Featured Hot Rods Patina, Primer'd, Painted

being 72, I've seen so many trends come and go, and some never come back, like cars jacked up in the rear with long shackels and n - 50 tires... But i've noticed more and more fresh cars coming out painted, or one color satin paint.. but the show stopper cars are comming back to shinny paint.... so do you think the man made faux patina is comming to an end??? walking around and listening to the crowd, you know the ones... he ruinned that car guys... all seem to knock the faux patina,... and the He should paint that car is heard more and more...... so is it coming to an end.... and whats next???

 

The car in my avatar:

Q - "When ya gonna paint it"?

A - "It Is".

Same Q&A for the last 50 years or so. My '33 was painted in the early 70s; It really does need new paint, but doing so will ruin "the look".

 

I'm not ever going to like stuff that looks not finished=Only Shiny if finished.................................
No matter what excuses* are used for not finishing it.
I still look for cool other stuff done,but I'd look longer if its nice an shiny.

 

it didn't ruin the look 55 years ago????

 

Full disclosure - I didn’t not paint it 55 years ago!

 

I am in the shiny paint side also. I was in a Honda dealer a while ago. On the showroom floor was a brand new Honda with a $5500 flat black optional wrap. Why anyone would want their new car to look like someone primered it I will never understand. With the price of paint and chrome going up every day I think flat paint and primer will be seen more and more. I don't like it, but that's the way it is.

 

Its a cycle. In my dino days the big thing was red oxide primer for the average dude, full paint for the well off. Then it went to black primer. Two tone for the cars that could take it and look decent. Then it went to full paint, single stage. Metallics showed up and everyone had to have it. "Candy's" were for the rich. Base/clear came on the scene, then to be different the "patina" crowd arrived saying keep it exactly the way it was found. Now it seems its headed back to full paint, saw a single stage job a while back that was killer, as good as any base/clear and less cost. Paint cost now is unreal, better be sure before you do it, not like the dino days when a paint job could be changed for decent bucks. Ex: had a bud in the collision business buy me a qt. of base for a 2018 pickup, his cost $165. (gets a huge discount for his volume purchases)

 

FWIW - Garage doors are now offered in a flat black finish... You can have your door match your hot rod, or vice versa.

 

I doubt it. They've put out a half dozen products in the past couple years to "protect & enhance" patina.
I get more "don't ever paint that car" comments when I drive our beater wagon then I do "Nice paint" when I drive our Elco.
For the record I'd paint em all if it wasn't so damn time consuming, expensive & ultimately stressful when I see a new ding, or notice imperfections.
I have as much fun driving our beaters as I do the nice ones.
My favorite is to find a car with a nice enough old paint job It looks decent, but not so nice I'm stressing over a little scratch.
If I had to do it over again, I'd have just let left the old lacquer paint on our 52 & been done with it.
I wanted a Kustom though & That's what it'll be when done. There's a whole lot of work, time & money to bridge that gap though. Enough that I question whether it's truly even "worth it" to me.
We had plenty of fun with just a Lowered stocker with 40 year old lacquer.

 

PS: I see a ton of new AMGs, BMWs, Teslas & even a Land Rover in my hood lately that had a beautiful satin pearl white paint job or wrap ?? I was wondering if those were factory paint jobs or wraps.
Either way I like the look. Probably a conversation for the OT section.
Just something I've noticed alot lately.

 

Some Krylon and rags ,Bone Box was natural patina

 

I'm soon to be 75 and have always been attracted to primer, hence the moniker Hotrodprimer.

I like a nice paint job but I am not good at painting and nice paint job are expensive so I shoot primer or satin black which suits me fine.

The all to often question at cruise-in's or car shows when I drive my old beater Deuce sedan is ,"When are you going to paint it?" My reply is usually, " It was painted in 1932 and again in 1964, yes the paint is showing it's age but I don't worry about door dings or parking at the grocery store."

I try not to be rude, and I may spray it with Kirkers hot rod black in the future but I'm content with the car's worn paint as it is.


Now my '32 pickup truck I wanted to spray it in primer but I didn't want it to have the faded primer look in a few moths so I opted for the Kirker Hot Rod black, with it being a semi gloss finish and it doesn't fade I absolutely loved the look.



And again, I am a fan of Primer. HRP



But I have owned a few nicely painted cars,but I would rather drive and clean and polish them. HRP

 

a friend painted my 38 Chevy in the early 80's, the fenders, especially got scratched when it was disassembled 20 years ago, plus the paint de laminated back in the late 80's. One person, at a car show, was very diplomatic, told me the car was assembled so nice it should have a nice paint job. One of my neighbors is a base coat/clear coat guy and doesn't understand me at all. Another friend/neighbor (who has a beautiful flamed 40 Ford) thinks it is perfect. When I built the Studebaker I wanted a satin black finish, my brother in law thought it needed to be shiny. The guy that bought it told me the undercarriage had better paint than the outside The roadster is BC/CC. This "slick"...well my wife likes it just the way it is. It has house paint and primer all over it I am pretty flexible

 

Anyone ever counted how many threads there are on this topic?

 

Never counted the threads. But I've counted the responses. There are three: Yes, No, Either. They are repeated over and over and over in a continual drama loop... and then the thread gets closed.

 

Then before this one gets closed, my 2.5cents worth. Is now, and always has been, SHINY TAKES THE PRIZE!!

 

I'd like to say I remember back in the day... but have a hard time remembering yesterday lately... but i'll try most hot rodders had a nice hot rod, and what we called a beater... the beaters were cool, you could leave them parked out side the bar, make runs to the junk yard...ect.... but as far as the thread goes,.. i see more and more nice built painted cars making a come back... and was wondering if the beater look cars are fading away and people are starting to fix them up is all....

 

I like old cars.

 

I haven't counted (far too many) but at any opportunity, I get on my soapbox and scream "DON'T CLEAR COAT PATINA"!
Gotta go get my blood pressure checked now.

 

the Bomb guys have a different outlook. go to a Bomb show and there will not be any "patina on purpose" cars there. I bought a 49 Chevy sedan that was in the Royal Cruisers. old faded paint, a small dent here and there. he said he had it for 7 years and all the guys were harassing him to finish it.
I saw it for sale after I sold it and they painted it blue, I liked the faded green better, though had they painted it shiney green to match the nicely painted dash and window mouldings I'd have liked that.

 

this:
"DON'T CLEAR COAT PATINA"!

 

My F-100 and all before it were shiny. But the Ranchero in the background I’m working on now will retain its well worn and well deserved look simply because after all the money I’m pouring into it suspension, interior, motor and tranny wise, I can’t, at todays costs, afford to paint it. It’s going to be just a simple dd anyway. And none of that ugly-IMHO-clear coat over the patina shit either. It is what it is.

 

I sincerely hope fake patina or real patina that's been clear coated is at it's end! I hate both, and also hate rusted, rotted cars that guys call patina. Rotted out or rusted so bad there's holes is not patina to me.
I have owned a car or two that had old original paint that I buffed as good as possible, and even waxed where it could save them from further rust, but at some point I want shiny paint. I'd rather see a home paint job done fairly well than leaving a very badly rusted car left alone and justified by calling it patina.

 

It could be, that the young guys, such as myself. That have been beating the neo-traditional drum since our early 20s are now older, with more disposable income to spend on the cars we build. Thus now we are seeing the "young guys" build more painted cars.

 

I’m 80, I’ll never own a R-R. I’ll never own a clear coat or satin coat “rusty”car . I’ll never own a painted bumper car when they came chrome plated. I’ll never own a 40-50-60-70’s car with 18-20” wheels.

It’s a personal choice for you to build what you like or what’s the newest fad…..but it’s my choice not to look at or comment on it or buy it…..There are many “gasser” style cars being built today and they are also something I won’t own but will admire if I like it’s style.

Last weekend I looked an unbelievably well done 1961 Buick Hard Top. Perfect chrome, paint, custom interior, all stock trim, modern rolling stock, cost I would venture $150-200,000……It was Mary Kay Cosmetics PINK……To me no deal….It would a very limited market for selling when the time comes…..and yes a guy was driving it.

 

I drive junk
I like junk
I get paid to make junk nice

I could care less how anyone enjoys this hobby

fewer “patina” rides?
Not in my experience. See em all the time
Especially in my back yard

 

YES
1. Light patina…original paint
2. Light patina…old repaint
3. Patina with rust repair with spot-in patina matched paint
4. Advanced patina…work in progress…old paint with primer spots on repaired areas
5. Prime the whole project…build up courage for step #6
6. Do it yourself lower cost gloss paint…no paint booth available, is ok…painting a section at a time makes this way easier (bonus…with every project you will probably get better)

NO
1. Base coat clear coat period…single stage only (unfortunately most body shop employees are most familiar with bc cc)
2. No clear coat…especially on PATINA…use Gibbs oil for preservation

 

not to piss you off,,, but if this was my truck i'd slap the dents out fix the rust , re paint the red and white , buff it till it was shiney'r than a diamond in a goats ass put some big whites ..
lower it 3''

 

As long as I'm around there will be a beater and I'm willing to bet my old Deuce get's driven as much or more than the cars with the high dollar paint jobs.

 

Me too!