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

I thought cars had to be “perfect” before coming here.
My entire career was finished cars either collision, resto or custom builds.
I’ve had the most fun ever with cars since I’ve learned that perfection is a myth.

 

Dana, there is a lot of truth in what you wrote..........but something you didn't mention was that those cars were often the only means of transportation for the owners, so they were not only works in progress but daily transportation. Money was often scarce to unavailable, so cars had to be driven while in primer......so much so that many of them never got painted. While driving in primer may not have been the ultimate goal, it was however an accepted practice and truly a genuine part of rodding. For the most part, I don't care for the rat rodding look of recent years because it seems to focus on adapting oddball things and poor workmanship.......but then I guess these guys maybe can put a little humor in the hobby and enjoy the moment. I will say however that I have seen some rat rods that were well engineered and crafted. Personally I think our hobby is better when people think for themselves and create something than when we all follow the same drummer. There is room for everyone in our hobby, and personally I try to learn something from each vehicle and appreciate whatever effort went into it.

 

Well said words of wisdom...........

 

Yep, me too! Back when I painted all the time, I obsessed about perfection and it drove me nuts when something wasn’t quite right. After having a few cars that were just good beaters, not sure I ever want to go back.

And, after gaining some wisdom in my few years here, I often say the same about perfection as I do control...it is an illusion. Neither is really attainable.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I met a guy at the Nationals who drove 800+ miles from Canada in his 32 Ford. During a brief conversation he told me he built a "perfection" 32 with a very expensive paint job. Said he sold it after it was built because he was scared to drive it anywhere. Built this new one (which looked very nice) with cheaper stuff and was enjoying driving it everywhere. It still looked great but it looked streetable instead of screaming "hey look at me, I'm so glossy I can blind you". The car stood out to me because it was sedate and tasteful...and driveable.

Yes it was painted, but probably single stage and easily repairable.



Finally found the picture I took of the Canadien guys car............so here it is.

 

Growing up around here there was plenty of "unpainted, primed" hot rods.

Most as said before, were the families only mode of transportation. And any extra money the family had went for the kids new shoes, school supplies, a washer for the wife or a new refrigerator etc.

Sure I'm sure most had dreams and desires of fresh shiny paint but reality was they didn't come from wealthy or upper class families and money wasn't something that was deep in everyone's pockets.

As far as telling a story, me and my oldest son had this discussion awhile back on finish work on welds etc. My son said he didn't want me to do any internal finish work on my car, as in chopped top finish the outside welds etc but don't touch the inside, same on sectioned radiator shell etc.

He said someday he hoped to show his kids those unfinished welds to show them what grandpa went thru to build this car and the story they showed thru it all.

So no finished hidden welds, couldn't argue with his logic.

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good eye, i didn't see the Canadian bank sign at first glance

 

My avatar is what our 62 Rambler looked like when we bought it. We put in a T5 behind the Rambler 6. Added AC and electric power steering and 4 wheel disc brakes. Th interior has full power bucket seats. The wheels have been in my partners possession since the late 60s and the second car to have them. Paint is expensive

 

Would the car be any more fun to you if it had a perfect paint job?

 

For my taste, the" BUG" is still very cool as to what it was intended for !
That "H" pattern cooling system just cracks me up !
Wards Riverside De-Luxe tires are cool as well !

 

Threads here like the homogenized cars thread help change my mind about what I thought finished was. I guess if the builder is done with it then it’s finished.
But this car can be blamed as well

seeing a beater get tons of attention from mags was a nice breath of fresh air.
The beaters I was driving at the time started feeling cooler all of a sudden.

the car across the street might have been the goal. But the beater with the mud was their reality.

both are cool. I’d drive either one.

 

Never is an ass kicker….

 

The 5W coupe above is not displaying rust. It's fully primed and muddy. Big difference.

I don't care what people do. Do what you want. But I'm not gonna smile and nod my head when the stated justification is nonsense.

 

No one owes any justification to anyone.
For anything

it’s a car.

enjoy it

 

I had an OT muscle car when I was young, healthy motor complete with black primer, drove the crap out of that car. Dirt and gravel roads side ways, street racing on the weekends. Hardly ever lost.

Then after 8 yrs of driving and enjoying and saving money I bite the bullet. New sheet metal, fresh paint, new vinyl roof etc. Now I had a car just like those on hot rod mag and I was miserable.

I had offers all the time for it but it was my baby, but the thrill was gone, replaced with fear of rock and gravel chips, idiot drivers around me (can't count how many close calls I had, it's like I painted a bullseye on it).

For the next couple years I had a very nice car but it never reclaimed the fun I had with previously. Finally a huge oak tree in the middle of a funnel cloud and stormy night brought its demise as I awoke to the crashing sound of that oak landing on top of it and crushing it. Couldn't see any of the car, nothing but tree....

That was the last time I went to the expense of a total restoration complete with a high dollar paint job.

I'm 60 and still like to take dirt and gravel roads on occasion just to see how far sideways I can push that rear-end and how long I can keep her there

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Let's all play nice here, boys! I like 'em all. I've had 2 near perfect paint cars that I cherished and was proud to show off, so much so that I'm doing it again currently (Somewhat OT car). On the other hand, both my cars in my Avatar are not pretty, but man, do I appreciate being able to use them like a regular car-worry free that is. It's liberating. That's the beauty of this hobby, we can choose which ever path we want, and that's what car guys have done for years.

 

^^^^^amen^^^^^ there’s a thread going about pet peeves with 7 pages to complain all ya want.

 

No. Its a Rambler finding parts that work on it is the fun. Its not like a Ford or Chevy where parts are reproduced in quanity. Besides when driving you cant see the paint

 

Exactly. Some people think everything needs to be painted, but simply a fun car that doesn't have perfect paint is as much (likely more) fun than a perfectly or even nicely painted car.

 

The only time someone elses opinion matters is if it's your wife or a police officer or the dude outweighs you by 30 lbs.

Different people are happy with different ways of building their vehicles because they want to use them differently when they are completed. Its great that we are all somewhat different. What we need to do is work on putting our differences aside and enjoy being different.

 

There is a saying that I think is appropriate here:
"The perfect is the enemy of the good".

Sometimes we get too anal about things. I like Anthony's attitude, just enjoy the car. Paint it shiny or not, fix it perfect, or not, whatever you like. Don't take yourself, or your car, too seriously.

As far as the past and how things were done, I'm reminded of the old guy that told me "we was always going to paint 'em". What do you mean? "We was always going to paint them, every week that was the plan, when Friday comes I'm going to get it painted. But Friday came and something else came up, the girl friend wanted to go to the movies, or something else, and our money got spent. So it was next week. And the same thing happened. So we drove them around in primer. We were going to paint them, but for one reason or another it never got done". That's from a guy that was there. Sure, some of them got done, that's why Earl Schibe was in business for so long. But the truth is a lot of cars never did get the shiny paint, but that doesn't mean the guys that had them didn't love their cars, didn't enjoy them, and weren't proud of them. Don't be silly. And truth be told, a lot of those great magazine cars from the past, if you looked at the build quality of them compared to what's expected today you would be disappointed; stick welds and all. Kids raided with MIG and TIG welding, never even had a stick welder or oxy/acetylene torch in their hand, haven't a clue about how things were done in the past. There was a lot done on some of those magazine cars that wouldn't pass muster today.

 

No one said that any justification was necessary.
It was given, unsolicited.
Sounds like it bothers the owners more than the viewers.

 

Eh, Build it, drive it, enjoy it.

The guys who came before us did it this way also. Id drive a primer car before a painted car any day. No fear of door dings or hand prints.
I watched a guy at a show with a nice 33 5 window, while paying his fee bitched about not having classes to enter into. Then he was all hovering as soon as someone came to look at it. I get it you wrap a ton of money into these and don't want things to happen but that is just too much BS for me. My dad has a fully finished painted car and is worried about it all the time, I just laugh at him.

I let kids sit in my shit, I let women pose on my shit, and let others see how my modifications help the larger guy fit in these things.

 

Considering an explanation as a nonsensical justification by a viewer would not substantiate that premise

 

There were three finished cars in the high school parking lot during my school years. Three. I drove one of them. By finished I mean new paint, nice wheels, an interior that corresponds, and whatever engine mods we were doing. The remainder were either stock mom and pop cars, or were works in progress that never actually progressed.

I am sure there were pockets of the country with a high percentage of finished cars for a variety of reasons, but if we're being honest, most of us probably lived my youth... only a small percentage of the cars in our circle of friends were nice/complete.

 

I've heard the saying "don't make it right, just make it run". While that's a bit extreme, I get what they mean. Better to put it together and enjoy it than to look at it sitting in the backyard under a tarp. If you wait until it's perfect to drive it, you'll never drive it.

 

Ray Andreg won the roadster show with a cut off coupe that was AMBR.

 

Owner stated this pic was at the autorama in 1959

Same guy said this was it in 2022

wonder if it ever got paint on it

 

That paint shit costs too much bucks!!! And yes, perfect is the enemy of ever getting to drive a car. I choose to drive mine.