Why build a car with a rusty body?...

i would rather drive a car needing body work and paint,instead of pushing a painted car without a motor and ******

 

I understand what you are sayin, but for me there are a couple factors.

Sometimes the build goes so long that panels you have previously blasted develop surface rust again. Then again I could keep on it and keep scotchbriting as it sits.. The bottom line is right now I would love to sandblast the body because I have it off the car, but I can't afford it and I have 6 weeks to have it running for a VERY important event, so I gotta stay on the mechanical stuff. After that I plan on tearing everything down and polishing, chroming, and painting. But for now I just need to keep tearing though til she's up and going.

 

LARRY...actually some people do! hell brother RUST is no big deal, it's like salt for hotroders. and you peckerhead like rust better than paint, WELL your name say's it all! HA! just kidding my H.A.M.B. brother...POP.

 

Really nice paint scares the **** out of me. Hell I dont even like going by nice cars at shows cause Im scared of messing someones car up. I hate to say this but I liked your car better before as well....I would have kept the same wheels and tires and if you didnt like red just paint them black...i love wire wheels on those coupes...car is still nice though...

 

WOW!
I would never trade Patina For a Shiney new paint job that you worry if a Fly lands on it! Just my opinion! PATINA! PATINA! PATINA!

 

I was always told to start from the ground up and build a ch***is first... but I'm trying to make a rust free complete body out of a pile of rusty parts... kind of hard to even THINK about making a ch***is since I can't even tell what the body dimensions will be just yet...

 

so true.....so true.

 

Exactly! I have done that with past projects. This time I decided I would rather drive it even if it has a little rust in the body. It's a lot more encouraging and a lot more fun that looking at it in pieces. It keeps me going on the project. I'll get around to the bodywork and rust eventually.

 

I see where Larry is coming from if you have a car that has only a few holes and in great shape.blast it all.I have found that up here in the rust belt we don`t have cars like that. If you blast something that is very ruff you make a lot more work for yourself.I just replace the complete bottom side of a old Porsche with all new metal and when everything was solid I then had it blasted. I see people cutting all the rust from their projects and try to put it back together.Me I replace so much and then replace a bit more until I have everything replaced.I have seen many a project end after a body has been blasted.

 

That's a sweet car Norm...

 

My '54 F-100 was a County Road Truck, so its beat all to ****. The fenders are bowed and gouged, the door bottoms are rotted out, the cab corners are swiss cheesed. The '77 Chevy stepside bed I stuck on it was used to haul s**** metal for 5 years, and is stress cracked and beat all to hell. It was Purple, Green, Navy, White, Primer, Red, Black, and Medium blue for a while, and I finnaly sanded it off and painted it all flat black with a red grill. I eventually plan on fixing the body, and just giving it a krylon paint job every couple of months to change things up.

A custom deserves a decent body and paint in my opinion. Theres so little body to most fenderless hot rods, I would just be tempted to paint it over a couple of weekends, even if it was just temporary.

 

That's not what I meant. I mean,leaving the car bare metal while you are working on it,and driving it. NOT bare metal as a "done" car. But I would prefer that over "RUSTY",as a done car.

 

No problem...many have told me that. 10-15 years ago,I might have liked it too.

 

I know what a RATROD is. It is a well built car,and I drive it everyday,everywhere I go. What I was reffering to was the style,not the quality of the build. In SoCal,that look is called RATROD,24/7. I don't want something that's called a RATROD everywhere I go!
Since painting it,i've been hearing "nice Hotrod", alot. Even from the people who wouldn't know the difference.

 

There's a 55-56 Ford Pick-up by my house,that I have been trying to buy since I moved here 12 yrs ago. It's all stock,original paint and patina. If he ever sells it to me,i'll fix all the stuff to make it drivable,but leave it just like it is! It's PERFECT!!!!

 

[QUOTE="Whitey Ford" 62 Uni;4872918]Really nice paint scares the **** out of me. Hell I dont even like going by nice cars at shows cause Im scared of messing someones car up. I hate to say this but I liked your car better before as well....I would have kept the same wheels and tires and if you didnt like red just paint them black...i love wire wheels on those coupes...car is still nice though...[/QUOTE]

Don't confuse my Coupe with "nice paint" cars! haha! It's far from that...

 

Who wouldn't take a patina Willys over a painted Model A? I sure would...

 

I prefer a done car ( satin or shiney). I dont like car that people try to make look rusty. Patina is different.\

I have noticed that as soon as the shine is on, then everyone is a critic. That is one thing that I dont miss. Dont get me wrong, I am one of those critics, even to my one ride.

Now on my own rod, I would double the financial investment and I am capable of doing the body and paint. I also have to point out that everyone and I mean, Everyone said that My coupe wasnt good enough for parts. This was my first build, and I started to believe what they were telling me. Because of that, I wasnt willing to put out any cash ( that I really dont have ) towards blasting the body. So I did the next best thing, I had my son ( 6 at the time ) spray paint as much as he could and it still wears that paint job.

 

Something has been bothering me since I read and replied a couple of days ago. I know you guy's are kewl as hell knowing what to look for on your pitina rods. But what crossed my mind later was the newbies. Trust me Im not out to offend anyone, but I read a few years ago where a toddler fell through the back floorboard and died from a rusted vehicle in I believe it was in M***achusetts that changed a law to be if you have up to 1'' hole it has to be repaired to p*** inspection. The things we enjoy are also enjoyed by our families.....and mainly toddlers.Rusted floorboards may look strong enough but break loose from viberation movement. Again Im not trying to offend but now I feel better if a newbie should read this reply. None of us would ever want that to happen to anyone! My conscience level just went back to normal.

 

why would a car with great patina be better 10 or 15 years ago, than it would be today???

 

I think that it started out because of the "look it's a barn find" thing until everybody realized none of them were barn find hot rods and all new builds with old beat up parts.

Besides, we all know the style changes every decade. It's 2010, the rust look is soooo 2000's lol

 

who cares

 

Umm.... thinking he was trying to tell he grew up and his tastes have changed. To each their own, but the word patina has been used and abused.

 

I could definitely see both sides of this argument. Personally I am fixing all rust and body issues with the body before I even start on my frame. That being said, progress is slow and I dont get to step back and visualize the whole picture as easily as I would if i were building the whole thing at once. Also, I get burned out on metal/body work. If I were working on the whole thing at once I could vary my jobs and not lose interest or get burned out as easily. However, when I am done things will progress quickly. In short, do what you want................

 

Well for a lot of people working with a project car, the first order might be getting the structurals and mechanicals in check and driving it ASAP. Working in stages like that at least gives You the option of enjoying Your car in between Your work. Does wonders in keeping Your interest up. Especially when You´re doing this on a budget as a hobby, doing all the work Yourself, and only have so many hours a week from everything else in life to work on Your "fair-weather" car.
I´ve seen way too many dozed-off "projects" that started out as decent, perfectly operable cars that someone enthusiastically tore down on a whim, looking to fix what wasn´t broken to begin with, setting out to build some kind of best-in-show -kinda thing all at once I guess, but after the quick and hasty teardown-stage ended up something where they just ran out of steam or resources with, or found other priorities.
I´ve seen some that sat that way for decades, and will most likely continue to sit for all infinity too.

I for one always preferred the "patina" -type cars to the "show" cars, even before the whole "RR" -fad came about. As long as the metal was solid. So much more user-friendly, at least still gives You the option of driving the car, or parking it unattended. I´ve always thought in the realm of these 50+yo -buckets people get way too hung up on the quality of paint, anyway.

 

well,, im very happy for you guys! bout time larry found someone!

my coupe came in primer, mainly to hide ****ty work! when i can afford to get back to work on it, itll still be in rattle can! but the ch***is will be completly finished in the same color as the body! once the body is trued, ill add all the interior, get everything finished but the body, then take it apart, do the ****load of body work it needs [no rust, just bad welds, and bondo to hide them], and off to paint! then all ill have to do it bolt it back together and roll! but as slow, untalented, and broke as i am, it might be in primer till larrys hairs white! ohh ****, id better get crackin!!!!

 

I didn't say it would be better. There were many guys showing up with old rusty or patina'd bodies on cars at shows. It was a trend then,that I believe is played out now. A car with patina will always be cool,but driving around in a rusty body car's not as excepted today. The biggest trend I see now is finished cars,maybe not done,but painted. Lots of 60's style builds.

 

. x2

 

I guess I'm just a little on the **** side. Death to all rusty panels! I was always taught that you begin the build with the end result in mind. If my goal is to build a daily driver that I can leave out in the field overnight I still couldn't sleep knowing there rust in there somewhere but with that said I really don't care for the bare metal look at all either. When the goal is to build one of the baddest rides to touch pavement rust has to be dealt with. Just my .02