We are doing a 69 GMC short wide truck for a customer that COULD be a nice truck but he's into the patina cr@p. Has a 20K Detroit Sped chassis and a 15k LS3/4L80E engine transmission with all the stand alone harness. With thirty five thousand on the table before any work starts he doesn't want any dents removed or new paint but just new rubber and weatherstrip with the cracked and fogged glass reinstalled. Somewhere this has left me all behind. I don't even want to take pictures of it.
And if intentional patina isn't bad enough... fauxtina really makes me gag. No pictures for me either.
Opinions,,opinions... Since this is a purely personal opinion, centered thread, I will add my two cents. I like vintage vehicles that are being taken care of. That includes museum quality restorations, street rods, survivor drivers, kids with grandma's '64 Impala 4-door, barn, or garage finds, like my cousin's '67 Camaro, all of it! I think you should post pictures, Evan. Your customer IS an automotive enthusiast. The truck is not sitting out in the rain, in some field with cattle scratching their necks on it. Patina is fine with me, as long as the rust is not allowed to progress, damaging the vehicle. It, in my opinion is even better, if, some kind of old enamel lettering is present. Let's take two very cool examples. Coach's truck, "Henry". One of the coolest home built project trucks we've had the pleasure of following along with. Also, Lakeroadster's truck, the "Orange Crate", also very cool, and I still miss the weekly postings about it. My father-in-law, has built many cool street rods, and is currently driving a Ford, Model A, with a '32 hood and grill. He has the skills to build cars, but, never was a super body man. The car is in flat black primer, because it is not straight. Even still, it is VERY COOL! My hat is off to anyone who, like a medical doctor, tries to "do the patient no harm". Steve.
"Clarification" If the aforementioned rig is shod with period-correct rolling stock, not giant plus-plus-plus sized rubber on ultra-modern alloy wheels, maybe. Having 35K under the vehicle, with nothing to show in bodywork escapes me for some reason. A perfectly restored piece, with a "surprise package" beneath? Absolutely I guess I just like one "theme" at a time.
Personally, I absolutely love original or vintage paint that has gone to seed. An original paint car will always draw my attention more than a shiny, high dollar paint job. As far as putting the original, fogged and cracked glass back in it...well you CAN take things a bit far. I would replace the fogged, cracked glass, leave the patina and drive the snot out of it. The BEST thing about patina cars? You don't have too worry about where you're going to park it. If somebody hits it with a door in a parking lot, who would know? Patina cars are meant to be DRIVEN, not shown IMHO. I like to drive. My current build will NOT have a high dollar, shiny paint job. In fact, the only thing I was upset about when I bought the body was that the P.O. blasted and primed the whole thing. The body did spend a few months in my car port over the winter so it's got some new patina to it now. Andy
I just hate hearing rust continue to grow on a classic. I'm no paint expert, but I just can't see how you stop rust without grinding it off, priming, and then painting it. I know people say they can clearcoat these, but how does that stop the rust? Also, unless you take the thing completely apart, you can't stop rust that is between the parts. You know, where the thing holds itself together. I always park mine right in the middle of a parking lot. I refuse to worry about door dings or other things. This has nothing to do with paint, but I also can't tell you all how happy I am that I stayed with the original power plant. I love my truck.
I think Andy nailed it. Some of the allure of patina, real or fake, is lack of maintenance and never dealing with door dings / road rash from the barbarian hoard. It's pretty liberating. Put me down Evan as one fella that would love to see some photo's of the '69 project. _____ John
There is a broad spectrum of honest opinions on this. For me there is no such thing as a high dollar paint job because I do ALL of the work myself. So Evan is basically of that school I think. I am reminded of Farming Communities. If you drive through Pennsylvania, you see nicely painted Barns and out buildings, nicely mowed and cared for. If you drive through Kansas, you see dilapidated, unpainted barns and outbuildings. Each of these owners has the EXACT same amount of time. The Penn farmer feels that his reputation and his honor is based on how he presents himself and his property. The Kansas farmer feels he has FARMING to do and niceties like painting and prettying things up is all well and fine but does not put food on the table! Both Farmers are prosperous, happy and honorable. It's each person's right to determine their own priorities and each person is the commander of their own happiness. My personal thing is, learn to do all of the restoration aspects of this hobby yourself and there is very little cost and very little excuse for your truck to not look pristine. Most people do not have the time so that is why I like to be counted as one of those people who help every chance they get. I am also conflicted on Purist vs. RestoRod. I love to see a 100% stock truck, I hate to see a V8 and IFS on one of these trucks, but I do like to see common sense improvements, like open driveline, overdrive, seat belts, things that bolt right up and allow for our modern transportation system. Those are my biases yet you won't see a frown on my face at anything you do with your AD. I might actually learn something!
Deve, I think every paint job these days, is high dollar. Even when you do it yourself, it's several hundred dollars. And, a huge amount of prep labor. I've noticed, even when you park out away from everyone at the store, you come back out and there is a car or two right beside you. Steve.
OK guys, The are are four cars at the west end of the shop in various stage of finish and the 69 just doesn't fit in. The 57 is Deve's type of ride with a 235, 3sp od trans, under floor power brakes, front discs, and radial tires. That's it, just a driver that can cruise in the left lane. The 67 Cougar XR7 is a very high point original restoration and the 47 Ford coupe is a 50's style rod with dual carbs on the Flattie engine, twin exhaust and what sounds like mild cam. With the one exception I like them. Had to use the factory drag link and tie rod on the 69 till the correct ones get here. Notice it has a Curry rear gear set up with Strange axles and Wilwood 6 piston calipers; what a waste. The engine is the 450hp all aluminum LS3
OK, Evan, I get your point. At least he's not really doing any harm. The windshield appears to have a wiper scratch. WOW. Maybe when the current owner gets bored with it, or runs out of money, the next guy will pay you to finish it. Steve.
I love this particular forum because we all KNOW that it is perfectly okay to have individual likes and dislikes without some idiotic riot ensuing. We all have the same right to speak our mind without judgement or bias! The other thing that's cool is the different levels of expertise. It's how we learn if that is our thing. It IS my thing. To learn from YOU. Thanks for sharing all of these thoughts. It provides a path that a restoration hobbyist can travel. Thanks yet again! I get your point too Steve. I CRINGE everytime I go to the PPG store. So much so that they have Shopline products available to those who have lesser vehicles to just touch up. Yet, $400 to $600 in paint and paint products to do this yourself is a fraction of the cost of a proper job done by someone else. With the economy so bad here in the U.S., doing it yourself (at least in my station of the eco system) is the only way possible. So, if you do not have $5k to spend on your paint job, or much more, get off your duff and LEARN to do it yourself. There IS another way but it includes effort. LOTS of effort, but if you are like me, just get motivated and you can do anything! When I get done with my 1950'ish project, I will be able to say every single challenge bar NONE was done by ME. (with answers and verbal help from YOU!)
That's a nice post, Deve. I like this forum, also. I have yet to notice a online battle like all the other forums have. In this short opinion thread, we have stated several likes, and dislikes. Evan, and Mike don't like patina. Joseph doesn't like pictures of it. Andy doesn't like shiny paint. Zig hates rust. Amen to that! John dislikes the barbarian hoards. Count me in on that one! Deve doesn't like IFS, and V8's. I don't like cattle, scratching. I also don't like demolition derbys, rat rods, and Toyota prius hybrids. All this and not a cross word! Steve.
Just a quick note~ My paint job cost about $400. That is all the rattle can primer, 3M paint stripping wheels, paint/hardener/clear coat. There really was a L-O-T of time on prep work, but that didn't cost me a dime. And now I know RUST will not be eating full bore like it had been.
It is certainly refreshing that this forum doesn't get all bent out of shape when a member is faced with a differing opinion. While it would be nice "in a way" to drive a vehicle whose exterior I could care less about, I'm just not that guy. I am the guy that parks waaaaay at the end of the lot- but in 1 space, not several. I am the guy who washes (and dries) his daily driver in the evening, and leaves the house just a few minutes early to apply tire-shine before leaving for work. I'm the guy who Charlie, the local pump-attendant at the Shell Station, smiles at as I pull in with a clean car. Penny was well past patina (rustina?). I always have a nice looking vehicle in the stable. So it makes perfect sense that she isn't going to get anything less than the most beautiful finish I can put on her. And wash her in the evening, and give her tire-shine before leaving the driveway. As my daughter once said at a car show (when she was 9 years old or so), while looking at a vehicle which did not suit her tastes, "That is really cool... just not for me".
