Hot Rods Is a nice paint job really that important?

"IS A NICE PAINT JOB REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?"

Why yes, yes it is. My dad grew up in the 1950s golden era of hot rodding. He said the only cars not painted were the ones under construction and everyone's goal was to eventually paint their car. The exception were some of the race cars that stayed in primer so the owners could spend all of their money on speed equipment. My dad's car remained unpainted for 48 years and it was killing him. The happiest I have ever seen him was when I brought the car home with its nice new shiny paint.

 

OK, I appreciate all of your cars paint jobs but, I have to ask. When was the top picture taken and who is the absolutely beautiful young woman standing in front of the '29?

 

Nope- all one colour is nice. I will sure admire your nice paint job. Safety first, then reliability, then stance and gaps, then wheels and tires. After that it is a toss up interior or paint. If the paint is going to cost more than the original project, we are going to come up with a plan B. I have enjoyed some of the hand brushed threads on here, and HRM painted a Falcon with Rustoleum/ Tremclad for a couple hundred bucks.

 

I have to say that a fine paint job is truly enjoyed by me.
That being said, i also find that i drive it far far less when it has a great paint job.
I prefer prime or ratty from the start.
Which is kind of the situation i am in now. Nice paint and I don’t drive it ! Its Too Nice !!

 

To me, yes its worth it. I bought my O/T C10 to drive to work. It had original paint with a good patina on it and it was earned from years on a farm. After only a few months with it, I had to paint it. It bothered me so much. That led to a full frame off, but now that its done I am much much happier that it painted.

 

Call me crazy, I like my stuff clean and shiny...

 

I love my old beater, but I also have more pressing maters than spending the money on a nice paint job, who knows, it only took me 30 years to get a nice interior maybe a paint job will happen in the next 30 years, of course it will probably be owned by someone else by then. HRP

 

When it comes to paint jobs and what I like it depends on the intended use of the ride. If it's a DD then I just clean it up and drive it. It's very nice to not worry about damage to the paint.
If your project is a full build, then you have to go all the way with beautiful paint. When you see a ride with perfect paint it is truly incredible.
They all get nicked eventually so dont be afraid to drive em.

 

I figured this would be my last build so I decided to do the best job I'm capable of.
I'd always pictured how I wanted it to come out. I knew the color before I ever started.

 

I had a car with picture perfect paint. It had lots of body work. 2 part urethane paint meant scratches and stone chips were rare.

My car now has nothing but the surface rust and a few spots of paint, to paint it would mean fixing far too many minor dents and fix the bullet holes, I bought it partly for the holes so I'm not doing that.

Just coated in oil to protect it for now.

In the end, covering the metal is for protection, use what the situation calls for. Whether it's transparent or pigmented to whatever color takes your fancy.

Sent from my CPH1931 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Most of my old cars have had nice paint. My truck very old paint - it’s at least 3 different shades, has scratches everywhere, but the body is straight with no rust at all.

My preference is for the character of natural patina. An aged car is more interesting than a pristine one - and I don’t worry about the weather, bugs, dust or even driving on non-paved roads. I drive it almost daily and knowing myself and my OCD, If I were to paint it I’d stress about keeping it pristine and would not enjoy it near as much as I do now.

It’s staying the way it is - with an occasional rub down of Gibbs oil.




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I've never had a show quality paint job, probably never will, but I do appreciate a nice shiny paint job. I have a nicely painted 47 coupe, but it's not anywhere close to show quality, but I like the shiny paint, and I enjoy the time spent waxing it, it makes for a nice afternoon with music on in the background and enjoying an adult beverage and polishing the car. Yeah, I like it. Not all the important, but nice to have.


But I also had this old beater Model A pickup that was half painted in flat black, and half a mixture of sanded down old paint, and primer (covering some really badly done body work by the PO). And I was fine with that for years. The intent was to put some shiny paint on it eventually, but in the meantime I enjoyed it like it was. Well, "eventually" came with the covid lockdown. I was home and not traveling for business, and no music gigs to play, so I just stated working on the body work, and one thing lead to another and eventually I had some shiny paint on it. It's still a 10 foot paint job, don't look too close. But I do use the truck for hauling stuff occasionally, nothing serious, it is a Model A afterall, but I use it for light loads, like guitar amps and PA speakers for instance, a lot. So I left the bottom half in the flat black like it was and just painted the top half that was previously unfinished, and I like it like that. I'm going to leave it. In the meantime I have about 3 different shades of flat black, so the next step will be to consolidate that down to 1 or 2 shades. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy it as it is. And I do enjoy it. You know, driving it down the road with that shiny blue paint really is a nice experience. It doesn't run any faster, or brake or steer any better, but it's nice looking at the nice paint from the drivers seat.