paint bothers you.....repaint it and make it perfect....if you're gonna die with the car, die happy!

 

...........It does'nt matter.....as long as its black

 

would leave like it is.. its original