[Old Fool]

I don't understand the flat paint thing.

It APPEARS to ME to be a: selet one- can't afford paint,to lazy to paint,not finished yet,body work is to crappy for a shiney paint, type thing.

I don't see any nostalgia to it, other then memories of when I was kid and didnt have the bucks to top coat my car and drove it around in primer, waiting for the day I could spray some color on it.

It is like the kids of my sons generation, buy nice expensive shoes and then be to lazy to tie them, what is the point.

Please explain why you like this look, I just don't get it

[Bryan59EC]

What can I say---I have no answer either.

My 66 is in the paint shop now, and the body guy is being pretty fussy about the finish before paint (66 ElCamino)

Owner of a 67 Malibu 30ft away (SS Clone), wants his car flat black. .
Cost not hardly any more for some glossy color, and the car will be prepared for glossy color----but it is gonna leave the shop flat black

[sunsetdart]

It actually goes back to the fifties, when most of the early hot rodders could put a hot rod together but didn't have the money to paint. So they just left it in primer. They didn't care about look, only about "fast". It is called "old school", and maybe some don't like it but others do. Look at the what we call "rat rods", no paint, usually no primer either and rusty too. I don't like the word rat, they are really true hot rods. That's what nice about our hobby, everyone has their own opinion of what they like and not everything is everyone's cup of tea, so to speak.

[cboy]

I can't answer the question for why the younger crowd might like it, but for me it IS a huge nostalgia thing. As others have said above, in the early days this is the way we had to do it. Shiny paint was usually left for the very end of a project...along with that tuck and roll interior. And we usually ran out of money well before those steps. So we drove them in suede. And after a while, many of us simply grew to like the flats, particularly black. And for me, wide whites and red rims were the perfect finishing look to that flat black body.

Keep in mind, we didn't have tens of thousands of dollars wrapped up in our cars in those days. It wasn't about perfection at all like it is today. It was about speed and about being unique. Most of the cars I built came together not because of some grand plan but because of the pieces and parts that would show up cheap. This car for example (52 Ford with a 331 Hemi) was built for less than $100 in 1961 and was a combination of two cheap cars, one with a blown up flathead and the other had been totaled in a roll over. And it was shiny only because I kept the exterior stock and didn't touch the original paint.



Can't really explain the primer thing...but the attraction to it remains with me some 50 years later.

[heyjude076]

Originally Posted by Old Fool

I don't understand the flat paint thing.

It APPEARS to ME to be a: selet one- can't afford paint,to lazy to paint,not finished yet,body work is to crappy for a shiney paint, type thing.
.....

Here is my take on it. Tired of finding fingerprints all over and really don't want to stand guard. Do not touch signs mean nothing to some people. That is why mine will stay with patina and primer over repair panels.

[KB2ROCKET]

if you like the look its a personal thing and thats fine
.
to me if you have an old hot rod or racer every blemish or scar represents the cars history once painted the history is gone
.
but the choice is with the owner its a personal thing

[samurai41]

It's more an image thing now! Makes some vehicles (not all) look tougher. A term used is "murdering out" Some cars look nice, other's look like a turd in a swimming pool. I think everyone of these cars looks good, execpt the gasser!!!
I guess it's the difference of our generations...

[Old Fool]

I agree the great thing about this hobby is everyone can do it their way and it is the right way.

Primer wasn't cool when I was kid in the late 50's to the mid 60's, it was an intermediate step. Or you wrecked it so often you never had time to get it back all the way

Custom painting was coming on strong back in that day and everyone I knew wanted the trick looking stuff, not the primer. How things change!

[Countilaw]

I'm old school, but I like shiny. The shinier, the smoother, the better.

[baddbob]

Originally Posted by samurai41

It's more an image thing now!

I agree, I like that gasser as is and to tell you the truth I think it would look good any color except a pastel. Picture it metalflake gold with some scales and striping old school style but straight as an arrow and wet looking..... Or candy red, or blue, or green.....

[BMM]

I love a beautiful, shiney paintjob which shows off perfect bodywork. That said, some cars fit a matte colour...Im not talking about ratrod, primer for the sake of primer deals, but genuine paint that is matted. Its all about the style, and overall look of the car to me, and if that means a flat colour, than so be it.

Some jobs call for candies, others for Roth style flake, some for pitch black, and the odd few for a smooth, velvet looking paint.

[ScotY]

How do you care for and clean flat paint like that? You know, like if you get oily fingerprints or tire dressing on it? You can't wax flat paint, right?

I've never seen "real" flat clear but I'm wondering if it will show rub marks...imagine if you were to rub something semi-hard like a fingernail on the surface. Regular flat primer will sort of turn a little shiny and you can see the mark but can't really do anything to make it go away. Does clear with the flattening agent behave that way?

Another question...does a matte finish hide flaws? I'm pretty sure it does a little but I read an article in Hot Rod Magazine a few months back where they made it sound like it didn't.

I like the matte finish look. On modern cars, I'm pretty sure it's just a fad that will pass with time but on the old classic cars, it's a look that will never go out of style...at least to me. Shiny or flat...I like them both.

[samurai41]

They have 2k satin/matte finishes that have great Mar resistance. The old way "original" is something that has pasted with the times. I don't know why anyone would still shot a primer as a final coat when, there are new products that are designed to mimic that look, while maintaning the advantages of a top coat.

[hemizach]

Personally, for me... when I build my car (what will be an early 30s coupe) I am going to paint it flat white =) Then finish it with some red steelies, and wide white-wall cheater slicks. My interior is going to be aluminum door panels, with old school racing buckets, and nothing what-so-ever on the dash but the gauges and controls for my lights, etc. Why? I'm going to build my idea of a cool hotrod, and do it without spending an arm and a leg on show quality interior and a 3000 dollar plus paint job. Flat paint is cheap (and looks cool IMO), simple interiors rock, and I'm cheap, haha. About the only thing that I won't skip out on is the motor

[hemizach]

and by the way "old fool." You don't have to understand it, because there doesn't have to be a reason for the flat paint. It's all in whatever taste the builder has, plain and simple. Some prefere shiny, some prefere flat, but ALL prefere cool, haha