49 Chevy patina truck

[B_Hix]

My take on the patina thing...

I spent months looking for someone to paint my truck for under 6K - only in frustration did I finally decide I would do it in my garage with my very basic tools and total lack of experience and know-how.

I spent hundred$ buying tools, hundred$ buying paint and hundred$ buying sandpaper. I invested hundreds of hours in sanding, painting, stripping, resanding, repainting, wetsanding, buffing, buffer burning, stripping, repsraying, wetsanding....you get the point....

I learned tons and value the experience, but when it's all said and done I worked my butt off for a very decent but far from professional paint job. In my opinion it looks great, but I can walk you around the truck and point out every tiny flaw. The stress, frustration, aggrevation took a lot of the fun out of the project - I had a desire for perfection but had to learn to reconcile that with my extreme amature status.

After all that, when I go to a show, if I want my vehicle judged (which I do not) it's easy for them to pick my paint apart, using some guys vehicle with a $8k (outsourced) paintjob as the standard.

If I had it to do all over again I'd worry a whole lot less about perfect paint and focus on enjoying my truck - in other words a patina/rustic look has a great deal of appeal now that I know what it takes to get a decent grade paint job.

This is about fun and enjoyment - if you're stressing every tiny detail and spending you're life savings in pursuit of perfection you're probably going to end up broke and disappointed. In hindsight I see the advantages to the patina look and have come to appreciate it.

Bottom line, whatever floats your boat man! I think it's fine if you don't sweat perfection with respect to paint and body - there is a 'cool factor' in a 40/50 year old truck that looks it but runs like a new one...

My .02 +

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by B_Hix

My take on the patina thing...

I spent months looking for someone to paint my truck for under 6K - only in frustration did I finally decide I would do it in my garage with my very basic tools and total lack of experience and know-how.

I spent hundred$ buying tools, hundred$ buying paint and hundred$ buying sandpaper. I invested hundreds of hours in sanding, painting, stripping, resanding, repainting, wetsanding, buffing, buffer burning, stripping, repsraying, wetsanding....you get the point....

I learned tons and value the experience, but when it's all said and done I worked my butt off for a very decent but far from professional paint job. In my opinion it looks great, but I can walk you around the truck and point out every tiny flaw. The stress, frustration, aggrevation took a lot of the fun out of the project - I had a desire for perfection but had to learn to reconcile that with my extreme amature status.

After all that, when I go to a show, if I want my vehicle judged (which I do not) it's easy for them to pick my paint apart, using some guys vehicle with a $8k (outsourced) paintjob as the standard.

If I had it to do all over again I'd worry a whole lot less about perfect paint and focus on enjoying my truck - in other words a patina/rustic look has a great deal of appeal now that I know what it takes to get a decent grade paint job.

This is about fun and enjoyment - if you're stressing every tiny detail and spending you're life savings in pursuit of perfection you're probably going to end up broke and disappointed. In hindsight I see the advantages to the patina look and have come to appreciate it.

Bottom line, whatever floats your boat man! I think it's fine if you don't sweat perfection with respect to paint and body - there is a 'cool factor' in a 40/50 year old truck that looks it but runs like a new one...

My .02 +

that is one reason that I an going with a satin finish.
I am not into All the polishing and waxing another is slight imperfections wont show.Less waxing more time to enjoy.
That said yours looks great. We always see imperfections in our own rides that nobody else even notices.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Stephanie

Not to get into the discussion between whether the patina look is good or bad, but I am curious, is it that hard to save up for a shop paint job? Me being a newbie, I honestly have no idea what they go for. I thought you could get one done for around $1,500-$2,000. Am I way off?

Around here at least a lot depends on how much of the work you can do yourself and how well you can do it.

Around here if you can get the vehicle to the ready to shoot the final primer stage there are a few guys who are really good with a paint gun who will shoot the paint for a few hundred dollars. Over the past 50 years I've found that body and paint men are the original moonlighters and many will take on side jobs after their day of working for someone else in a regular shop.

The cost of the paint and materials has gotten pretty high these days and that is one thing that contributes to the high cost of nice paint along with labor costs.

This truck has a $10,000.00 paint job on it. It was taken from a really nice truck with a great body to what you see here at a friend of mine's body shop several years ago. The body is about as close to flawless as you will find even though the truck gets driven to at least one event a week along with being driven several times a week. I'm thinking that the paint was about 5 years old in the photos but I saw the truck a few weeks ago and it still looks like it just rolled out of the paint shop this year. The photo by the way was taken three years ago.
The cost was in taking it from old paint to bare metal and many hours of primering and blocking to get it perfect.

[mknittle]

Another thing to consider is that these trucks were far from perfect from the factory.You can put a lot of time making them better than original.And if you are paying somebodys time it can add up pretty fast. things like the third brake light above the bed.

I like the stance on that green truck!

[chinquipin]

Corsair, Love the look! Around here people would lean up against a $50k ride to take pics of yours!

[meter swinger]

Corsair,
i love that rubbed out sh-t. looks awesome. Drive the rubber off it!
Posted via Mobile Device

[CORSAIR]

WOW!!!!! what a thread I started!!!! Thanks for all the kudos's from everyone. Me and my dad have built all types of hotrods (cars, trucks ratrods) but this one is the coolest. Here are some so I know what the cost and the look of nice cars are and to me patina is still way cool!!!!!!!!!!!!! and this is truck is a rust free truck other than some lite surface rust. I don't beat anybody up for what they like. As they say beauty is in the the eye of the beholder. Oh" and by the way the last photo shows they were rusty even back in the day.

[Dmill]

my take on patina.. i go to shows with fully restored vehicles in the upwards of the 50k range probably and there is a rat with character and almost art like build sitting next to it.. there will be people flocked around the rat and just a few on the showpiece 50k vehicle...

i can appreciate a fully restored piece but patina'd rides are just cooler

[Larry Lindley]

I like it,that being said I need to learn to paint or drive it like I stole it.so if I ever get to finish mine,it will be with good ole Rust-Olem.

[cheapoheapo]

look guys hot rodding is at the very roots of this hobby that we all enjoy i refuse to be rooted out by the rich boys with 20k paint billet everything and chrome out the @#$ junkyards are my friend make do or do without thats what really lies at the roots of this hobby and will never die the poor guy will never go away we will always find a way

[GeorgeLeonard]

Anybody who likes the way that VW looks needs a check up from the neck up. I hate the patina look. Id rather have a pickup painted with house paint and a brush than have that. At least it would look authentic- plenty of those pickups are still out there.

I love way the phrase: "He ran the heck out of it" seems to justify the appearance. What has that got to do with anything regarding the way a vehicle looks? Yeah, he drove that vehicle everywhere and wherever he went, people got a good laugh about it.

[Red Foreman]

I agree that VW is ridiculous & a joke, to me it kinda looks tryhard for the "patina" look which I personally like, there are levels of patina or worn out that most people like. Corsair's truck is a perfect example, it looks nice, solid, clean & cool. I bet he could park it at any mall & not worry about getting a scratch on it.
Show or new paint is personal prefrence, I have a 67 ssrs that is showroom & doesn't leave my sight but I also had & just sold an original paint 68 rs that I enjoyed parking anywere & driving around for years.

Here's a few pics of my 68 Rallysport & a couple of trucks that are not mine but I think are cool, again my personal prefrence.

[Fatbear]

Carsair
Like the look,thinking of doing mine that way.All the shine is from cleaning with trans fluid, no clear on truck?

[chevyrestoguy]

I've had 'em shiny with big dollar paint jobs, primered, and patina'd. Honestly, the most fun ones where the ones with the faded paint jobs and here's why:

1): If it's painted with a big-dollar paint job, you don't want to drive it for fear of hurting the paint. You park it a mile away from everyone else, and you never let it leave your sight at a show. It takes the enjoyment out of it.

2): If it's primered, it's a different story. You can lean on the fenders when you work on it, you can touch it up easily, and you can freshen up the primer easily. The bad part is, you are constantly asked the question, "When are you going to paint it?". I had a '69 Z/28 back in the '80s that I drove in grey primer for 3 years before I painted it. Everybody would ask the same question, and it drove me nuts, and I had it painted. See Item #1......

3): If it's patina'd, it's a lot of fun because you want to drive it all the time. The vehicle has character, like a middle-aged woman with a killer figure. Now, with that being said, I'm a little different about patina. I like worn, thin original paint, but I greatly dislike rust. I like to CLR the rust off and shoot the car in a satin clear to preserve the original paint. The totally rusty patina thing, to me, is a bit played out and borders on the crappy Rat Rod theme.

...about that VW van. I kinda like it because it was saved from the crusher. If it was mine, I would lower it down and put a set of Porshe alloys or Empi rims on it and drive the wheels off of it. It's kinda like going to the Dog Pound and saving the ugliest dog from a certain death. That dog will be forever grateful and make a great companion.

[DevilDog Aggie]

Originally Posted by CORSAIR

Paint made in Detroit by Chevy!!! its the factory blue and mother nature rust
I washed the body with CLR and rinsed with clear water, let dry, scrubed it out with red scotch brite pad and tranny fluid, let dry & wipe off excess

PATINA the new PAINT got to love it. I will get some more pictures when I can out of town for a while. thanks for the praise.

Fred

That is awesome!!!! May make me rethink new paint on my 72 Highlander. I love the patina and the garage working look!

[Dan in Pasadena]

I try never to speak ill of another man's (or woman's) ride. And on top of that I consider myself a car guy. No, I don't know the displacement of a 1939 Crossley and I can't recount how many F1 wins Nicki Lauda had before he burned at the 'Ring, but at least I know there WAS a Crossley and who Lauda is/was.

There's something in this hobby for anyone who wants to be in it. I have a neighbor that thinks the Taurus SHO he wrecked is the catastrophe of all time. I don't get it but I don't try to change his opinion. I like a LOT of cars that I don't want for myself

That Corsair has his truck in the condition HE LIKES and considers done is the most important thing. Good on you, Corsair. Huge congrats. I think it looks good, I admire it (I too love the white dash, crisp!). The only part of a patina vehicle that would actively BOTHER me would be unaddressed cancer. Speaking strictly for myself, I'd HAVE to repair that. Other than that, I say build em TO PLEASE YOURSELF! If I owned Corsair's truck I'd be proud to drive it and if someone asked me if I was going to paint it my response would be, "I'm not even considering it. But I MIGHT if you write the $10,000 check" then I'd chuckle and walk off.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Atomsplitter]

I think most are not getting the point here...who cares what others think of your ride! For most of us on a budget our rides seem to evolve over the years anyway as we can afford some new rims and tires, interior, guages, flame thower exhaust, a new Mexican blanket, swamp cooler, etc. I'm sure there are some guys out there that have taken perfectly shiny rides and painted them Suede or do a faux Patina becasue THEY liked the look.

Personally I like the "hater" comments because I get a laugh out of some guy that takes time out of his day to let me know it made him feel a certain way. When I laugh they don't get it either, until I walk by their ride and I sometimes ask if he wants to know what I think of it? I usually don't make the comment but it does make their eyes light up cause they know whats comming.....
Liking something and saying it is one thing but not liking something and saying it can only lead to swelling, stitches, dental implants and lawyers!

Oh and the VW bus? I love it because it is what it is! A novelty, a survivor, what ever! I bet you couldn't kick the smile off that guys face. Kudos to him!

[mr48chev]

It rather looks like my truck did in the mid 70's when I took it to the car wash and blew three paint jobs off it that a guy put on it during the time he had it. I had painted the truck gold lacquer and he painted it with cheap paint and I washed most of it off at the car wash in sheets after I traded back for it.

[51 okie]

Some call it a fad, I call it HISTORY! There's a lot of stories in there.

[51 okie]

Oh and that truck is sweet! I'd be proud to drive it. It's your ride, enjoy it how you like it. Some people will be snobs about paint with their truck in the garage while we are driving ours.

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by 51 okie

Some call it a fad, I call it HISTORY! There's a lot of stories in there.

Nicely said, I like it!

[Daze57]

V Nice truck !

[Midgets50]

CORSAIR,
first off love the truck and the paint job. did you use a high gloss clear or just a plain clear coat. i plan on doing the same thing to my truck. what brand of clear coat did you use if you dont mind me askin

[CORSAIR]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This thread is more controversial than the presidential election???? Thanks everybody for the awesome complements, and the haters, its ok not to like something!! I didn't build the truck to make any body happy but me and that's what we all striving to achieve. I feel GM and nature did a great job on the paint job!!! I spend a lot time around the car scene here in So NV & So CA and I see cars/trucks that I would give my left nut for and then i see stuff that makes me ill to look at it, but here is a guy polishing on the turd with a smile from ear to ear and he loves it, its his pride and joy and the end of the day that's what matters!!!



The Truck is for sale if anybody is interested??? (My K-5 Needs Funds)

Thanks,
Fred

[xpickup]

CORSAIR, I agree, to each there own! That is why there are so many different styles, because every one has there own tastes and it should be that way. There is no reason some people keep telling everyone that they dislike something. I personally like your truck (all patina jobs) and also ALL the s10 swaps. If they do not have anything good to say keep they should keep it to there self.

Shannon